guilty by association, sharing tags....

[Velzey]

How is it poaching when someone is tagging it?

If a person shoots and doesnt tag it, then yep its poaching. And poachers dont really care about hunting seasons.


I think we should talk about some hunters from south of the boarder that drive around in vans in the coast range. u know the ones that stopped and showed me a huge deer they shot that was actually a bull elk...

 

[jbett98]

I believe the rules are as follows.
You must possess a valid hunting license and a valid harvest tag for that area and dates.
If you manage to harvest an animal for the valid tag, you must immediately tag the animal.
You are done hunting unless you possess another valid tag for some other game animal.
You can't keep hunting for anyone else, because you have filled your tag.

 

[unklekippy]

I would imagine if you were the lone "tagless" guy in a group of hunters with tags, the implication could go a bit farther. I was arguing from the point of being in my backyard, which turns into the Winema National Forest. If I go into my woods with a rifle, I will not get a poaching charge unless I actually poach or admit that I was doing as such. If I'm with my Uncle, Brother-In-Law and Cousin, all possessing tags but lil' old me, I'd be up bubblegum creek and deservedly so.

I wish we could just trust that people won't be d-bags and leave good animals to rot while carefully preserving the head. I'm a meat hunter. I am more than happy if that meat has a nice trophy on it, but I will NEVER pass up a big bodied deer for a slightly better rack. I begrudge no man that feeds his family, tag or not. I have seen so much waste since moving to Sprague River Highway in April. I hate seeing elk left where they died, the only disturbance to saw off the antlers and if it was lucky, crudely cut out the backstrap and really lucky the tenderloins.

 

[Koda]

My original question has been answered but the discussion of ethics of tag sharing I'll go out on a limb an offer my opinion and its just that... based on ~25 years of big game hunting in Oregon legally (not tag sharing and coming home skunked sometimes because of it). I could be wrong and have no science or source to back anything up, so if im wrong politely correct and maybe I'll learn something new...

How is it poaching when someone is tagging it?

I don't view tag sharing, or group hunting necessarily in the same class as outright poaching. But its against the law so according to the law its in the same class penalty wise. Me personally I hunt for food only (if my kill happens to have a 'trophy' rack well cool beans) so I understand the value of a freezer full of meat and I think this is why most hunting parties group hunt/tag share for, group hunting is a way more efficient way to fill everyone's freezer and maybe from a sustenance point of view I don't see it unethical or the same as outright poaching. Done correctly, group hunting is more efficient at harvesting big game than solo hunting IMO the odds of getting another go up after each group kill. My opinion right now is given the efficiency of group hunting it has a similar impact on the big game population as outright poaching the bottom line is the impact on the herd population.

Now I understand that while its legal in some other states it's obviously not in Oregon and so before I would vote for changing the law I would have to ask if it ever was once legal here and/or why its currently illegal. IOW's how would legalizing group hunting impact Oregons big game population? Given the impact on harvest, my guess is that group hunting plays a factor into why its illegal here in Oregon.

Ever wonder yourself what would happen to the deer/elk population if one year everyone who purchased a tag filled it? Currently in Western Oregon there is an unlimited number of deer and elk tags and I often wonder how the ODFW factors that into managing and sustaining the deer and elk population. Now if we allowed group hunting would Western Oregon have to switch to lottery draw tags like Eastern Oregon? If all the Eastern Oregon hunters were honest and did not group hunt, would we need the lottery system there anymore?

 

[RVTECH]

Currently in Western Oregon there is an unlimited number of deer and elk tags and I often wonder how the ODFW factors that into managing and sustaining the deer and elk population.

I doub't it gets factored in at all. The typical low success rate in Western Oregon is all the management they need.

I don't view tag sharing, or group hunting necessarily in the same class as outright poaching.

Neither do I but I do believe this is factored in the lottery units. While unofficial 'tag sharing' does take place there are probably enough hunters who adamantly abide by the law and do not allow it to happen therefor keeping all tags from being filled. I don't know the stats but it seems I read something once that showed the breakdown of unfilled tags and one of the largest numbers was the owner of the tag never actually making it into the field for whatever reasons.