Budget cuts mean fewer OSP Fish, Game troopers hunting for poachers

Anti-poaching initiative says numbers probably much higher than reported

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- As the hunting season kicks off in Oregon, many will buy tags and set out in hopes of feeding their families. However, while this is going on, others are out poaching -- and they might even do it in plain sight during hunting season, with fewer troopers out trying to catch them.

Tyler Dungannon, conservation coordinator with the Oregon Hunters Association, said, "A lot of poaching occurs during legal harvest seasons. Simply put, a poacher can go out and kill a bull or a buck and have it in the back of a truck, and folks in town won’t bat an eye -- and I think that works in poachers; advantage."

Dungannon explained that the numbers can be astounding.

"OHA actively fights the illegal taking of wildlife of Oregon, which in some areas is found to exceed the annual legal harvest," he said. "Poachers are thieves, simply put, who rob all Oregonians of our wildlife."

According to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, each year, about 350 deer will be poached, as will 270 elk, 15 antelope, 25 turkeys and thousands of fish.

And Yvonne Shaw, anti-poaching campaign coordinator with the Oregon Department Of Fish And Wildlife, said those numbers are likely just a fraction of the real toll. 

"Good to remember, we don’t catch most people who do this," she said. "This isn’t just big game -- this anti-poaching initiative is about wildlife and fish, and birds of prey as well."

Now the state is dealing with a new challenge.  As the Oregon State Police took more budget cuts this year,  the department has in resources.

According to ODFW, 15 officers have been removed from patrolling and investigating poaching, including cases linked to the black market. 

Shaw explained "Animals like bears, for instance -- their gallbladders can be sold on the black market, as can their paws and their heads, so it’s not necessarily for meat."

ODFW is once again asking everyone to do their part in reporting these crimes.

"A big part of what we want to do, is when you come across something out in the forest or in the waterways or out in the field, please call the Oregon State Police"

More information on the Turn-In-Poachers (TIP) reward program can be found here.