High Tech Poachers

87Flyfisher

5:44p, 5/4/24

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/VDwUyqJFcxbfoYsh/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Jefferson County is NE of Wichita Falls. l

On February 25, 2024, at approximately 01:30 hours, Jefferson County Game Warden Tucker Clem, witnessed a truck slow rolling a county road in Jefferson County with no headlights on. Warden Clem conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle. During his investigation, he discovered that the truck had a vehicle-mounted thermal on top of the roof that was being operated on the county road. On the truck's dash was an iPad displaying a live feed thermal video of the county road. There were 4 subjects in the vehicle and each one had in their possession an AR-15-style rifle with a suppressor and mounted thermal scopes. The subjects in the truck advised that they were hunting with an Outfitter out of Jefferson County.
Warden Clem issued citations for: Operating a motor vehicle without headlights, Spotlighting, and Hunting with the aid of a motor vehicle.
The 4 AR-15-style rifles, handheld thermal, truck-mountedthermal, and iPad were all seized as evidence.
Since this contact, there has been a guilty plea for spotlighting and hunting with the aid of a motor vehicle. Over $2000 in fines and costs.

#GameWarden
#ThermalWave

AgsMnn

7:00p, 5/4/24

That's a new one.

Spotlighting while not using any lights.

chris1515

7:18p, 5/4/24

Spotlighting without a spotlight. Hmm. I think I'd challenge that part in court. Kind of curious how that law is worded actually.

B-1 83

8:05p, 5/4/24

Sounds like they're qualifying a thermal as a spotlight. Cool.

Being in TexAgs jail changes a man……..no, not really

CactusThomas

9:55p, 5/4/24

I can't stand warden

BrazosDog02

10:03p, 5/4/24

Never understood why hunting and spotlighting out of a truck was a law. We did that all the time. We still do it all the time from a deer blind, which is a box. But if I toss a motor and wheels on that, it's illegal?

txags92

11:00p, 5/4/24

In reply to BrazosDog02

BrazosDog02 said:
Never understood why hunting and spotlighting out of a truck was a law. We did that all the time. We still do it all the time from a deer blind, which is a box. But if I toss a motor and wheels on that, it's illegal?

If you are using it to shoot deer outside of legal shooting hours, then yes it is illegal, regardless of whether you are in a truck or a deer blind.

Smeghead4761

11:26p, 5/4/24

In reply to BrazosDog02

BrazosDog02 said:
Never understood why hunting and spotlighting out of a truck was a law. We did that all the time. We still do it all the time from a deer blind, which is a box. But if I toss a motor and wheels on that, it's illegal?

Sec. 42.01. DISORDERLY CONDUCT. (a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly:
(...)
(7) discharges a firearm in a public place other than a public road or a sport shooting range, as defined by Section 250.001, Local Government Code;
(...)
(9) discharges a firearm on or across a public road;

Also, even if it's in season, wouldn't hours of darkness be outside of allowed shooting hours?

LukeDuke

11:57p, 5/4/24

In reply to txags92

These guys were almost certainly hog hunting.

You can't see antlers with thermal unless they are in velvet.

BrazosDog02

12:51a, 5/5/24

In reply to LukeDuke

LukeDuke said:
These guys were almost certainly hog hunting.

You can't see antlers with thermal unless they are in velvet.

Bingo. Slow time of year, I'd rather not give a bored LEO a reason to hassle me, but to each their own I guess.

WaldoWings

1:21a, 5/5/24

In reply to CactusThomas

CactusThomas said:
I can't stand warden

You serious, Clarke?

FIDO*98*

6:02a, 5/5/24

Sounds like $2,000 in fines will be no problem for these guys

raidernarizona

6:55a, 5/5/24

Their rifles and gear are gone forever, correct?

FirefightAg

8:18a, 5/5/24

^^^^

Not necessarily, seized as evidence. They can get it back through court case. It will be up to the judge for final fine totals and what if anything is confiscated. They'll just be without it until then.

txags92

9:24a, 5/5/24

In reply to FirefightAg

FirefightAg said:
^^^^

Not necessarily, seized as evidence. They can get it back through court case. It will be up to the judge for final fine totals and what if anything is confiscated. They'll just be without it until then.

If Oklahoma has laws like Texas, equipment or weapons used for illegal hunting or fishing can be confiscated as part of the criminal punishment.

MasonB

9:33a, 5/5/24

We toured the Oklahoma Wildlife Department headquarters and they have a huge vault for confiscated weapons.

cheeky

10:17a, 5/5/24

Should be encouraging more shooting of hogs outside city limits by any safe means.

txags92

10:56a, 5/5/24

In reply to cheeky

cheeky said:
Should be encouraging more shooting of hogs outside city limits by any safe means.

There in bold lies the rub. Driving down the road around properties you don't own and whose owners have not given you permission to hunt, you never know what may be behind the target you are shooting at in the dark. Is that a sounder of pigs in the background on your thermal or a bunch of kids having a campout?

Average Joe

11:50a, 5/5/24

I've done the exact same thing they're doing numerous times. It's about the only way I go hog hunting.

The only difference is that I don't do it on a public road. I get with farmers and ranchers and kill them off their property.

AgsMnn

12:03p, 5/5/24

What if they have permission to hunt the properties on that stretch of county road?

They use the thermal to scout and find the hogs, then get on the property before actually shooting the hogs.

txags92

12:04p, 5/5/24

In reply to AgsMnn

AgsMnn said:
What if they have permission to hunt the properties on that stretch of county road?

They use the thermal to scout and find the hogs, then get on the property before actually shooting the hogs.

If that were the case, I suspect it would have come up as part of the story.

cupofjoe04

8:31p, 5/5/24

In reply to AgsMnn

AgsMnn said:
What if they have permission to hunt the properties on that stretch of county road?

They use the thermal to scout and find the hogs, then get on the property before actually shooting the hogs.

Hunting does not begin only when you shoot. You can be actively hunting (as these guys were) without firing a shot. Just like you can be fishing without catching a fish.

You still can't hunt from the county road. Regardless of if you own or have permission to hunt the property lining the CR. Right?

cupofjoe04

8:32p, 5/5/24

In reply to cupofjoe04

Double post. Sorey

CactusThomas

10:18p, 5/5/24

In reply to cupofjoe04

cupofjoe04 said:
AgsMnn said:
What if they have permission to hunt the properties on that stretch of county road?

They use the thermal to scout and find the hogs, then get on the property before actually shooting the hogs.

Hunting does not begin only when you shoot. You can be actively hunting (as these guys were) without firing a shot. Just like you can be fishing without catching a fish.

You still can't hunt from the county road. Regardless of if you own or have permission to hunt the property lining the CR. Right?

Who told you that?

MouthBQ98

8:59a, 5/6/24

"Act of". If you are attempting to take fish or game, you are doing the activity regardless of success or failure.

Yeah, the law is public roads/row. That means you have to be on private land or public land that can be legally hunted to be hunting. Just don't hunt from public roads, which is an extremely common tactic for poachers looking to cover ground and escape quickly.

agsalaska

9:17a, 5/6/24

In reply to cupofjoe04

cupofjoe04 said:
AgsMnn said:
What if they have permission to hunt the properties on that stretch of county road?

They use the thermal to scout and find the hogs, then get on the property before actually shooting the hogs.

Hunting does not begin only when you shoot. You can be actively hunting (as these guys were) without firing a shot. Just like you can be fishing without catching a fish.

You still can't hunt from the county road. Regardless of if you own or have permission to hunt the property lining the CR. Right?

I'm not sure that first part is entirely correct.

When I take a left on to the co road with our property there is about a 300 yard stretch of road that borders our pasture. During deer season I take this stretch very slow because there is typically a herd of doe at the front of the pasture that inevitably attracts bucks. I usually use binoculars but have glasses them with my rifle. I have spotted bucks that I decided to hunt and eventually shoot later in the day or weekend.

You saying that's illegal

On a side note that's the most stay at home herd of deer I have ever seen. That pasture is 300 yards wide and 80 acres so it's very long with a few pasture oaks and one spot that might be considered woods. We run about 20 cows on it. Anyway there are old doe in that pasture that have never left. Lived their entire lives in that 80 acres.

The trouble with quotes on the internet is that you never know if they are genuine. -- Abraham Lincoln.

HarleySpoon

11:26a, 5/6/24

In reply to 87Flyfisher

87Flyfisher said:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/VDwUyqJFcxbfoYsh/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Jefferson County is NE of Wichita Falls. l

On February 25, 2024, at approximately 01:30 hours, Jefferson County Game Warden Tucker Clem, witnessed a truck slow rolling a county road in Jefferson County with no headlights on. Warden Clem conducted a traffic stop on the

#GameWarden
#ThermalWave

I'm so confused. I thought Jefferson County was on the coastal plain and the county northeast of Wichita Falls was Montague County.

dudeabides

11:34a, 5/6/24

In reply to HarleySpoon

HarleySpoon said:
87Flyfisher said:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/VDwUyqJFcxbfoYsh/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Jefferson County is NE of Wichita Falls. l

On February 25, 2024, at approximately 01:30 hours, Jefferson County Game Warden Tucker Clem, witnessed a truck slow rolling a county road in Jefferson County with no headlights on. Warden Clem conducted a traffic stop on the

#GameWarden
#ThermalWave
I'm so confused. I thought Jefferson County was on the coastal plain and the county northeast of Wichita Falls was Montague County.

Jefferson County, Oklahoma