TOPIC: poachers

james
We're talking about thieves that go on other people's property,
I know you would not want someone stealing your work and investment.

James, you're darn right I hope they get caught. When you harvest out of season the berries are not ready to be planted and will not reproduce. It's disrespectful to others and disrespectful to the land and the plant itself.

I don't know men ..it just gets worse and worse here..game wardens idea of catching them is for the land owner to put out trail cams...a local land owner has 38 very nice pic.s of a poacher digging out of season.....wearing a face mask....so how does the game warden catch a poacher he cant indenify...

Digging out of season gets under my skin bad enough, but to trespass on someone's land to do it is just all kinds of wrong. I know that it's bound to happen with all the 1,000's of acres of private land. I know that they've really cracked down on it in the national park which is good. They make several big busts every season it seems. I think probably the best way to catch poachers is find out where the main access points to the property are. I know a guy who has over a 1,000 acres of land and it has a maze of 4 wheeler trails running through it. There must be a million different ways in there. It gets swarmed with trespassers, but not much you can do. I think most of us like to follow the rules and be good stewards of the land, but there will always be those that don't. It's up to us diggers to responsibly harvest, plant, and conserve this amazing plant. September 1'st is coming fast, and I hope everyone has a great season.

planted berries and topped all my plants last week to keep them safe. Ginseng prices aren't going to be that good this year anyway.

Hate to hear that rootman. Regardless of price it's my favorite thing to do outside in September/october. No place i'd rather be. It's always nice to get rewarded for your efforts though. I believe prices are always subject to change. If they stay to low I might have a lot of ginseng tea to drink this winter...

I hate hearing that prices are going to be low again. I limited my number of hunts last year because of that.

I will have to get out and dig a few anyway... got to have some to eat myself. But if the price is low, I will just do a few hunts and let the rest grow for another year.

One good thing that happened last year was I found out that September is excellent time to fish for smallmouth bass. Once you have a cold spell or two they really start feeding. I caught my largest string of bass (mix of smallies and largemouth) of the year last year in early September. Pic Below.

I recently learned how to cook those smallmouth filets \"blackened\"... Made my own blackening seasoning too including Paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper... coat those filets good in that and then fry them up in a mix of butter and olive oil in a iron skillet. Oh Man... good stuff.

I caught so many fish this spring and summer that I had to find a new way to cook them to keep my wife and daughter happy eating fish

I love them fried and grilled, but blackened is another excellent way to go.

TNHunter

Oh, I'll still hunt and dig wild ginseng but I'm going to let my private stash grow another year!
Very Nice TNhunter! May your plate always be full!

Nice mess of fish there tnhunter. Those small mouth are really fun to catch. I usually trout fish through the summer, but the heat and drought this year has been so bad they actually quit stocking the streams because of low water and high water temps. We finally got some good rain here couple days ago. Looks like you're keeping that freezer full. Great pic, thanks for sharing.

good eating right there....I aint talked to anyone yet..i have no idea what the price will start out at.....