Download Poaching - Forestry Natural Resources and Wildlife - Lecture Slides and more Slides Wildlife Ecology in PDF only on Docsity! Poaching Docsity.com Poaching • We would like to inform you of its dangers. • When asked what the biggest problem in deer management, most landowners or hunting clubs say poachin’. Docsity.com BUSTED • Texas game wardens make an arrest and inspect evidence during an early morning deer poaching sting operation in South Texas. More than 100 charges were brought against 14 persons as a result of Operation Venado Macho. Docsity.com VENADO MACHO Most of the violations occurred in Webb County on well- known ranches, such as the Junco Ranch and Killiam Ranch, where undercover game wardens accompanied poachers on illegal trophy deer hunts. Other violations were documented in La Salle, McMullen and Duval counties. The undercover sting, called Operation Venado Macho, was initiated over a year ago in a cooperative effort between the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPW) law enforcement division and private landowners, whose intensively managed ranches have been prime targets for serious trophy deer poachers. (In Spanish, venado macho means "big deer.") Docsity.com HIGH-TECH • Texas game wardens inventory equipment seized during arrests of suspected deer poachers. Among the high- tech poaching gear recovered during Operation Venado Macho were night vision devices, pictured, as well as Global Positioning Systems (GPS), automatic weapons equipped with silencers, caches of supplies buried in remote areas of big ranches, cellular phones, and high- powered rifles with flashlights attached. Docsity.com ILLEGAL TROPHIES Undercover Texas game wardens documented the poaching of more than a dozen trophy South Texas white-tailed deer during a 17-month investigation, and filed more than 100 charges against 14 persons in Operation Venado Macho. Suspected poachers paid agents in cash and drugs in exchange for access to large South Texas ranches for night poaching. Docsity.com NO MORE FUN In an attempt to round up several of the poachers in one snare, undercover agents struck a deal for a late night hunt on the Junco Ranch and scheduled it for last night (the night of Feb. 4). Once arrangements were made to escort three of the more serious offenders on the list to a prime hunting pasture, more than a dozen wardens moved into place on another part of the ranch to try to catch the poachers on their way out. The landowner agreed to file trespass charges against the suspects. The Class B misdemeanor charge of hunting without landowner permission carries a $2,000 maximum fine and revocation of hunting and fishing license for one to five years if convicted. Docsity.com IS IT WORTH IT? • At approximately 11 p.m. last night, undercover agents accepted a bag of marijuana for facilitating the trip, and were promised $500-to-$1,000 in cash should the poachers kill a trophy buck. By 3 a.m., the poachers had not been successful and, as they headed out of the ranch, were surrounded by vehicles with red and blue flashing lights. The three were arrested without incident and wardens recovered various drugs, night vision equipment and a high-powered rifle with a flashlight mounted to the stock. Docsity.com
