By Steve Weisman

As an outdoor writer, I feel it’s a good idea to subscribe to the Iowa DNR’s press releases and updates. In that way, stuff that I think is important I can get out to the readers of the outdoor page. Often, I read reports of people caught breaking hunting and fishing laws. I truly believe these lawbreakers are destroying the natural resources that all of us who have fishing and hunting licenses have the opportunity to enjoy. I greatly appreciate the efforts of our law enforcement officials as they work diligently to protect these very resources.

One of those releases published by the Iowa DNR late last fall caught my eye, and I thought it was a good example about what we all can do to help our enforcement officers.

The release talked about the Iowa DNR getting an anonymous tip from another hunter about a man shooting trumpeter swans at Paul Errington Marsh, just east of Ankeny.

Shortly thereafter,Conservation Officer Dustin Eighmy arrived on the scene and saw the man shoot another swan. In all, the suspect ended up killing six trumpeter swans. When questioned, the suspect claimed he thought the swans were geese. Not the first time that I have heard this excuse.

The man was cited with six counts of illegal taking of a non-protected game and one count of an using an unplugged shotgun. If convicted, the man will face a $1,500 civil penalty per trumpeter swan. Officer Eighmy said, “Sadly, this isn’t uncommon lately, we’ve seen this happening more frequently so it’s very important that all hunters identify their target before pulling the trigger. We’re very thankful that a hunter knew to call to alert us of this poaching incident in a very timely manner.”

That was a single event, and thanks to another hunter, the conservation officer was able to make the arrest. It shows that each of us can have a positive impact on our environment. It seems several times every year, the DNR issues several of these poaching releases. Some are solved quickly, while there have been others that have taken years of investigation to bring down a poaching ring.

Here was one reported in July of 2018 by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service working in conjunction with the Iowa DNR. It was a scheme by out-of-state hunters (three generations of one family from Michigan) to poach trophy-sized white-tail deer with in-state landowners in Iowa’s Cedar County supplying the poachers with tags for any deer that were harvested by the group in exchange for fishing opportunities in Michigan.

A TIP leads to justice

One TIP led to the entire scheme unraveling. Over the course of the investigation, Iowa Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officer Eric Wright worked with special agents from Iowa and Michigan to uncover 19 white-tailed deer that were taken illegally, 17 of which were bucks. The investigative team also found that the Michigan residents never purchased, nor applied for, the required non-resident hunting privileges in the state of Iowa. By the time the investigation was done, it was revealed that this type of illegal activity had been going since 2002.

Through a plea agreement reached between the Cedar County (Iowa) Attorney’s Office and the defendants, the Michigan-based family agreed to pay more than $51,000 in fines and forfeit 17 deer mounts, as well as the two compound bows and a crossbow which were used to take the deer. Additionally, their opportunity to apply for out-of-state hunting permits in Iowa has been suspended for a minimum of three years. This plea agreement has a greater impact to their access to hunting across 46 other states, because Iowa is a member of the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact. This suspension may be observed in any of the other member states at the discretion of the appropriate authorities in those states. The three Iowa residents involved who knowingly aided and abetted the Michigan poachers cooperated fully throughout the investigation and agreed to pay fines totaling $780. Per the agreement, charges were not filed on the juveniles.

Doing the right thing

My thoughts? YES! As outdoor folks, we must remember that being able to be users of our natural resources is a privilege, not a right, and we need to act responsibly, follow the laws and regulations and respect the resource!

Yet, there is something about some people. It’s not about the resource and the experience. Rather, it’s about “how many can I catch or shoot or harvest?” It is the old mentality that “the fish were biting so good this morning that I have to go out again this afternoon and get another limit. They won’t be biting like this for long, and I have to get my share.” These law breakers just need to be able to keep a limit of fish and take it home for “bragging rights.” The old double dipping mentality.

Sadly enough, there is an answer for these law breakers. That’s why we have the philosophy of catch and release. Want to catch more fish? Then catch and safely release the fish back in the water! Their mentality, however, is “but then we can’t show the spoils to others!”

There’s also another old excuse by other violators. “Who do they think they are telling me how many I can take? I paid for my license, and it’s my right!” Obviously, they are way off base!

Then, of course, there are those who don’t even get a license and still fish and hunt, taking all the fish and game they want. Sadly enough, when caught, the violators become indignant and come up with excuses for those illegal actions. Now, here comes the hard part: being the person that witnesses the illegal actions and letting officials know. It’s easier to not get involved. You know, just ignore the situation and pretend it never happened. We don’t want to have a scene or have somebody get in our face for doing the right thing.

This is the DNR’s stance on these illegal actions: Put poachers out of business. The following is information taken from the Iowa DNR TIP (Turn in Poachers) website ((https://programs.iowadnr.gov/tip/).

Put poachers out of business

Poachers are thieves who are stealing our fish and wildlife resources. You, as a concerned citizen, can take an active role in helping Iowa DNR put these fish and wildlife thieves out of business. If you witness or even hear of poaching activity call the TIP HOTLINE (1-800/532-2020) and report it immediately. Or, complete our confidential online TIP form.

Earn a TIP Reward

• $150-small game, fish, birds and furbearing animals;
• $200-wild turkey and raptors;
• $300-deer, elk, moose and black bear;
• $1,000-threatened or endangered species or commercial poaching operations

Yes, we have our enforcement officers out there, but there are so many lakes and hunting areas both public and private that they simply cannot cover them all. They need our help to do what is right and to help protect our resources!