killed a doe this a.m.- but now I'm mad! Pics up!

[Smallwood]

No one is above the law!!!
Especially those people in the law enforcement community, one bad apple seems to taint the whole batch.
I would strongly suggest you contact the game warden and let him worry about who works where. If they did shoot that buck on your hunting property illegally, there should be some blood sign that he can take dna samples of to prove that it was poached.

[Mike Bolin]

Smallwood, I did make the call to the C.O. I was told that unless I witnessed the actual shot, there was nothing their office could do. The Conservation Officers here in Indiana are awfully hard to find at this time of year (gun season) and I sometimes get the impression that the general feeling is that we have too many deer anyway. I guess all I can do is take satisfaction in the fact that my hunting buddies and I do things by the book and in the grand scheme of things, that's what matters. Mike

[Mike Bolin]

got a pm from a guy looking for this thread...so ttt

[30coupe]

I would maybe contact the state trooper's supervisor. He might be interested to know that one of his officers is a poacher, even if you can't "prove" it. Image is important to them, so you might at least make things uncomfortable for the a..hole.

[bowdude]

Flat tires in cases like this speak loudly also.

[GingivitisKahn]

Good job, Charlie.  I called on a couple of poachers last year as well.  Irritating stuff.  >:-(

[Brian Krebs]

Shauns right of course    

I have seen a lot of people hunt over the years; and those that cheat- they lose something.
 
 I still get a thrill from seeing a deer; I see them everyday- even the does are neat; and they still taste good.

 But guys that cheat; they wear out over the years. They get tired of their own lies; and they tend to find another way to prove their superiority.
 
  Its a shame you lost a chance at that buck; but there will be another.
  Enjoy your doe - you earned it    and congrats.

[saywhat?]

Karma.  I am a big believer in Karma.  It will eventually catch up to them.  Congrats on doing it the right way.

The 400 acres surrounding my honey hole just changed hands.  They were running deer on the first morning of shotgun season, blaring music from the trucks in their "camp" by 7:15 in the morning and cruising the roads at night real slow with their lights off.  I just don't get it, but Karma does.

[Tom Leemans]

If they are doing anything illegal, tresspassing, poaching (guns out of season, etc.), report them to the DNR police. They may not get them now, but it all catches up with them sooner or later. The DNR officers I know like to take their time and build cases on guys like these and nail them good!

[Tim]

Hello Mike....haven't talked to you for awhile but it looks like everything is going "well" for you.  The trespassing issue is everywhere you go and seems to be getting worse.  Try not to let it get the best of you and ruin your time out in the woods!

Have a great Thanksgiving and shoot me an email with another update in a few weeks.

Tim

[The Night Stalker]

I have to agree with 30coupe, if the man is a trooper, he is held to a higher set of standards and actually in some states they act as a game warden. Drop a bug in his commanders ear and he will be forced to address the issue. They don't want to have corrective action against then or they might get their blue light taken away. Tim in NC.
Great shot on the doe, I love shooting those long nose does.

[Mike Bolin]

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. I have talked myself out my "payback" mode. I have talked with the CO's here and didn't get much satisfaction. As far as talking with the State Police, I will try to make contact sometime this weekend. Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving! Mike

[hoebow]

When I was a kid my step dad took me into a area to hunt that was goverment owned and high fenced. A large tract of land never hunted, with the biggest bucks you could imagine. That was too much temptation for my step dad. We took his beloved recurve and headed under the fence. He had taken 18 deer with that old recurve up until that day. Well long story short we got caught. This was in 1974. The folks that caught us fined my step dad $15 and took his beloved bow. They sent him a picture of it cut into three pieces about a week later. He still talks about how good that old bear bow was and how he never has quite replaced it. I was 8 years old. I learned right then Poaching is not worth it. Thought I would share. sorry about your poaching cop I am leaning toward the gravel.

[Brian Krebs]

then there was a big eared guy with his buddy that snuck onto a private hunt club property. A blue jay started ratting them off; and one guy shot an arrow at it- hitting the limb it was sitting on. The arrow had his name on it.
 What do you think of that kind of guy ?

[Wulomac]

What Shaun said!!  Always pays you back!!

[Dryrot]

Some times I wonder if the ethical hunter, the one who respects the quarry, game laws and private property is part of a fading minority. It seems for every ethical hunter I know I can list 5-6 slob hunters that I know\\routinely violate game laws, including relatives. I've called on a number of them but have never seen anything done about it, and sometimes I wonder if the Game Ranger tells the scumbags who called on them.
Its just depressing.

[Dave Bulla]

30 coupe and Nightstalker have the answer.

Having done a short stint in federal law enforcement I can cettainly attest that at least at that level, people are held to a higher standard.  If you can contact his comander, especially if you can provide hard data like the make, model, color and license number of the vehicle it will go a long way in helping your case.  

I suspect that what will happen will be one of two things.  Either way, the officer in question will get called on the carpet and have to explain himself which he may or may not do to his boss's satisfaction.  The key though is that his boss won't forget it.

Now in the first case, the officer will buffalo his boss to get out of trouble but out of fear will not come back to hunt your private land because he will be afraid to.

In the second case, he'll be ticked off and after he BS's his boss, at some point he will be back to hunt just because he's that kind of guy.  That's where you come in.  If you can catch him in the act AFTER you've been to his boss you've pretty much got him.  May be easier said than done though.

Also, if you can, when you do go to his boss the first time, you may be able to get some sort of written statement of your complaint.  If you catch him there again and you go to his boss and by some chance he doesn't want to do anything to his employee for personal reasons, I'd take to the local paper or at least make that threat.

I know this sounds like you are going out looking for trouble but the way I see it is if you know you are right, you shouldn't back down to him just because he's a police officer.  Kinda the old "All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."

But through it all, don't loose your cool and be sure to act responsibly.

[Dave Bulla]

Oh yea, if you can get a picture of him on the property (with or without a deer) that would be a huge help.  It really is impossible for him to argue.  

After all, he can't say he wasn't "standing right there by that tree with the gnarly branch" in the photo.  You know, the tree you can walk the officer right to in the woods ON YOUR PROPERTY....