Category Archives: In My Opinion

Fake Wildlife Researchers and Real Crimes: A New Poaching Tactic

February 5, 2026 Chester Moore Leave a comment

They came politely, clipboards in hand, introducing themselves as researchers studying chronic wasting disease. In Kerrville neighborhoods where white-tailed deer drift through backyards like pets, the visitors spoke the language of science and stewardship.

They asked homeowners about deer sightings, herd health, and whether they might allow access to their land for “sampling.” Only later did residents learn that these supposed researchers were not affiliated with any recognized university or wildlife agency.

According to local law enforcement warnings, individuals were falsely claiming to be researchers in order to gain access to private property—raising concern that the encounter was a front for illegal take rather than legitimate science.

This unsettling incident illustrates a broader reality: modern poaching schemes are becoming more sophisticated, deceptive, and difficult to detect, and they are often distinguished from ethical hunting only by intent and legality.

Ethical hunting is a regulated activity deeply tied to conservation.

According to state wildlife management experts and major conservation organizations, ethical hunters obtain licenses, abide by season dates, respect bag limits, and seek landowner permission before accessing private property.

Ethical hunters operate under the principle of fair chase, meaning animals are pursued without giving the hunter an improper or unlawful advantage.

Chester is a passionate hunter with a heart for conservation. Here he prepares for a long walk back to camp with an eastern turkey taken near Cato, NY. He has worked throughout this entire career to expose poaching.

Ethical hunting also plays a vital role in conservation funding. License fees and excise taxes paid by hunters support habitat restoration, wildlife research, and law enforcement. By contrast, poaching undermines that system entirely. According to wildlife crime definitions used by state and federal agencies, poaching includes taking animals out of season, exceeding legal limits, trespassing, using prohibited methods, or misrepresenting identity or purpose to gain access to land.

Poaching today is rarely impulsive.

According to research conducted by the Boone and Crockett Club’s Poach & Pay Project, approximately 96 percent of poaching incidents in the United States go undetected.

The study used surveys of conservation officers, hunters, landowners, and convicted poachers to estimate what researchers refer to as the “dark figure” of wildlife crime. This high rate of undetected activity allows illegal harvest to persist with little immediate consequence.

Criminological studies on wildlife crime show that poachers actively seek to reduce detection risk.

According to research published by Arizona State University’s Center for Problem-Oriented Policing, wildlife offenders often plan carefully, choosing locations, times, and methods that avoid enforcement patrols and witnesses. These behaviors increasingly resemble organized property crime rather than opportunistic rule-breaking.

Technology has widened the divide between ethical hunting and poaching. Ethical hunters use tools such as trail cameras and mapping applications legally and with permission. Poachers may use similar technology covertly.

According to conservation technology research published in peer-reviewed journals, drones, GPS tools, and encrypted communication platforms are increasingly exploited by illegal hunters to scout land, monitor animal movement, and coordinate activities while minimizing exposure.

The sophistication of modern poaching has forced enforcement agencies to adapt. According to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime research on wildlife trafficking, illegal wildlife activity often mirrors other forms of organized crime, requiring intelligence gathering, surveillance technology, and interagency cooperation rather than simple patrol enforcement.

These trends have consequences beyond the animals taken. According to wildlife biologists, illegal harvest distorts population data by removing animals outside of scientifically established quotas, often targeting prime breeding individuals. This undermines long-term management goals and complicates efforts to maintain healthy wildlife populations.

Poaching also harms ethical hunters. According to hunter advocacy organizations and wildlife agencies, illegal activity erodes public trust in lawful hunting.

When landowners encounter deception or trespass, they may respond by closing access altogether, limiting opportunities for ethical hunters who follow the rules and support conservation.

Illegal wildlife trafficking is starting to put a dent in jaguar populations.

Local authorities emphasize that legitimate wildlife research does not involve unannounced door-to-door visits requesting immediate permission to harvest animals. According to law enforcement advisories, residents should verify credentials, confirm agency affiliation, and report suspicious behavior promptly.

The Kerrville incident serves as a reminder that modern poaching often hides behind the appearance of legitimacy.

Ethical hunting operates openly, lawfully, and in cooperation with wildlife management systems. Poaching relies on secrecy, deception, and exploitation.

As illegal schemes grow more elaborate, protecting wildlife will depend on informed communities, ethical hunters, and enforcement strategies capable of distinguishing stewardship from crime.

Chester Moore

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In My Opinion

Flounder Poaching Shows Local Approach Needed For Wildlife Conservation

November 3, 2025 Chester Moore Leave a comment

The world is changing at a pace that boggles the mind.

I could write dozens of blogs on the reasons and the effects, but very few of them have to do with the outdoors.

Many of these things will, however, have a great impact on the outdoors.

That is why it is crucially important that a new era of conservation begins and comes quickly.

The high costs of virtually everything and the declining wealth of the average American will alter the conservation landscape in ways that might seem unimaginable today.

Flounder poaching has been an issue few have addressed but it is a reality.

How long will people be able to pour millions of dollars into conservation for individual species like turkey, elk, trout, and dozens of other creatures? The same people typically support many varieties, and at some point, there will be a choice between paying the bills and sending a check to help quail, for example.

The quail will lose.

Habitat needs to be the core of conservation efforts from here on out. There has been a very promising move toward habitat conservation in the last few years, but it needs to continue and get more specific.

For example, waterfowl conservation should center the heaviest on the areas where ducks are produced (Prairie Canada, where TPWD just helped DU with much-needed funding and the Dakotas). Wintering grounds are also important, but if you have no ducks, they are a moot point, aren’t they?

When habitat is protected and enhanced, many species benefit. So in the duck factory area, pheasant, grouse, and other game species get a big boost from waterfowl efforts and vice versa. Once again, the key is targeting the areas with the highest production first and spreading out from there.

On the other side of the equation, there are some conservation efforts that need to be taken care of at a local level.

Let’s take poaching, for example.

The illegal take of flounder in Cameron, La., in the fall run is a serious problem. Numerous individuals have bragged about taking home ice chests full of flounder and there have been some busted with pretty astounding catches. This has decreased since Louisiana has instituted a closure during the main part of the fall run but it still goes on.

Add to that the huge number of flounder taken in shrimp nets over there and enough boats stacked in the hot spots to talk across, and you could see where at some point in the future action might need to be taken. A fishery can only take so much of a beating. It’s great now, but how will it be in 10 years?

This would be the kind of action that needs to happen at a local level. Louisiana anglers with a stake in their state would need to make a decision to make changes.

It’s not unlike what happened when redfish were banned from commercial harvest more than 40 years ago. Local people got involved and changed history.

We have come to a place in society where we believe everything needs to come from the government or a large bureaucracy and be doled out as issues arise.

That works sometimes, but no one has a better perspective on issues than those most intimately involved, and that is why I believe local activism will be at the heart of successful conservation efforts in the future.

Chester Moore

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In My Opinion

An Alligator Garfish Almost Killed Me!

August 5, 2025 Chester Moore Leave a comment

Back when I was in collage, I was running a trotline in a deep hole in the Sabine River. My cousin Frank Moore and I had trotlines about 200 yards apart and had been catching a few blue catfish during the winter in an area where we often caught garfish in summer.

This was in the middle of winter and we were targeting huge blue catfish. In previous days I had several large hooks straightened and had visions of 75-pound blues in my mind.

As I went to check my line, I noticed most it was not parallel to the shore but drifting out across the deep, instead of on the edge. The line had been cut (or so I thought).

Immediately not so kind words flowed through my mouth to whoever cut the line but then as I started to pull it in something happened.

The line moved!

I pulled in a little more and felt great weight at the end of the line and soon realized I had a seven-foot long alligator garfish on my line. In the Moore family, gar trump blue cats any day of the week so I was excited and even more so when I saw the huge gar barely moving.

Gar will often drown on trotlines (seriously) and this one looked a little worse for the wear so I though it would be easy pickings.

I pulled the line up to the beast, hooked my gaff under the only soft spot on an alligator garfish, which is directly below the jaw. I jammed it in there good to make sure it would hold and to see how lively the fish was. It literally did not budge. The fish was alive but did not seem lively.

I then took a deep breath, mustered up all the strength I had since this was a 200-pound class fish and heaved the gar into the boat. That is when the big fish woke up.

It pulled back with full force and all of a sudden I found myself headed down into 30 feet of water with the gar. In an instant I realized one of the other hooks on the trotline had caught in my shoe and I was now attached to 200 pounds of toothy fury.

I had just enough time to take a breath and went under.

All I could focus on was getting back to the surface and toward the light. I am not sure how deep I went but according to my cousin who was just down the shore from me, I did not stay under very long. A 200-pound gar and a 200-pound young man snapped the lead on the line but the hook amazingly remained in my shoe as a reminder I was very near death. Make sure not to run trotlines alone. That was my first mistake.

Also be careful to run the line along the side of your boat and not allow the hooks to fall in the boat. That was where I messed up. Catching fish on trotlines is loads of fun but it can be dangerous. Just make sure your desire to catch fish does not override safety as it did for me in the heat of the moment.

It was my closest call with death in the great outdoors and looking back it is evident God was with me.

Chester Moore

Follow Chester Moore and Higher Calling Wildlife® on the following social media platforms

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In My Opinion

The Coming American Wildlife Conflict

September 29, 2021 Chester Moore 1 Comment

America fell in love with wildlife and wild grounds again in 2020.

More people than at any point in recent history visited national parks, state wildlife management areas, purchased hunting and fishing licenses and went camping. As the coronavirus squashed indoors recreation, people sought solace outdoors.

And it continues.

This comes as human populations are growing in some of America’s top wildlife states.

Colorado added a million new residents between 2010 and 2020.

Texas’ population has grown 20 percent since 2000 alone and Montana for the first time has two Congressional seats.

Black bears deserve our respect but that means a true understanding of these complex and incredibly strong predators. (Public Domain Photo)

Skyrocketing people numbers in wildlife heavy states that are seeing increases in potentially dangerous wildlife will bring dramatically increased human-wildlife conflict.

On April 30, 2021, a Colorado Springs woman was killed by a 10-year-old black sow. Her remains were found in the sow’s stomach and in that of one of her yearlings as well.

In September a woman was nearly killed by a cow moose attack in Colorado. She played dead to survive.

And in my home region of Southeast, we’re coming upon the one year anniversary of a fatal hog attack. And four months after it, we documented a man savagely attacked by boar near Texas Lake Sam Rayburn.

More people. Less habitat. More wildlife.

Those are formulas for big problems.

But there are other factors as well

Animal rightist ideology driving policy with wildlife will make matters worse. These people never blame the animal. It’s somehow always the person’s fault.

Like, the 16-year-old girl who was attacked by a bear while sleeping on a hammock in a designated camping area was asking for a mauling.

I love wildlife.

I dedicate a huge amount of my time to its conservation.

But it has to be managed.

And yes that means bears that attack people should be killed. It also means where biologically feasible hunting should be allowed to harvest animals from burgeoning populations and to help put some fear of humans among predators.

Many of the people entering the woods for the first time last year see nature as a petting zoo.

Bison get plenty of wildlife-uneducated people to whack in the Yellowstone region where free-ranging populations exist. (Photo by Chester Moore)

I witnessed it myself in Yellowstone National Park as a woman took a selfie with a 2,000-pound bull bison. I warned her and thankfully she didn’t get attacked but people act the same way with bears, moose and any other animals they encounter.

There needs to be a huge wildlife education initative and this why we at Higher Calling Wildlife have greatly increased our Texas Bear Aware activities and outreach. Bears are coming back to Texas and almost no one here knows how to share the woods with them.

The following three species is where I see the biggest issues in most of the Lower 48. We’ll touch on Canada and Alaska as well as the Yellowstone grizzly situation in another post down the road.

Black Bears: Black bear numbers are rising, especially in the South, with Florida seeing large increases along with Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Black bears rarely attack but nearly all black bear attacks are predatory. Grizzlies will sometimes lash out because they just didn’t like the way you looked. Black bears who are fed by people, eat from their garbage and come into conflict with pets will be an increasing danger.

Feral Hogs: Feral hog populations are skyrocketing in the South, increasing in the West and Northeast and they are a real potential danger. We’ve seen it here in Texas with the aforementioned attacks. I hate to predict bad things but this is just the beginning.

Click here to listen to our podcast with the survivor.

The author got these game camera photos of a large boar on private land near a popular family fishing area. (Photo by Chester Moore)

Moose: These monstrous deer don’t play. Mess with a moose and you get smashed. They’re also not afraid to show up in someone’s yard or eat in the middle of a hiking trail. We usually don’t think of ungulates as a danger but moose are showing themselves to be one, especially in Colorado where there are a record number of issues with them in 2021.

People have to be educated.

Hunting where applicable should be used to manage burgeoning populations. And in the case of hogs, every hog needs to be targeted. Sadly, we just can’t kill enough to stop the mega rise in numbers.

And we must maintain a respect for wildlife.

It’s great that more people are enjoying the outdoors. That’s more advocates to keep mountains from becoming ski lodges and plains from turning to park lots.

But there will be a move via hidden, radical animal rights agendas to remove animals like moose which were stocked in Colorado from the landscape. Oh, it will be under the guise of public safety and restoring balance to the “natural” order but it wil come.

They’ve already done it with mountain goats in other states.

And there will be pressure to restrict access to wilderness areas for ‘safety” and for the animals’ “welfare”.

We must stand against this. And we must support sound management and educaton of our wildlife resources.

We must also realize more human-wildlife conflict is coming. We need to be sure we’re not a casualty.

And we need to ensure wildlife has plenty of wild ground and we have access to enjoy it as well, empowered by the knowledge that sometimes animals do attack.

Chester Moore

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In My Opinion

Epic Fail of Corporate Wildlife Media

July 9, 2018 wildlifejournalist Leave a comment

Corporate wildlife media has failed again.

And again .

And again.

You might be asking “Hey Chester, what is the corporate wildlife media?

It is media outlets owned by publicly traded corporations.

It is the large wildlife nonprofits who by virtue of their budgets and staffing have created a bottleneck in wildlife related information.

It is the large wildlife websites and programs interested in sensationalism instead of stories to initiate clickthroughs.

So, how have they failed?

Let’s start with the Asiatic elephant problem.

Currently there are an estimated 400,000 African elephants throughout the continent. That’s a huge drop from at least two million in the 1940s but it is large in comparison to the Asian elephant with a best estimate standing at around 35,000 animals scattered throughout Asia. Think about that.

There are less 1/10 Asian elephants in comparison to African.

Why is little said about Asian elephants?

For starters, big conservation is big bureaucracy and the public’s fascination with the African elephant helps generate funding. Lots of it. The largest threat to Asia’s elephant has been habitat loss with poaching also a factor but showing African elephant carcasses stripped of tusks raises funds.

Showing palm oil plantations and villages taking up space for Asian elephants not so much.

Listen to my intense monologue on the failure of the corporate wildlife media here.

In the April 24th entry I quoted a story that came out of Myanmar showing there is a growing market for Asiatic elephant skins and now bulls, cows and babies are being slaughtered.

Just before making this very post I did a google search for “elephant poaching”.

I finally found a story FIVE pages back on the Myanmar situation with every other story dating back several years in the NEWS section about African elephant poaching.

An even bigger failure is the sad story of the vaquita porpoise I reported on here last year in several entries.

There are only 30 vaquitas left.

30!

If Japanese whaling vessels start pounding on humpbacks the fundraising nonprofits will send out their letters and the social media will be abuzz.

But the vaquita is likely about to be extinct and you see almost nothing on it.

Why?

Harpooned whales and blood-stained seas raise funds and generate web traffic. They don’t think small propoises no one has heard about tangled in nets will do the same.

Slaughtered whales are more sensational than netted porpoises. (Public Domain Photo)

I think it would.

I think you and the wildlife loving public are smarter than that but in my opinion the gatekeepers in much of the corporate wildlife media think you’re not.

They think you need sensationalism when I think you need real stories.

That is what I try to do here.

I probably fail as well since this is a one man operation and things slip under the radar but I do put my heart and soul out there and say things I promise gain me no political favor on any side of the conservation aisle.

If you love wildlife and believe in conserving it do your best to stay tuned to independent researchers, small conservation groups and bloggers like myself in addition to the big outlets.

Not everything they do is bad but they miss way too much. And sometimes its on purpose.

It’s time all species in danger of extinction get attention, not just the chosen ones.

Chester Moore, Jr.

(To contact Chester Moore e-mail chester@chestermoore.com. To subscribe to this blog enter your email address in the box on the top right of this page.)

In My Opinion

Another Eagle Killing Shows Teen Poaching Out of Control

January 25, 2018 wildlifejournalist Leave a comment

Washington Fish and Wildlife police said a sheriff’s department officer found evidence of teen poaching with teens purposely killing eagles.

“Officer Bolton and the deputy searched the area for downed wildlife and soon discovered a relatively fresh doe deer on the hillside near where the suspects had parked. Four older deer carcasses in various stages of decomposition were found in the same location. The officers learned that one of the young men shot the doe the night before by using a high-powered spotlight,” police wrote in a Facebook post. “The animal was then placed near the other carcasses in an effort to bait in and shoot eagles.”

That report at wqad.com paints an ugly picture of a trend I have written on extensively here and at Texas Fish & Game magazine. Teens are increasingly involved in not only poaching but killing protected and endangered species.