“The integrity of the hunt is measured not by what you bring home, but by how you conduct yourself in the field.” — Aldo Leopold

Hunters don’t need reminders of who we are, we are, and have always been, the first defenders of wildlife. Roosevelt and our forebears didn’t save America’s wildlife by accident; they drew a bold, unbreakable line between hunters who give and poachers who steal.

That line is fading before our eyes. Too many now cross it. Some out of ignorance, but far too many by calculated choice.

And now we know just how bad it is, thanks to the newly released Boone & Crockett Club’s Poach & Pay Project, the most comprehensive look at poaching in U.S. history. 

The Poach and Pay research involved extensive surveys of fish and wildlife agency law enforcement officers, hunters, landowners, and convicted poachers, as well as interviews and focus groups with prosecutors and judges. 

Researchers also conducted a literature review and utilized survey and interview data to develop a better understanding of the typologies and motivations behind illegal wildlife activities.

After accumulating this data, the researchers used a Bayesian statistical framework to estimate the detection rates of illegal take using diverse datasets from various published research papers, along with citation, hunter, and officer numbers, survey responses from perpetrators, enforcement statistics, hunter landowner reporting, and wildlife telemetry studies.

Using criminology theory, the research also provides specific policy and outreach recommendations to help reduce the amount of illegal wildlife crime in this country.

At its highest level, the Poach and Pay Project reveals that only 4% of poaching incidents are ever detected. 

For every poacher caught, twenty-four walk away free.

That’s not merely a nuisance. That’s a full-blown crisis.

Every time a deer is shot out of season, every elk taken without a tag, every wild turkey poached, twenty-four out of twenty-five of those thieves vanish into the shadows without consequence.

Those shadows conceal staggering losses: $302.6 million in uncollected fines and $1.13 billion in replacement costs each year. Together, that’s $1.4 billion stolen from conservation annually. That averages out to about $28.8 million per state.

To put that in perspective: poachers cost us more than the $1 billion we raise through the Pittman–Robertson excise tax annually, and take our nearly half of the $1 billion from hunting licenses sales.

Maybe one of the fastest, and definitely the most noble, ways to lower hunting costs is to simply stop poachers.

Nearly $2 billion? That’s not petty crime, it’s the organized theft of America’s wildlife.

Hunters must shout this from the rooftops: poachers aren’t hunters. 

Hunting is legal. Hunting is ethical. Hunting funds conservation.

Poaching is theft, plain and simple.

The research proves it. 57.6% of poaching is driven by trophy hunting. The remaining 51.1% is opportunistic. Subsistence poaching barely even registers. These are not acts of survival. They are acts of arrogance, greed, and defiance.

And when the media blurs hunters with poachers, they don’t just smear us, they attack the very system hunters built to protect wildlife. Make no mistake: anti-hunting groups will use this research as ammunition if we don’t own the fight against poachers.

We can’t let that happen. Ever.

Every poached deer, elk, turkey, or bear is one less chance for an honest hunter, one more crack in the public’s trust. Every time we bite our tongues, the poacher’s shadow falls a little closer to our image.

Meanwhile, game wardens patrol alone across 5,000 to 7,000 square miles. They are often outnumbered. They are also underfunded and overworked. Without us, they cannot hold the line.

The data is brutal. Wildlife crime detection rates are abysmally low, the costs are astronomical, and the stigma isn’t yet strong enough to deter it. But there’s hope. If detection rose to even the level of larceny (25%), recovered fines and restitution could cover enforcement costs and more.

The Poach & Pay study suggests reforms, but don’t wait. Each hunter must act now to protect our tradition and wildlife. Take responsibility for conservation in your actions and words.

Take personal responsibility: report poaching whenever you see it. Silence enables poaching; active reporting stops it. Share your actions with fellow hunters to encourage vigilance.

Speak out publicly. Clearly inform people: hunters follow the law, while poachers commit theft. Challenge anyone who blurs that distinction, both in person and online.

Mentor future hunters: teach them that fair chase is essential, not optional. Share resources or guidance on ethics and reporting violations to build the next generation of responsible hunters.

Hunters saved America’s wildlife once. We will do it again, but only if we act.

As Theodore Roosevelt warned, “In a moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.”

If we choose nothing now, then nothing is all we will eventually have left.

Jay Pinsky
Editor – The Hunting Wire &The Archery Wire
jay@theoutdoorwire.com