I have a turkey that was dropped off for me to mount for someone.
I proceeded to skinning it out and found corn making me suspicious as to why this person didn't care how I mounted it.They also have never seen my work.I stopped all proceedures and asked for a turkey ID number (turkey stamp).This person is very angry and rude.He says it was on private property.He is over 65 and doesn't need an ID.
He says he wants his turkey and his money back.I still have the corn that was removed with the head that has turkey shot in it telling me that it was taken under 100 yards under a feeder while it was eating being that it also had corn in its beak/mouth.What to do?
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This is going to be a hot topic and the bottom line is that YOU have to live with YOUR decision. What I tell people, however, is that I am a TAXIDERMIST, not a law enforcement agency. If something is presented to me, I comply with all state and federal requirements (including requiring a tag if my license requires it of me and if it were, I would not accept the bird to begin with). I tell all my customers at one time or another if I am ever checked and questioned, I will tell exactly what I know and present the specimen to the agent IF THEY HAVE A WARRANT. For all I know, that turkey could have been a domestic stock "wild turkey". I have enough work to prevent me from playing private eye or for working for the state for free.
Give him his money back, and have the C.O. there when he comes to get his bird. I can see Georges view that we are not Outdoor Cops and should not do their work, but I hate poachers so much that I would pass on the job. Some old folks get this entitlement attitude when they get over 65, they think everything should be free. He should be spanked; he gets his hunting tags at a discount anyway. He is not going to bring you any customers anyway as he only hunts from his bird feeder. The bird came in to his yard and he poached it on the spot, no time to buy a tag, who needs it? When he got rude, that was the time to call the cops. Let the officer decide wither it was a farm bird or not. If it was legal, let him prove it to the officer.
in my state...If I made an issue over every deer with a mouthful of corn, 50% or more would be illegal. I know half of my deer were not taken in corn fields. I have good rapport with the wildlife agents. They tell me that baiting is the most common charge they have. On game animals, unless the officer catches the offender in the act, evidence such as corn in a turkey or deer's mouth at a taxidermists would be weak and hard (impossible) to press in today's legal environment. It is up to you in this case. Personally, on game animals that are plentiful such as deer and turkey, I just accept the work. We do not have a tagging system in Mississippi. If a tag is required, I would do as you have and ask for it. If one was not presented, I would not accept the job. You are correct in your morals, and I commend you. But remember, it is illegal to drive over 55 on most state highways, but I don't make it a practice to record tag numbers and make citizen's arrests...law enforcement does not want my assistance there either.
Even YOU will get old like some of us one day. I don't like poaching anymore than you do, though sometimes I think it's overrated (most places are burdened with too many deer yet someone shooting one illegally may as well have assasinated someone) I've had game wardens ask on 3 separate occasions about specific game brought in to me. In all three cases the guys were under 30 years old. Most "old" guys I know aren't that way though many of them lived in an era on being not politically correct. Many hunted just to have food on the table and in my view, subsistence hunting is just a fact of life in SOME era's and locations.
I guess I'm a "born again" conservationist and I figure I do as much as anyone to promote ethical hunting and ethical harvesting, but I still shy away from trying to be a game warden. As I said, I can refuse work without required permits, but I don't do professional necropsies and I don't write citations. If I suspect it, I can tell the person I'm not taking in additional work any longer. I'm not going to change his ethics, but I can sure protect my own.
corn in a deers mouth in the fall is surely alot more prevelent were i live as every farmers field out here has corn planted in it for miles...however there is not too much corn available "on the stalk" in the spring so do the math
plowed a field in the spring, where corn was planted the year before, you would know that there is plenty of corn for a deer or turkey to eat some afterwards.
Yes, young guys cheat too. There are two types of poachers, ones that drive around looking for game, and the better class poachers as this.
Talk about stupid.
I know of a farmer that had a dozen birds walk into his shed as he was working around the barn one day, he closed the shed doors, grabbed a shovel and did his best. The guy does not hunt or own a gun yet saw a chance and took it to put some fowl in the freezer. My brother told me of a boy down the road that saw some turkeys walk into their no fly zone in the back yard and the kid shot two of them. He did not plan to hunt them when he woke up that day, nor did he have a license. He saw a chance and took it. Yet, they did not think anything of it as being illegal or against the law. Any one at any age can poach in the back yard if a chance comes along. Krystals customer reminded me of these type of poachers. Our neighbor next door dumps corn out his back door and from my bedroom window, we can watch everything. I have opportunities everyday to take something, but I never do and never will. I have too much to loose, and I got one of everything in my freezer anyway to do for customers.
As far as getting old, I am there way to early, so I am acting the part, so my son says. When we follow old folks down the road and watch them think as they drive, I tell my wife not to let me get that bad, to shoot me first if I drive that way.
as a taxidermist. Let the DNR do their jobs themselves. I'm with George on this. Many of the specimens we mount could have potentially been a product of some illegal activity. Transporting,bag limits,trespassing, poaching, hunting over bait, out of season,illegal weapons. etc. The list could go on forever. Was the corn fed turkey any more illegal than the mallard killed by the fifth shot shell of an un-plugged gun or the deer killed on the other side of the fence? How do you know for sure that the tukey did not eat the corn before walking to the customer's property? All you can do is assume on good faith that specimens were taken and delivered to you within legal guidelines. If The customer provides the proper paperwork it is no longer your problem. Some of your clients may see you as a little too eager to throw them into the frying pan and start taking their work elsewhere. Wildlife officers love writing citations and your "helpfull" phone call may be answered by a game warden who becomes a little suspiscious with you too. I would be co-operative and polite with the State Conservation guys but apprehensive at the same time. Keep your records in order and don't break the laws.
My dad is 83 and while talking to him last week, he remarked that he had to go to the drugstore for my 82 year old mom. He said he liked getting out of the house, but "those damned OLD people out on the roads" bothered him. I'm like you. SHOOT ME! LOL
In Kentucky if you take in a bird that does not have a check number then you are in violation. Anyone that comes into my shop with a bird or a deer for that matter and doesn't have a number takes the deer or turkey back out with him. I don't play detective but I've got to cover my rear end too!