Hunt report / A confrontation with poachers.

[NM_Shooter]

Got back from BLOK last night from elk hunting.  My guest shot a cow, I quit hunting when he did...we are keeping a little (backstraps and enough for sausage / jerky) donating the meat and only needed one elk.  There are some nice bulls on the property.  I saw one on opening morning in the meadow by the lake, but I was driving up to the ridge instead of hunting and he skedaddled out of the meadow before I could get out of the truck.  Saw some other bulls but was unable to get a clear shot. 

Talk about a lot of work.  We spent 3 days hiking at 10,000 feet of elevation in 20mph winds up and down hills.  Sunburned, windchapped, and sore.  Then he shot this cow deep in the woods and the "fun" was over.  He shot it at 6pm, (it fell between two downed trees to add to our fun) we gutted it by headlight, went back to camp to have dinner, and spent the next 5 hours making trips up and down through the woods via lantern and gps to cut the elk up and pack it out....uphill, in the brush, and dark     We routinely lost the trail on the way out.  To add even more fun, we lost the elk tag on one of the trips up the hill, and spent a lot of time searching for the tag in the dark.  We finally found it Sunday morning at 9:00.  Then we spent 3 hours skinning quarters, "cleaning" meat and getting it on ice.



Snowed a little on Saturday night and Sunday.  Just spot flurries.  Very, very windy.  A bit chilly too.  Did I mention it was windy?

Came down from hunting on Thursday at noon and noticed a strange truck parked on the pond dam.  My hunting partner had just driven up to my cabin.  I noticed that the folks at the truck were hurrying to get all their stuff packed up in the truck; I thought that I would go down and see who it was.  I didn't recognize any of the three guys in the truck (older, retired types), and I started to ask them questions. I pretty quickly figured out that they were poaching our lake.  First they tried to tell me that they were guests of one of the owners.  They said "we are staying with the guy who lives in that cabin over there"..... and pointed up the meadow.  But they could not come up with the name of any of the owners. 

Then they asked me who the hell I was and what right I had to be there.  I got a bit upset at that point and told them that they were trespassing, poaching, and that they were not welcome on the property.  More arguments from them... "but this used to be public land"... and my favorite..."but those are native trout in the pond, right?". 

They refused to tell me who they were, or how they got on the property.  I asked to see their ID, and they told me I had no right to ask (OK.... How about if my buddy Mr. Colt asks?)

I could not figure out why they were not leaving.  They finally started up their truck and went to drive off.  I followed them, and when they got below the dam, they stopped.  I got out again, and they told me that they had one more buddy who was fishing the stream (Grrrr.......).  So I went down to the stream, and this other old guy went to go hide behind a tree.  I just yelled at him to get the hell out.  He came up to the truck, and would not even look at me.  I think I recognized the last guy.... He was fly fishing, and I think I saw him fly fishing on a neighboring property one day.  He has a full head of white hair, and tends to dress up when he fly fishes... waders, creel, and all.  (Waders?  For a stream that is 3' across and 6" deep?)

They drove over the laydown fences on the way out.  I suspect that they are friends with the neighbor to the North, who has been poaching our land for quite awhile.   Unfortunately, we can't be on the property as much as we like.   I need to figure out how to best deal with this issue.  If we piss the neighbor off, it is quite likely that he will do something vindictive to our property.  I guess game cameras to monitor are a good start, but as remote as this is, it would not be a problem to really mess us up if he wanted to.

Damn neighbors.

[NM_Shooter]

P.S.  Thank God for Oxy-clean!

[NM_Shooter]

Heard back from the game warden.  The plate number we gave him was supposed to be on a Ford, not a Dodge.  Looks like the old b@stards swap plates before they do their poaching.

[peternap]

Sounds like the hunting was good anyway.

Good luck with the poachers. Been dealing with it for year and they are just now deciding that I do mean business.
You might want to put out some game cameras.

[MountainDon]

My sympathies on the poachers. That can be hard to deal with when you are so far away. The locals up there also likely think of the BLOK ranch folk as rich city slickers or whatever, consider you outsiders and will go out of their way to protect each other. At least they're not cooking meth on your land. I had a run in with a druggie up there many years ago. The event prompted the purchase of that short nose 45 LC of mine.

Game cameras are a start but your place is so large where do you place them? Do you have to pass through the neighbor's land to access BLOK?

G/L.

[NM_Shooter]

The locals up there also likely think of the BLOK ranch folk as rich city slickers or whatever, consider you outsiders and will go out of their way to protect each other.

You are right on the money with that one.  There are two owner types up there.  Those who received the land from their ancestors through the Tierra Amarilla land grant, and those who have (fairly recently) purchased the land. 

I have a couple of "funnel" areas that traffic flows through, both pedestrian and automobile.  I will need to buy a cheap camera with a locking mechanism, as I am sure that they will get vandalized or shot.  I doubt that they will be able to hit the memory card though. 

On a side note, I spent the evening cutting up the backstraps and the filets on that cow.  I cut some of the filet into medallions, and marinated them in worchester sauce, olive oil, and McCormic's seasoning.  Just pan fried some up a little bit ago.  Oh my.  I am regretting not shooting another elk now.  Surprising how different grass fed elk can taste compared to the elk from high desert areas. 

Rest of the critter goes to Green Valley meat tomorrow to be made into sausage, jerky, and burger.

Mmmmmmmm.