Poaching is the illegal taking of wildlife and ranks among the most egregious of wildlife crimes.
This illegal and unethical activity comes in many forms including:
hunting without a license
shooting endangered animals
hunting outside of legal hours or seasons
using incorrect weaponry
illegal use of baiting
spotlighting
trespassing
and filling a tag not your own
Poaching robs sportsmen and women as well as everyday citizens of opportunities to view and pursue wildlife. And it demeans our renewable, wild natural resources.
Poaching is NOT hunting!
Hunting is tightly regulated and controlled. It is a highly effective game management tool utilized by biologists and game managers to keep populations, both predator and prey, in check with available habitat.
When it comes to cracking down on poaching, hunters are the first-line of defense.
Spread across hills, mountains, river bottoms, fields and waterways, hunters cover the landscape in ways state wildlife agencies simply cannot.
Those agencies provide printed or online hunting regulations to continually stress the importance of hunters to be vigilant and aware of happenings around them.
They also provide hunters with poaching hotline numbers.
When afield, hunters often contact game wardens to report suspicious or illegal activity.
Wardens then work with those hunters to acquire additional information or testimony to identify, capture and cite offenders.
Maintaining the integrity of the hunt, promoting conservation and valuing wildlife, it’s more than evident that Hunting Is Conservation.