BigGameHunt.net Hunting Forums

[moderator]

October Poll
Should Wildlife Officers Be Allowed To Use Big Game Decoys?

Big game decoys are increasingly being used by wildlife officers for law enforcement.

In Idaho: Big Game Decoys Used in Law Enforcement

In Wyoming: Whitetail Decoy Nets 31 Violations

Is this entrapment or a simple way to catch unethical hunters?

[ This Message was edited by: moderator on 2002-10-04 13:28 ]

[Arrowhead]

Don't Poach! That's all there is to it.
Who cares what method they use, unless your a poacher.

[ChesterGolf]

Its not entrapment. If you shoot at the decoy you are knowingly breaking the laws, period. The decoys are setup to get rid of the hunters that shouldn't be hunters! I hope they use them more so they weed out the bad apples quicker. Don't poach and you have nothing to worry about.

[bitmasher]

I have no problem with the use of decoys to catch poachers. I don't think poaching is necessarily unethical, but it is unlawful, robbing the rest of us of a chance to hunt that also pay our dues.

I have a problem with law enforcement placing a trophy class decoy near a road for the soul purpose of catching people that are not wearing hunter orange or are not stepping far enough away from their vehicle when they shoot.

So it sounds like these decoys are being used more than to catch poachers.

[ChesterGolf]

The law is the law and is there for the safety of all of us. If we, as hunters, can't obey some simple, realistic rules then how can we tell non-hunters that we are ethical up-standing citizens. These decoys work well because hunters are trying to cut corners on their hunting instead going the extra mile to do it right. If you don't break the law these decoys will never matter... if you do break the law you should be caught by any means the rangers can use. We use decoys to catch deer, ducks, geese, turkeys, etc. and don't think it is a problem so why is it a problem when they are used on us?

[btilley2001]

I dont think that decoys should be legal. I don't think that poaching is legal, but there is a lot of things that "could" go wrong, including someone getting killed or injured, due to a miss or ricochet from a bullet that misses the decoy.

[ChesterGolf]

It isn't safe, that is the whole reason why the wardens are trying to catch these "hunters". They don't practice safe shooting if they are shooting at a placed decoy and endanger our lives and our sport.

[Chuck]

btilley, why is it anymore unsafe than YOU hunting?
You should NEVER shoot at anything, unless you know your target and beyond!
That means don't shoot if you unsure of where it will go if you barely miss, or after it goes through the animal/target you intend to shoot.

[bitmasher]

While I don't see how missed shots or ricochets are more likely w/ or w/o decoys. I do think that planting decoys is helping to create an unsafe situation.

For instance, in the Wyoming case above, most of the citations were for shooting from the road. As others have pointed out, shooting from the road is unsafe. If the decoy had not been in the field, it is most likely that no shots would be taken from the road.

Now some will point out, just like the Judge quoted in the Wyoming article, that the mere presense of a decoy does not "incite crime", basically stating that the decoy is not "asking to be shot at". This is true; but clearly in order to catch road shooters the wildlife officers are hoping the would be crime committer will in fact take a shot while the officers are watching and can bust the offender.

Therefore, the wildlife officers want an unsafe situation to occur in their presence. Otherwise, why would they buy the decoy and sit in the field for hours on end? I really don't think it is because they do not want to catch anybody. The whole arguement for using decoys is that you are catching people that would do the same thing in a "real" setting.

Thus the wildlife officers are aiding and abetting an unsafe situation, a situation that will most likely occur w/ the decoy and might not have occured w/o the decoy. Are the wildlife officers causing the unsafe situation? No, because the offender takes the shot. However the officers are creating the situation in which the shot is taken.

The use of decoys is questionable at best. Why not just use the time spent watching decoys, catching people that are unequivocally committing crimes?

[bitmasher]

For the record, even though this is off-topic, I want to state that this quote in the Wyoming article is complete crap:

Quote:
Hunting is a part of our heritage, but it is not a right...

[ChesterGolf]

" As others have pointed out, shooting from the road is unsafe. If the decoy had not been in the field, it is most likely that no shots would be taken from the road."


It is true that that particular shot would not be taken but the mere fact that that hunter was willing to take that shot means he/she would take that shot on a real deer that may be 500 yds up the road which may endager lives. The decoys are put in controlled areas to minimize the danger.

[expatriate]

Road hunters give bad PR to our support, and I don't have a problem with F&G going after them.

However, the decoy issue raises an interesting question: If shooting from the road is so dangerous, should game wardens be encouraging it? If we're worried that road hunters will injure themselves or another by shooting at a live deer, is it responsible for game wardens to create those conditions with decoys? I'm wondering what happens if somebody with a case of buck fever has an accidental discharge in a vehicle while scrambling for a rifle. I'm not sure the game wardens could say with clean conscience that the hunter got what was coming to him.

[12ga. mag.]

we wouldn't want someone to rustle our cattle, so why should we let them hunt illegal?, catch them by whatever means it takes!

[chechatonga]

I say heck yes, there are so many "slob" hunters out there, use any and all means to zap them. Amen