I’ve always been pretty open & honest on any topic - especially on here. Fairly quiet on major specifics on social media, etc. We all know the world we live in…. Areas get “reputations” if they are good. Folks dig on OnX & can find a lot out pretty easy. Target those areas for good or for bad. Happens for farms, dudes who hunt variety of farms that shoot bigger deer, etc.
Here’s what my farm has dealt with the last 5 years….
The best bust was a guilty plea for 47 poached bucks in about a 5 mile radius. Convicted on 47 & for a lot of reasons I suspect it was double or triple that. 5-7 years before that a guy had over 100 bucks confiscated & pled down to a lessor set convictions. Those are the 2 BIG ONES.
We deal with this “NON-STOP”…
1) no lights on - shooting bucks out truck windows. Crossbows or maybe the occasional gun. Usually With thermals
2) daylight rifles out truck windows.
3) recently - we have MULTIPLE drones going over my farm & probably 12-15 farms in my area. Neighbor 2 weeks ago posted on social media- they were blood tracking a deer with a dog around 9-10 pm. They spotted a huge drone scanning their farm while tracking. Ran back to house - got spotlight & chased that drone 10 miles to a small radius where they lost it.
I personally believe dudes are locating deer with drones, targeting big deer & either going straight in to avoid Cameras or far more often- just using thermals to shoot them off the road.
In the last 2 seasons- we have found 3 crossbow bolts - 2 were embedded in buck carcasses. 1 was in brush off road about 50 yards. That’s just what we found.
The license plates we identify, chase or pass on to law if we can get them are probably 50-60% out of state (Louisiana, TX, MS, GA, WI, etc) & the rest are iowa plates. Lately- it’s been “lights are off driving around” on many occasions (thermal or NV).
Obviously yes, the amount of headless deer or shot & not recovered is substantial every year.
Make no mistake - this is not just my farm. This is all over the “good areas”. Stories very much the same.
& am I saying “the sky is falling, panic, worry about this all day?” NOPE. Been happening a long time & big deer still get by. They do an amazing amount of damage on bad years though. Happening across the state in good areas. Could be 4pm, could be 3am. Give another example…. Buddy with public land that attracts a ton of hunters about 2 miles from him owns a large farm. Over the last 5 years- the amount of bucks “confirmed to strongly suspect” poached off road was maybe 5 at the lowest. 10-15 on the high end.
Drones, thermals/NV, rifles (suppressed or not), crossbows & vehicle windows- main problem.
Ok - so, leads me to a post I made before. Now folks know a little more detail though. What can be done? Can DNR camp at all these farms all Night? NOPE. What can be done??? I have & will continue to screen every drop of the road. Help neighbors do the same. I do have cameras on my ground for both: anyone that enters & also pointed out to get vehicles. I am there a lot so I do catch a chunk of this. Other dudes helping patrol. Working with law enforcement as they are able & as they can make some extra patrols. I finally got some signs that offer $1k reward for any info leading to poaching conviction. Got signs that literally say we are monitoring for drones & thermal poachers (which we are).
Maybe the coyote guys would possibly agree not to allow “coyote hunting” during Oct into December”??? I’m sure that will be a battle but I want to explain- these guys use that to do some nasty stuff “oh, ya, that thermal and rifle on November 10- we are just coyote hunting”.
I am literally gonna start telling some stories on maybe a podcast or social media to explain what’s going on 1) to educate public 2) it will get back to the scumbag poachers 3) actually let folks know like “Eah- there’s nothing insane to even poach” most years- because of what’s going on to some extent. Like last year- I shoot a giant buck… 1) that buck lived a mile from any road & probably close to impossible to poach & 2) “oh, this guy shot a giant! Must be lots more, let’s go poach around there”. We all know how these crooks think.
I kinda know most folks in state with big or really good farms or just areas with great reputations. This is happening all over. My area might be one of the worst.
So - what the heck else can a guy do?!?!? & make no mistake- I will not let this stress me out to no end or not sleep at night. I have no expectation that no poaching will take place. At the same time, I’m gonna go after it with all I got too. Ain’t putting up with it just like someone wouldn’t put up with constantly getting robbed or their house broke into.
**TECHNICAL side question: is there camera systems that get extremely good pictures of license plates? Anyone know the availability & practicality of drone monitoring stuff? I got some lower cost things & things neighbors working on but we still learning there. Yes- it sucks this is an issue.
What else? What the heck else can a guy do?
Here’s what my farm has dealt with the last 5 years….
The best bust was a guilty plea for 47 poached bucks in about a 5 mile radius. Convicted on 47 & for a lot of reasons I suspect it was double or triple that. 5-7 years before that a guy had over 100 bucks confiscated & pled down to a lessor set convictions. Those are the 2 BIG ONES.
We deal with this “NON-STOP”…
1) no lights on - shooting bucks out truck windows. Crossbows or maybe the occasional gun. Usually With thermals
2) daylight rifles out truck windows.
3) recently - we have MULTIPLE drones going over my farm & probably 12-15 farms in my area. Neighbor 2 weeks ago posted on social media- they were blood tracking a deer with a dog around 9-10 pm. They spotted a huge drone scanning their farm while tracking. Ran back to house - got spotlight & chased that drone 10 miles to a small radius where they lost it.
I personally believe dudes are locating deer with drones, targeting big deer & either going straight in to avoid Cameras or far more often- just using thermals to shoot them off the road.
In the last 2 seasons- we have found 3 crossbow bolts - 2 were embedded in buck carcasses. 1 was in brush off road about 50 yards. That’s just what we found.
The license plates we identify, chase or pass on to law if we can get them are probably 50-60% out of state (Louisiana, TX, MS, GA, WI, etc) & the rest are iowa plates. Lately- it’s been “lights are off driving around” on many occasions (thermal or NV).
Obviously yes, the amount of headless deer or shot & not recovered is substantial every year.
Make no mistake - this is not just my farm. This is all over the “good areas”. Stories very much the same.
& am I saying “the sky is falling, panic, worry about this all day?” NOPE. Been happening a long time & big deer still get by. They do an amazing amount of damage on bad years though. Happening across the state in good areas. Could be 4pm, could be 3am. Give another example…. Buddy with public land that attracts a ton of hunters about 2 miles from him owns a large farm. Over the last 5 years- the amount of bucks “confirmed to strongly suspect” poached off road was maybe 5 at the lowest. 10-15 on the high end.
Drones, thermals/NV, rifles (suppressed or not), crossbows & vehicle windows- main problem.
Ok - so, leads me to a post I made before. Now folks know a little more detail though. What can be done? Can DNR camp at all these farms all Night? NOPE. What can be done??? I have & will continue to screen every drop of the road. Help neighbors do the same. I do have cameras on my ground for both: anyone that enters & also pointed out to get vehicles. I am there a lot so I do catch a chunk of this. Other dudes helping patrol. Working with law enforcement as they are able & as they can make some extra patrols. I finally got some signs that offer $1k reward for any info leading to poaching conviction. Got signs that literally say we are monitoring for drones & thermal poachers (which we are).
Maybe the coyote guys would possibly agree not to allow “coyote hunting” during Oct into December”??? I’m sure that will be a battle but I want to explain- these guys use that to do some nasty stuff “oh, ya, that thermal and rifle on November 10- we are just coyote hunting”.
I am literally gonna start telling some stories on maybe a podcast or social media to explain what’s going on 1) to educate public 2) it will get back to the scumbag poachers 3) actually let folks know like “Eah- there’s nothing insane to even poach” most years- because of what’s going on to some extent. Like last year- I shoot a giant buck… 1) that buck lived a mile from any road & probably close to impossible to poach & 2) “oh, this guy shot a giant! Must be lots more, let’s go poach around there”. We all know how these crooks think.
I kinda know most folks in state with big or really good farms or just areas with great reputations. This is happening all over. My area might be one of the worst.
So - what the heck else can a guy do?!?!? & make no mistake- I will not let this stress me out to no end or not sleep at night. I have no expectation that no poaching will take place. At the same time, I’m gonna go after it with all I got too. Ain’t putting up with it just like someone wouldn’t put up with constantly getting robbed or their house broke into.
**TECHNICAL side question: is there camera systems that get extremely good pictures of license plates? Anyone know the availability & practicality of drone monitoring stuff? I got some lower cost things & things neighbors working on but we still learning there. Yes- it sucks this is an issue.
What else? What the heck else can a guy do?
