Just Down the Road

 While sitting at the computer working on an ostrich article, a shotgun blast startled me. It was 5:30 pm, pitch dark, the first Sunday of New York deer hunting season. I grabbed a spotlight, ran across the yard, and noticed a vehicle parked in a nearby field. Lights turned on and it began moving. I jumped in my pickup and managed to cut the vehicle off as it left the field. 

 Two young hunters claimed they were "getting their deer" and that someone on a four-wheeler fired the shot I heard.  Junior was the someone riding around, without a gun, looking for coyotes.  By now I was fuming and asked to see the deer - was it tagged and how warm was it?  They fiercely told me what they thought of me and sped off.

 The day before deer season opened there was a witnessed poaching incident on a nearby road. A gun protruded from a vehicle window and a six-point buck dropped. There was no sound thanks to a silencer.  After being spotted, the poacher fled.  Authorities were standing around the scene when the killer returned for the body; he made a quick about-face and eluded capture.

 Poaching of all types of game is rampant all year long in our county.  Two conservation officers are responsible for more than 500 square miles of rural land. Since these dedicated men can't be everywhere at once, poachers have a wide playing field with a very slim chance of being caught.  

 Every year someone drops off a plastic bag with deer legs and a doe's head in a secluded area along our road. This afternoon I noticed three deer carcasses, with the choice meat removed, in a ditch not far from that area. When the shotgun blast caught my attention this evening I was in a fighting mood. 

 Farmers and most rural and suburban dwellers experience various types of deer damage. Mr. R has seen more than one-hundred deer at a time chomping on his hayfields. A few neighbors have resorted to putting electric fencing around their landscaping. Two winters in a row deer attacked specific shrubs in our yard. Last year deer destroyed much of my vegetable garden. A deer damaged a friend's water garden when it fell in the pond while trying to eat water lilies. Driving has become increasingly hazardous. We often hear about deer-related accidents ranging from minor to deadly for deer/vehicle/driver and passengers.  In 2002 deer hit both of our family vehicles. 

 In an effort to reduce the deer population to a manageable level, NYS granted extra antlerless deer permits this season. Scientists are investigating alternative management programs including chemical birth control. People have no right to arbitrarily reduce game populations whenever and however they desire.

 Poaching is illegal, morally wrong, and potentially dangerous.  Poachers are often careless about how, when and where they shoot. Only in extreme cases do people "take game" out of season for survival.  Most steal as a form of recreation, to sell for profit, or to save on grocery money. If more people report suspected illegal activities, poachers might be less inclined to thumb their noses at the rest of us and our environment could be safer.