hunter/poacher?

[flhuntress]

what is the difference between a poacher and a hunter?
i know but thought i'd post to see if any of y'all thought of something i may have forgotten about.

i had emailed the local news in orlando awhile back cause they kept saying "hunters" got busted for poaching and they finally responded so it's my turn and want to make them look like idiots. ;D

[Davidmil]

A poacher is a hunter that got caught doing something wrong.

[Shorthair]

I think of a poacher as someone that never goes by the game laws. I know of a man that thinks everything is in season all the time and method he can use legal. That's what I think of when I think of a "poacher".
If someone calls themself a hunter and violates the game laws I guess they cross over into the realm of being a poacher.

I don't know what the heck I'm saying. I'm confused by this question the more I ponder it.

[Davidmil]

Slap yourself Shorthair.... it'll wake you up. SNAP OUT OF IT.

THe Scary thing.... I understood everything you said.

[flhuntress]

lol

i got a response from him and was wonderin' what i should say back....any ideas?

Not deaf ears, necessarily. I'd have to see the story script where the terms were interchanged, or used incorrectly, I guess. Regardless of how one feels about the whole issue of hunting, I personally don't think it's easy to confuse the two terms. I think most people have an idea of what poaching is. If we go strictly by Mr. Webster, to hunt is to kill or catch game for food or sport; to poach is to kill or catch game for food or sport--but illegally, especially, by trespassing, or to take anything by unfair or illegal methods.

Actually, although I don't make the decisions about such things, I think hunting would not be news-worthy, but poaching is. Did we do a story recently involving hunters or poachers? I'll look through the archives for it, if you can give me some idea about when you saw it.

(note to self...hunting rifle/shotgun......just ignore...had a thought and just didn't want to forget it.

[Shorthair]

Possibility:

In a recent story in your paper you refered to hunters being caught poaching. Those of us that hunt by the laws of this state and the code of fair chase take great offense to any poacher ever being refered to as a "hunter". Just because someone takes game does not make them a hunter. True hunters find poachers abhorrent and a blight on true sportsman. Real hunters follow game laws that we know are in place to ensure the survival of healthy wildlife populations for us and our posterity. Please consider seperating these terms in future stories as favor to the law abiding hunters of this state.

[flhuntress]

like it...thanks.

[thunderstorm]

I go to the bank to make withdrawls. A robber also withdraws money. How many stories in the news uses a customer and robber interchangeably when reporting that crime. A poacher is a criminal...end of story.

[Shorthair]

thunderstorm said:

I go to the bank to make withdrawls. A robber also withdraws money. How many stories in the news uses a customer and robber interchangeably when reporting that crime. A poacher is a criminal...end of story.

Amen Brother!

[flhuntress]

i chose parts of sh's statement and added a fewlines myself.
whoever it was at the station wrote me back again and said they'd look into it....they were very nice.
doubt anything will change but at least i tried.