Wildlife Law Breakers

The following are true stories from this fall's big game seasons in Idaho. Some are funny, some surprising, but for the men and women in wildlife law enforcement they are all in a day's work. In southern Idaho, two Fish and Game reservists operated a management check station, which is not an enforcement operation. When two hunters came through with deer they noted that one of the tags did not correspond to one of the licenses. A local conservation officer (CO) who was called in found that the tag actually belonged to the hunter's father who was in Texas at the time. A dispatcher received a cell phone call that a 92 _ year old man had shot a buck on a doe permit and had hidden the animal. Officers in the area had just spoken to the man and offered to drag a deer down off the hill for him. He declined their assistance. The informant pointed out the deer, which was salvaged by the officers. They then went to the old gentleman's camp where his 70-year-old daughter took the rap and demanded a citation. A known violator, still under license revocation for the last time he was caught, was eyeing deer in southern Idaho. His file was updated and an alert sent to local conservation officers. Three days later he was seen crouching over a dead deer shot on private property. Officers arrived on the scene and the suspect ran into the woods to hide. About an hour later he reappeared claiming no knowledge of the deer or why his vehicle and rifle were there. He also had a suspended driver's license. There was, however, blood on his clothing and hands. He was arrested and numerous charges filed. An officer came across a deer hanging in a camp and found the tag belonged to a woman in Nampa. On a hunch he had a dispatcher look up a telephone number and call her. She said she had not killed a deer, but that her husband was up attempting to get his. Citizens Against Poaching relayed a call reporting that a man killed a bear, had packed out the hide, but had not returned for the meat. The message was relayed to officers who located the suspect's vehicle and gave the plate number to the dispatcher. In checking on the suspect it was found that he had purchased his bear tag the evening after the bear was killed. Citizens Against Poaching (CAP) is in place to take information and pay rewards to callers who report wildlife crime. Callers to 1-800-632-5999 can report wildlife law violations anonymously if they wish. Rewards for tips leading to convictions are paid whether the caller is anonymous or not. Funding for the reward program comes from voluntary contributions to CAP. Citizens who wish to report a wildlife violation are encouraged to note as complete a description as possible of people and vehicles involved as well as time and location of the incident. The more information Fish and Game enforcement personnel have, the more likely a poacher will go to court.