A 20-point buck poached in 2017 by an Indiana man, who had it mounted. He was convicted for the illegal catch in 2019. Photo by Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

By Leslie Bonilla Muñiz
Indiana Capital Chronicle

TERRA HAUTE — Brian Stone calls himself a “late-onset” hunter.

The Terre Haute resident was then a university student in southern Illinois, surrounded by the Shawnee National Forest. Hunting — for waterfowl, deer and more — was a way to sustain himself outside the industrial food system. But it was also a way to tap into the world around him.

Alongside that awareness grew respect for those communities of wildlife.

Wildlife, he said, “belongs to all Hoosiers.”

But the 200 conservation officers patrolling an expansive state “can’t be everywhere at once.”

Now, Stone sits on the 17-member board that pays fellow Hoosiers for information leading to arrests of law-breakers. The Turn in a Poacher program also rewards reports of illegal pollution.

Indiana’s Department of Natural Resources houses the 40-year-old initiative, which has recorded skyrocketing interest after years of oscillation.

Poaching is the illegal harvesting of animals, plants, fungi and more.

Callers On The Rise

The number of tips received swung between lows in the 300s and highs in the 500s for at least eight years, according to DNR data.

But the total approached 600 in 2022, then shot up to nearly 900 in 2023 and crossed 1,000 last year for the first time in at least a decade.

Indiana’s 40-year-old anti-poaching program has seen a surge in interest. The Turn in a Poacher initiative rewards — with up to $500 — any Hoosier who reports wrongdoing that leads to an arrest. Photo by Indiana Capital Chronicle.

The program’s 17-member board reviews cases. If a tip leads to prosecution, members decide if it qualifies for a reward of up to $500.

TIP paid out eight rewards totaling $4,000 in 2022, and 10 rewards totaling $5,000 in both 2023 and 2024, according to Quillen — although some tipsters don’t want the money.

Payout totals for previous years weren’t available. Neither were the number of warnings and arrests made thanks to the tips.

Tipsters can choose to be anonymous or to reveal their identities. Michiana Outdoor News documented the lengths one conservation officer went to bust a poacher while protecting his tipster.

Decades Of Dissatisfaction

White-tailed deer were native to Indiana — but were rooted out of the state through “unregulated hunting by increasing numbers of settlers,” according to a DNR pamphlet.

The last reported wild deer was killed in 1893, per a DNR timeline.

The state lacked deer until the 1930s, when officials began buying animals from Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Almost 300 were released on Indiana’s public lands.

Populations recovered. The state held a three-day deer season in 1951 — its first in nearly 60 years.

Illegal slayings have long frustrated law-abiding hunters, newspaper clippings reveal.

“Traffic in contraband deer meat is heavier than it has ever been before,” the late Indianapolis Star columnist “Bayou” Bill Scifres wrote in 1963.

Over the last three years, the program has made 28 rewards — totaling $14,000 — to Hoosiers whose reports of poaching or pollution led to arrests. Photo by Indiana Capital Chronicle.

A reward-for-information program was already under study committee consideration for legislation in 1966, according to Scifres.

But it would take nearly two decades to become reality.

Jasper-area outdoor enthusiasts formed the Dubois County Sportsmen Against Poaching in 1979, Scifres wrote. Members subsidized nighttime conservation officer flights to curb jacklighting and advocated against weak, $1 poaching fines in court.

The “Dubois deer vigilantes” also pioneered what would become Turn in a Poacher.

The group distributed posters urging fellow outdoor enthusiasts to report violations, complete with a phone number belonging to the county’s assigned conservation officer. It offered cash rewards for tips that led to arrests and convictions.

By 1983, DNR had joined forces with locals.

That year, a task force held its first meetings, per Scifres, with plans to get a telephone hotline up and running in 1984. Within its first two months, Turn in a Poacher had led to 29 arrests and eight convictions, with more cases pending, Scifres wrote. Three Hoosiers earned $500 — funded through donations, just like now — for their tips.

Program Persists

But Turn in a Poacher advocates also encourage birders, hikers, kayakers and other outdoor enjoyers to take part.

It’s not just deer and other animals. People also sometimes illegally harvest ginseng root or mushrooms, per Quillen.

Stone said the board is pushing the program hard because, while Indiana’s wildlife isn’t necessarily facing extirpation, anti-poaching sentiment requires maintenance.

Among the most prominent ways the program is advertising itself is through a trailer exhibiting seized evidence of poaching.

Stone argued public education on poaching is important for hunting’s future, noting that various movements exist to limit or ban the activity.

Hoosiers can buy licenses and stamps by mail, online at GoOutdoorsIN.com, and in person: at DNR’s Indianapolis customer service center or the numerous DNR properties and authorized vendors located around the state.

Those born after 1986 need Hunter Education certifications before they can buying hunting licenses. Classes are held online — for charge by the third-party provider — and in person for free. Instruction on trapping, boating and more is also available.

DNR displays rule and regulation changes on its website, and a summary of what’s legal in the annually updated Indiana Hunting and Trapping Guide.

The Turn in a Poacher program’s new trailer, which exhibits various poached animals, including deer, a turkey, a turtle, an owl, a snake and a wolf. Photo by Indiana Department of Natural Resources.