'Robo-Bambi' deer decoys are great at duping poachers who are road hunting
It is unfortunate that the ethical conduct of a few hunters has declined noticeably over the past couple of decades.
Oh, many of these guys may hunt in a "normal" fashion by walking or taking a stand in some woodland, for the first three or four hours of their first day afield. And, some of them will actually spend the first few hours of each of their other days afield hunting legally.
But once boredom overwhelms the desire to hunt in a traditional (and acceptably ethical) manner, certain other less ethical and completely illegal hunting methods are often employed.
For many of these so-called hunters, the method of choice is "road hunting."
Essentially this technique is that the hunter(s) drives slowly along rural roadways looking for deer. Most often their un-cased gun is carried unloaded, muzzle pointed at the floor and stock resting on the seat, and with the breech open.
One or more shells are carried in the passenger’s hand, ready to be slipped into the open breech. If a deer is spotted the “hunter” stops the vehicle, someone jumps out, quickly loads his gun and shoots at the animal. Occasionally the gun is loaded before the “hunter” actually jumps out. In any case, these guys demonstrate little regard for laws prohibiting shooting from or over a roadway, trespass or any other similar regulations or prohibitions.
One of the best law enforcement tools for combating this type of violation involves the use of a "decoy" deer which is usually a Styrofoam-filled full-sized, life-like "mounted" deer. Depending on the existing budget at the time a taxidermist does the mounting, some decoys have built-in motors to allow movement of the deer's head or to make its tail flick, adding even more realism to the scenario set up by some enterprising wildlife officers.
For instance during a recent late December day New York Environmental Conservation Officers (ECO’s) were using a decoy on a rural road in downstate New York. A pickup pulled up and the front-seat passenger aimed a rifle in front of the driver's head and out the driver-side window.
He fired one shot at the decoy, nearly destroying the driver's hearing in the process. (His head was less than 8 inches from that high-powered rifle’s muzzle when it went off.)
The passenger immediately jumped out with rifle in hand as the truck sped off down the road. While one officer approached and arrested the poacher-shooter near the decoy, the other officer stopped the pickup a short distance down the road.
He walked up to the driver's side. The truck's driver rolled down the window and questioned the officer as to why he had been stopped. The officer was more than happy to answer that question as the smoke and smell of burnt gunpowder filled the air of the cab and the hot brass cartridge case melted a hole in the truck's vinyl seat. Both paid heavy fines for their misdeeds.
The passenger (who did the actual shooting) was also a convicted felon, so he faced additional (and more serious) penalties as well.
One of these officers had another decoy case worth noting. Within 15 minutes of setting up the decoy, two guys pulled up in their auto, jumped out and opened fire on the poor Styrofoam creature.
They were both quickly apprehended and charged with shooting from a highway and having loaded guns in a vehicle. And the driver's only comment was a request that the officer hurry with writing the tickets. He stated he was on his lunch hour, and had to get back to work.
Road hunting is, unfortunately, a prevalent activity in some areas. On the last day of the regular deer season, DEC officers ran a two-hour deer decoy detail using "robo-Bambi," a motorized doe deer decoy. They arrested 11 subjects who fired a total of over 40 shots at that decoy.
And, the officers noted that less than 20% of the shots fired actually struck the stationary decoy. Only two of those “hits” would have resulted in a fatal wound in a live deer. Based on those statistics I think we might have a possible indicator as to why so many individuals take up road hunting. They can't hit a deer moving normally through wooded terrain, so they have to look for easier targets.
This law enforcement technique has actually been employed for a number of years, and it appears road hunters are now becoming more alert to the use of law enforcement decoys. The percentage of hunters stopping to observe the decoy without firing at it versus those who stop and shoot is increasing.
Field officers almost universally agree the reduction in decoy shooting incidents is due to the increasing suspicion of any deer along a country road as likely being a law enforcement decoy, not in any significant reduction in the number of individuals hoping to kill a cheap deer from the relative comfort of their vehicles.
The use of decoys by wildlife law enforcement agencies is an approved practice in at least 42 states. And the use of turkey and other wildlife decoys is also becoming more common.
In the future some unethical hunters will have to think twice before shooting at the gray squirrel that ran across the road or the grouse standing on a nearby log. And illicit anglers may in time have cause for similar concern if it becomes possible to develop a robotic salmon to help officers snag illegal snaggers.
We may even have bogus bluegills when that species finally receives the increased protection it deserves. As long as the ranks of hunters include that small segment of unethical individuals willing to do anything to bag their deer, decoys will remain as a viable and necessary tool for wildlife officers everywhere.
Know your opposition
Well, time for one funny wildlife story. It seems that a deer poacher in a southern state was pinched just moments after he shot at a deer decoy. He thought such an underhanded trick by the game wardens was grossly unfair, and told the judge so in no uncertain terms.
The judge was not amused, and dropped the gavel on our poor, wayward crook to the tune of $1,100. The guy paid and left that courthouse with revenge on his mind.
I’ll give him this, he sure was a patient sort of guy. Two days before the deer season opened the following fall, he was seen “cleaning up” a skinned, headless deer hanging from an oak tree in his front yard. The local officer received more than a few phone calls on that one, you can bet.
So he drove on over, and when he pulled into the guy’s driveway he clearly saw the deer hanging there. There wasn’t a tag in sight, either. So he got out of his car and walked over to the hanging deer as the suspect came out of his house.
As the guy walked up the officer was finishing his careful inspection of the carcass. Then, he turned and walked back to his car, telling the poacher “have a nice day” as he passed.
But he immediately got back out of the car and approached the suspect. “That’s a nice, big goat you have hanging there. I’d like to see the receipt for it if you don’t mind.”
The officer saw the look of disbelief in the guy’s eyes as he pulled a piece of paper out of his shirt pocket and handed it over. The officer noted the farmer’s name and address, then handed the receipt back to the man.
Why did the guy buy a goat, skin it, and hang it up in his front yard, you might be asking yourself?
Because he wanted the officer to seize it and arrest him. He would have had a great deal of fun at the officer’s expense, and the warden would have been the brunt of many jokes locally. Since a skinned goat looks an awful lot like a skinned deer, his plan might have worked.
If, that is, the warden had not been an old farm boy who used to raise goats for show at the various county and state fairs. That officer observed some hairs stuck to the carcass, and immediately recognized them for what they were.
One other note about this case is worth mentioning. The check used to pay the farmer for the goat bounced, and he was soon arrested and charged with that violation.
Hey, just thought you might like to know. Smiles anyone?
Len Lisenbee is the Daily Messenger's Outdoor Columnist. Contact him at lisenbee@frontiernet.net
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Deer decoys help reduce incidents of road hunting by poachers in NY
