What a waste......
Wild Sheep
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/desert-bighorn-ram-killed-and-left-by-a-poacher-in-colorado/ar-AA13FihX?ocid=cf-launch
I can only hope that they catch the bastard.
Would you feel the same about a spike whitetail?
Here is a link. Couldn't agree more with you Jake
Not sure I would equate a spike WT to a desert bighorn, so no but I would still be mad if any deer was left to rot.
I drive by 20 rotting whitetails per day. I don’t enjoy it but it’s reality
GF Yourself sure sees the world through a weird set of lenses.
Their is no different degree of poacher, regardless of the species, IMO.
Matt
I've known a guy or two that poached deer because it was the only way they were going to eat that week. Don't condone it but hunger is a powerful thing.
I think people poach for trophy status. Big enough antlers and ethics or morals start to bend. Poach the big buck, make up a story that seems legal, hope nobody finds out.
This sheep is weird. Why kill something rare and highly regulated without taking any parts of it. No meat taken to feed themselves. No perceived trophy status. Why do it? Was there intent, then a chicken out?
All poaching is wrong, but a squirrel poacher is different than a sheep poacher Weird that the guy left it there
Why is there a difference in any poacher. Possum or Pachyderm, all the same
Total speculation, but like the guy who was killing rams in Glenwood Canyon some years ago, someone may have seized the opportunity to kill one close to the road with the intent to come back later for the horns. The rock climber screwed that up for him.
I’m perfectly happy with my vision.
I don’t see any difference between poaching a deer and stealing a car or a television or dealing dope. There are honest ways to make a living, even when times get hard.
I’m not at all opposed to raising the fines on “trophy” specimens as a disincentive, but poaching just ticks me off. As do most forms of illegal/unethical gain.
I don’t feel any particular need to apologize for that.
GG said "Their is no different degree of poacher, regardless of the species, IMO."
Completely ridiculous. A guy shooting a doe out of season to feed his kids. Compared to someone driving around shooting critters for sports is so much different.
If someone shoots a deer and truly the reason he did it is because if not he would not have food to put on his table, I would even be much upset. Someone shooting a Desert Bighorn on side of road and leaving it to rot is infuriating.
No surprise. Scarce resource and almost zero chance of ever legally getting the chance to kill one.
Or..."Look! One of them mountain goats! Hold my beer and the steering wheel" at 2:30AM on the way home from the bar in Grand Junction.
It sucks especially when you are one of the ones trying to get one of the handful of tags.
But, big game gets killed by lions, hit by cars, disease, mismanaged by the CPW and all sorts of other ways to die that takes opportunity away from hunters.
"Their is no different degree of poacher, regardless of the species, IMO."
You are correct, it's your opinion because law enforcement disagrees based on penalty assessments...
And, for a guy so quick to point out "dumbest posts", please understand the difference between 'their' and 'there'.
Context.
We have laws to protect wildlife.
When I was young we had only the last day of rifle season to take a doe in SW VA.
Nowadays deer are very abundant.
Missouri Bear or Elk?
Quite different.
The fact that poaching penalties are based on the rarity of the species is a sad truth to me. We can do better.
Matt
GG, would there be a difference if someone angled a swordfish compared to a minnow and left it for dead, never to be recovered?
A heavier fine for poaching a desert sheep vs a deer is no different than a harsher penalty for stealing a nice car vs a decent bike.
Here in Indiana, farmers shoot deer using state issued crop depredation permits every summer. Based on conversations with farmers, I'm confident he majority of those deer are never recovered. One farmer told me "deer management" is another box of shells.
I'm not a fan of these depredation permits and the manner in which they are used makes me sick. But this crap has been going on for as long as I can remember. So, my answer is no... I can't relate a wasted spike buck to a wasted desert bighorn sheep. Both are wrong, but on totally different levels IMO.
Relative abundance or scarcity has always been a determinant of 'value' in any market. We have an abundance (an *over* abundance in some places) of deer. Hence lower 'value'. (The exception being *trophy* deer, which make up a small percentage of the population.)
If those sheep were so common anyone could buy an otc license and hunt them, the 'value' would be no more than a 'meat' deer.
if someone believes the deer and the sheep, or a rhino, or tiger, or panda are all the same does that apply to all others "wrongs". is lying that your wife looks thinner the same as telling the cops you did not see the murder take place when you did. both are lying and both are intentional.
degree and impact matters in all these things which is why consequences are not universal.
the penalty for texting and driving if you get in a fender-bender is not the same as if you strike three kindergartners in a crosswalk, but the action was the same.
My father a us Marine Corps officer Would litterly beat into me the meaning of principles, morals, ethics, whenever I screwed up as a kid growing up. He would explain to me some of the things he saw starving people do in Korea and nam that in their situation was """understandable"""there's nothing understandable about this situation.
Rocky D exactly. Poaching a rare species as opposed to a ubiquitous one is more deplorable.
"An estimated 175 desert bighorns inhabit the Dolores River corridor in Montezuma, Montrose, San Miguel and Dolores counties. Statewide, the population is estimated at 540."
Hadn't realized there were desert bighorns in Colorado, been a while since I've read Colorado regs, I assume there is no open hunting season?
There is a season. Around 14 tags total.
Both are wrong but I see poaching a mature male for a trophy as worse then poaching a doe to eat.
Yes there is an open season, I think there are no points for desert sheep? Or you have to pick desert of rocky?
In my home state the poaching fines are progressive based on the class of animal, the bigger the buck, the more you pay.
GG if someone stole your pen, vs swindled you out of your life's savings and stole everything you own the penalty should be the same right?
I don't agree with DanaC on much of anything, but the post above about scarcity and penalty I do as it's precisely the reason.
GG - you're not as sage as you want many to think you are...
Is gut shooting a bull and wasting all the meat and just taking the rack almost the same thing? asking for a friend.
Is gut shooting a bull, searching for the better part of three days and by chance finding it, the same? And I ain't asking for a friend. I'm asking cuz you're a dick.
Pouring the coals to him!
Bowbender how about the guys shooting multiple bulls with their bows before actually finding and tagging one? I'm also glad you finally confirmed the bull had been gut shot
"I'm also glad you finally confirmed the bull had been gut shot"
IIRC, it was a liver shot. Oh, and did GG shoot mutliple bulls that year? Can we add slander to being a dick? BTW, I don't agree with GG on on his assessment on all types poaching being equal.
The State of Colorado has already determined that poaching trophy animals is a much greater offense than poaching a lesser animal, and carries an automatic big fine depending upon the species. It's called the "Samson Law", named after a big bull elk poached in Estes Park.
