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This was found last week during deer season in Oregon. It died close to one of the homes there on the ranch. Since no one bowhunted that area and if had been the neighboring ranch they would have asked permission to track it, this is the only conclusion. The black spot right next to the elbow is an arrow hole. There was blood underneath the bull so it was a pass thru. I doubt this bull ran in from the neighbors ranch since it would have had to had run over a mile. Not the first time we've had tresspasser issues. Every year it seems there are issues or damage done.
Bummer, but it happens all the time, unfortunately. When I was on a big ranch, we had bowhunters poaching, rifle hunters poaching during archery season, hunters from the adjoining ranch hunting ours, leaving tracks in the snow and gut piles, and that outfitter claiming we were lying.
I lease land from a complete mad man that weighs in around 350. He has a terrible reputation around here for losing it. I met him when his neighbor told me I could drive my quad on what turned out to be his land. I was about 15 at the time, he held me at gunpoint while we had a discussion. People literally cringe at the mention of his name. I leased his ground about 5 years later. In 18 years I have not 1 time seen any sign of tresspassing or poaching and his place was bordered by public land on two sides until recently when they made it an equestrian park. People have to be scared of more than the law.
320 you are spot on some of these guys say a $2-3 hundred dollar fine is peanuts compared to paying out a trespass fee. I can get caught trespassing every year and it's cheap. One year two guys lost their bows. They said they had to take a dump and they were right off the road. The guy patrolling ran them off and then decided to walk up the hill and found 2 nice bows. Another year three guys wer confronted and one big guy with too much to drink threatened the ranch foreman. 44 mag trumps a bow.
320-I had to look up where you are from to see if we knew the same rancher. Your description fits a rancher around my land perfectly. I know he doesn't have much of a trespasser issue in an area with major trespassing problem for no other reason than I think everyone just assumes if he catches you on the wrong day you may never be seen again.
WRT the OP-trespassing is getting really bad everywhere. Honestly I think leases are the major factor contributing to the increase. 10 years ago knocking on doors would eventually get you a place to hunt. Now nearly every landowner that doesn't mind hunting and has land worth hunting, has it leased. I think some trespassers see traspassing as the only way they can continue to hunt. Then again, others are just a-holes that think they have the right to hunt where ever they please.
320 bull's Link
Andy I hope you can gain access to his place. Sounds like a good one lol. Look at these tarts in my neck of the woods
Warning No Trespassing!! We Have Rifles and A Backhoe. We Know How To Use Both!
I use to hunt a farm next to a guy like 320 talks about. The landowner and a friend were squirrel hunting and caught a couple of underage teens trespassing and hunting deer during the youth deer season.
There was an altercation and one of the teens shot both men with shotgun slugs. At the trial, they said the kid likely would have gotten off all charges had he not calmly walked up to each of the men and shot them in the back of the head to finish them off.
I saw a bull hit in the shoulder with a bonded .330 Win Mag run over a mile like nothing happened. Only thing that slowed him down was a fence he had a hard time getting over.
It is amazing how many hunters trespass. Thankfully many are now getting caught with cameras and drones. Most landowners I know have many cameras set on trees during the season, sooner or later you catch some trespassers.
That's too bad. It's a nice bull too.
It's unfortunate that there are hunters that do damage to property. It's no wonder land owners don't want hunters on their property. Where I hunt rifle hunters have shot up one of the steel gates, welded up gates, cut fences, bend up signs and unbolt them from fences.
In Virginia trespassing isn't illegal. VA Code 18.2-136
Thanks to Tim Kaine, our former Governor.
My issue is I am not on my land enough to catch the poachers. Poachers on my place are in three categories.
1. my only neighbor who shares a 2 mile driveway with me shoots deer on his way in and out of his house on my land. He needs it and survives on it so I don't care. I have never given him permission but I have also never reprimanded him.
2. intentional trespass, people who have seen a nice buck or a moose they are targeting, come on my land with one target in mind.
3. I have caught parents and grandparents taking first time hunters down my drive because they can get a deer from the window of the truck. I struggled with this one, the adults were guilty and that upset me, but the kid was scared to death and just doing what he/she was told to do. I didn't want to ruin the hunting experience for the kid and make them never want to hunt again, which is what pressing charges would have done. But the adult was the one I was upset with and really no way to press charges without ruining the kids experience.
oz
I know a guy locally that's a good guy, about ten years ago he had people from a big city hunt club, that have millions of acres leased, trespassing. Last group he shot all 4 tires out and held them at gun point until the law showed. I think he ended up paying for a few tires but those guys went back talking about the crazy mo fo. He hasn't had trouble since.
Ohiohunter, Just a heads up. Ohio does allow straight walled caliber rifles during the general "gun" season these days. Certainly not during ML season though.
Unfortunately, as this Country slowly degenerates into a lawless society, laws mean little unless they are enforced and they often are not. I don't own hunting property, but when I finally do I don't relish the thought of confronting an armed trespasser. What do you do if the guy won't drop the gun first off? At a minimum, seems like a good situation for having backup.
Rooster, yeah, I thought I had heard something like that. But this was about 15yrs ago and I'm 1000% positive it wasn't a straight wall rifle.
How do you know it was a poacher? If it was a poacher, why didn't they take the horns? I've seen bulls that look like they are hit perfectly go over a mile.
An easy explanation as to why they didn't take the horns would be because they were trailing it and saw that it died near a cabin, panicked, and left it because they didn't want to get caught.
Get some "real" hunters you can trust on there to patrol the place and you won't have any issues.