Pa.Snow Goose Poachers.

[redarrow]

Talk about greed.
http://www.americanhunter.org/articles/ ... ed-55-000/

[Grumpy]

Replacement costs, too many white geese now and Fand G is trying to figure out how to thin them down. Replacement cost aka judge's daughter needs a new car!

[HunterGKS]

"That particular point didn't hit home for five waterfowl hunters in Pennsylvania earlier this year, and now they're quite literally paying the price. "

This just pizzes me off no end!!!! These morons are not hunters!!!! They are nothing more than POACHERS, pure & simple!!!!

It's bad enough when the msm uses the term "hunters" when "poachers" is the correct term but when a hunting organization calls them hunters, it is unfathomable.

$55 k isn't enough of a fine, IMHO!!

[guesswho]

Wow. 55K?

[pedro]

In some other places that have liberal snow goose regs, that hunt would have been celebrated with high fives and memories of a long time. The non licensed hunter is wrong and should be punished. since the law exists and they broke it, they get what they deserve. If they decoyed that many birds in one hunt, that is an awesome feat. If they swatted them....well any one can do that.

[hookspur]

I must admit, I'm a little torn on this one. Snow geese flocks are grossly overpopulated (to the point that they're decimating the northern breeding grounds), so you can now use unplugged guns and electronic calls in the spring to stack them up like cordwood. Yet, these guys get busted for bag limit violations and fined $10,000 apiece.

By the letter of the law; I suppose they are guilty as charged.

But, I'm not so sure they were doing anything wrong morally, and feel like they maybe should've been given a pat on the back, instead of a game-law conviction.

I guess the best part is that 288 pounds of goose meat was donated to the Central PA Food Bank.

[ICDEDTURKES]

I must admit, I'm a little torn on this one. Snow geese flocks are grossly overpopulated (to the point that they're decimating the northern breeding grounds), so you can now use unplugged guns and electronic calls in the spring to stack them up like cordwood. Yet, these guys get busted for bag limit violations and fined $10,000 apiece.

By the letter of the law; I suppose they are guilty as charged.

But, I'm not so sure they were doing anything wrong morally, and feel like they maybe should've been given a pat on the back, instead of a game-law conviction.

I guess the best part is that 288 pounds of goose meat was donated to the Central PA Food Bank.

I am with you on this. Snows have essentially became a invasive species, ruining the tundra do to extreme overpopulation. The usfws has essentially declared war on them with no bag limit on spring hunts. The288 is not even that many as alot of folks creep dikes and kill many more than that.

I would bet the bulk of snow goose hunters are in violation of wanton waste laws. But guilty is guilty but maybe time for PA and USFWS to revisit the regulations.

Having a bag limit on snows right now is as stupid as having one for Asian carp or feral hogs.

[GLS]

Last year, a nearby quail plantation's employees were caught by feds killing hawks and owls by the bushel. The employees were doing so at the directives of management. Management was fined $250,000 with employees given considerably smaller fines.
http://www.islandpacket.com/2014/08/29/ ... oyees.html

[GobbleNut]

I agree with the thought that if there is such a big problem with snow goose over-population, and their numbers need to be drastically reduced, why worry about how many of them were killed in this instance? Having said that, rules are rules. These guys obviously had total disdain for hunting regulations in this case,....not by a little bit, but by a whole lot. As far as I am concerned they got off cheap. It didn't say whether they had their hunting privileges revoked, but they should have for a very long time.

What would we be saying if these guys had been caught shooting a whole lot of turkeys over the limit,...and how do we know that prior to this, they had not done that? We, as hunters, are on the hot seat in our society. There are a hell of a lot of folks that would like to see us extinct. Events like this, and the public attention that they garner, just polarize more and more of the public against us. Nobody should be defending this type of behavior, especially not us hunters.

Those guys are criminals, pure and simple,...and should be treated as such. Fortunately, they were stupid criminals. Anybody that does that amount of shooting where other people are around, and does not consider that it might attract attention,...well, let's just say that their IQ's must be about the same level as their lowly behavior.

[drenalinld]

Snows should not be a regulated game bird!

Laws are laws.

[Burney Mac]

Not condoning the fact that they broke the law, wrong is wrong.

However, there is a reason they are called "sky carp".

[Hoobilly]

I look at snow geese like I do cats


They should just carpet bomb them until they are at a manageable level

[blunderbuss]

Snows shouldn't have a limit. We have the same problem here on Lake Ontario with Canadas and Cormorants. They are beyond a nuisance.

[snapper1982]

"That particular point didn't hit home for five waterfowl hunters in Pennsylvania earlier this year, and now they're quite literally paying the price. "

This just pizzes me off no end!!!! These morons are not hunters!!!! They are nothing more than POACHERS, pure & simple!!!!

It's bad enough when the msm uses the term "hunters" when "poachers" is the correct term but when a hunting organization calls them hunters, it is unfathomable.

$55 k isn't enough of a fine, IMHO!!

I don't agree with you on this. These geese are grossly over populated and if hunters ain't allowed in all states to deal with it then eventually Mother Nature will in the way of starvation and disease. While they did break pa law and should pay something for that the fines are way to steep for the violation. They want a reason to fine people that much then they should hit the elk poachers harder. They did nothing morally wrong. They are hunters who managed to pull off a huge feat that is the norm in other states.

On another note what separates a hunter from a poacher? Opportunity is the answer. What if you was working a bird he stepped in and you couldn't move to look at the time but think you are ok and kill it only to find out you was 1 minute past time. Now no matter what you decide to do YOU are a poacher and not a hunter because u killed it illegally. My point is just because they made a mistake does not mean they ain't hunters nor does it mean they did not have the well being of the wildlife in their interests. They simply had a lapse in judgement and broke the law in that state.

[HunterGKS]

This went well beyond a mistake. They knowingly killed more than the law permitted. I don't care if there are 1 or a million geese, there is a limit set by the state & unless & until the law is changed, to kill over the limit is poaching. And it doesn't matter "what is the norm in other states." All that matters is that they willfully broke the law in that state where they were hunting.

What separates a hunter from a poacher is whether or not you obey the law. If you do, you are a hunter, if not, you are a poacher.

There is absolutely no way to justify the knowing & willful disregard for the law.

If these geese are such a problem, why not work with your states hunting groups & the DNRs & possibly the Feds as they are considered migratory birds (I think) to try to increase the bag limits, extend the seasons, or have a spring season. Anything but condoning the taking of birds well over the limit.

How do you think this occurrence & others like it of so called hunters flaunting the laws appears to non-hunters & worse yet, anti-hunters. It's just more arrows in their quivers to shoot at law abiding hunters.

[ICDEDTURKES]

"That particular point didn't hit home for five waterfowl hunters in Pennsylvania earlier this year, and now they're quite literally paying the price. "

This just pizzes me off no end!!!! These morons are not hunters!!!! They are nothing more than POACHERS, pure & simple!!!!

It's bad enough when the msm uses the term "hunters" when "poachers" is the correct term but when a hunting organization calls them hunters, it is unfathomable.

$55 k isn't enough of a fine, IMHO!!

I don't agree with you on this. These geese are grossly over populated and if hunters ain't allowed in all states to deal with it then eventually Mother Nature will in the way of starvation and disease. While they did break pa law and should pay something for that the fines are way to steep for the violation. They want a reason to fine people that much then they should hit the elk poachers harder. They did nothing morally wrong. They are hunters who managed to pull off a huge feat that is the norm in other states.

On another note what separates a hunter from a poacher? Opportunity is the answer. What if you was working a bird he stepped in and you couldn't move to look at the time but think you are ok and kill it only to find out you was 1 minute past time. Now no matter what you decide to do YOU are a poacher and not a hunter because u killed it illegally. My point is just because they made a mistake does not mean they ain't hunters nor does it mean they did not have the well being of the wildlife in their interests. They simply had a lapse in judgement and broke the law in that state.

Agree totally only crime is states or Fed's not paying a bounty on them until under controlled levels.

[GobbleNut]

This went well beyond a mistake. They knowingly killed more than the law permitted. I don't care if there are 1 or a million geese, there is a limit set by the state & unless & until the law is changed, to kill over the limit is poaching. And it doesn't matter "what is the norm in other states." All that matters is that they willfully broke the law in that state where they were hunting.

What separates a hunter from a poacher is whether or not you obey the law. If you do, you are a hunter, if not, you are a poacher.

There is absolutely no way to justify the knowing & willful disregard for the law.

If these geese are such a problem, why not work with your states hunting groups & the DNRs & possibly the Feds as they are considered migratory birds (I think) to try to increase the bag limits, extend the seasons, or have a spring season. Anything but condoning the taking of birds well over the limit.

How do you think this occurrence & others like it of so called hunters flaunting the laws appears to non-hunters & worse yet, anti-hunters. It's just more arrows in their quivers to shoot at law abiding hunters.

Well stated, George. Lawful hunters should never defend stuff like this, regardless of whether they agree with the law or not. If you don't like the law, work to get it changed,....but don't jeopardize the future of legal hunting in the U.S.,...a future that will be determined by the general public,... by condoning this type of crap.

[HunterGKS]

Well stated, George. Lawful hunters should never defend stuff like this, regardless of whether they agree with the law or not. If you don't like the law, work to get it changed,....but don't jeopardize the future of legal hunting in the U.S.,...a future that will be determined by the general public,... by condoning this type of crap.

Thx. You managed to say what I was trying to get across in a lot fewer words & more to the point. I appreciate it.

[blunderbuss]

Not condoning the fact that they broke the law, wrong is wrong.

However, there is a reason they are called "sky carp".

If our ancestors felt this way we'd all be speaking the Queen's English!

[pedro]

Not condoning the fact that they broke the law, wrong is wrong.

However, there is a reason they are called "sky carp".

Do the crime do the time. they should offer a bounty for snows. And for the sky carp thing... Grain fed snow geese are delectable table fare. Either you have not had one prepared for you correctly or you just say those things because that is what other people tell you.

[Burney Mac]

Not condoning the fact that they broke the law, wrong is wrong.

However, there is a reason they are called "sky carp".

Do the crime do the time. they should offer a bounty for snows. And for the sky carp thing... Grain fed snow geese are delectable table fare. Either you have not had one prepared for you correctly or you just say those things because that is what other people tell you.

My "sky carp" comment has nothing to do with how they taste or are prepared. I personally enjoy eating them.

[MKW]

I don't care about a damn snow goose...at all.

[MKW]

After reading through all this, one thing comes to mind. Some of y'all are sitting on a mighty high horse. Y'all must have never even broken the tiniest of game laws.
Ethics and morality should not even be discussed because you cannot legislate either. Lots of folks hunt turkeys in ways that I personally consider unethical, but it's not a crime.

[GobbleNut]

After reading through all this, one thing comes to mind. Some of y'all are sitting on a mighty high horse. Y'all must have never even broken the tiniest of game laws.
Ethics and morality should not even be discussed because you cannot legislate either. Lots of folks hunt turkeys in ways that I personally consider unethical, but it's not a crime.

Yes, but the difference here is that this incident was a crime,...and a rather significant one, at that. There is no consideration of ethics here at all. And yes, although ethics cannot be legislated, we in the hunting community can instill and promote ethical behavior through peer pressure and condemnation of stuff like this. ...Besides, I really like my mighty high horse.....

[MKW]

Yes, I know it was a crime...they shot over the limit of a worthless, destructive bird...so what?? Since I don't have to pay the ticket, I don't take it too seriously. I'm certainly not going to condemn these guy as terrible sportsmen or low-life poachers. I might have done the same as them if I were there, I don't know, but I like killing stuff.