By Scott Bestul

Poachers make dumb mistakes all the time. An Indiana violator tripped himself up when he shot a monster whitetail that area hunters knew well. According to this story in the Indianapolis Star, Don Ward confessed to shooting “Nightmare,” a 300-pound, 10-point buck, with a rifle and a spotlight last week.

The buck has been pursued by a pair of passionate bowhunters for several seasons. Jesse Fulwider and Mike Marsteller, both law enforcement officers, recorded their encounters with a buck they nicknamed “Nightmare,” a monster whitetail that eluded them on multiple occasions. The pair’s hunts have appeared on the popular “Dream Season: Working Man” television show, which is produced by Drury Outdoors.

According to the newspaper, the owner of a property that Nightmare frequented heard a shot in the hours just before daylight. He drove quickly toward the rifle blast, arriving just in time to get not only a description of a truck leaving the scene, but a license plate number.

Authorities quickly traced ownership of the vehicle to Don Ward and confronted him. Ward confessed to poaching the buck with a .270, though he denied setting out to do so; claiming he was trying to shoot coyotes that had been harassing local deer. When his spotlight shone on Nightmare, however, Ward said the sheer size of the buck presented too much temptation.

“The buck itself, it just got the best of me,” Ward told a reporter.

Of course we don’t know if Ward is telling the truth about his original intent. But if he is, this represents an interesting poaching incident. I count several conservation officers as friends, and they tell me most poachers fall into one of three categories: “Thrill killers” (typically younger men) who shoot animals merely to rack up a body count and test their marksmanship. Serial poachers are more calculating and shrewd, killing animals that have value to them or others. And opportunistic poachers—those who claim to be like Ward; though they don’t set out to illegally kill a game animal. They are overcome by the temptation in a certain situation and wind up violating the law.

Whether the judge buys Ward’s plea is yet to be seen. He faces the possibility of several Class B misdemeanors, fines, jail time, and the loss of his rifle and vehicle.

Comments (13)

from IND_NRA wrote 35 weeks 3 days ago

Why does the title say Ohio poacher? Is he from Ohio, because this happened in Marion county Indiana.

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from blevenson wrote 35 weeks 3 days ago

Oh the stupidity of people these days. Don't know what makes them think they can get away with crap like this. Say goodbye to your hunting privileges for about 3 years.

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from Lexer Wolf wrote 35 weeks 3 days ago

Why would a BoneHead like this ever be allowed to hunt or possess firearms again? The penalties for poaching need to be harshened or idiots like this will continue to do this. Does someone with this mentality really give a darn if they have "hunting priveleges" or not? Is that going to stop them from continuing to poach? It's really laughable when you think about it.

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from Pathfinder1 wrote 35 weeks 2 days ago

Hi...

I think that now it is about time to teach poachers a GOOD lesson, via the courts.

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from Dogrunner wrote 35 weeks 2 days ago

I don't agree with poaching but I have poached before never got nothin big under a light so I decided to start abiding by the law and turned away from my evil and devilish ways of poaching and still ain't seen nothin big lol

-3 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Tom-Tom wrote 35 weeks 2 days ago

If you want to make an impact on the poacher, sentence him to 30 up to 90 days in jail, to be served on every weekend of the hunting season, 6pm Friday to 6pm Sunday. Here in MO that would be from Sept. 1st to January 31st. That would give him plenty of time to think about what he did and send a real message to others. Being put in "time out" lets the punishment fit the crime.

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from Dogrunner wrote 35 weeks 1 day ago

I don't agree with poaching but I have poached before never got nothin big under a light so I decided to start abiding by the law and turned away from my evil and devilish ways of poaching and still ain't seen nothin big lol

-3 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from kevst82 wrote 35 weeks 1 day ago

Well he would even be poaching to begin with since coyote season does not begin until Oct. 15th in Indiana. He was also planning to shoot on private property without permission apparently. Also you can shoot coyotes year round if it is on your own private property or if you have written permission from the landowner, none of which was the case here.

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from kevst82 wrote 35 weeks 1 day ago

Well he would even be poaching to begin with since coyote season does not begin until Oct. 15th in Indiana. He was also planning to shoot on private property without permission apparently. Also you can shoot coyotes year round if it is on your own private property or if you have written permission from the landowner, none of which was the case here.

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from carlgibbs wrote 35 weeks 22 hours ago

I dont understand how people like this should ever be able to hunt again. Obviously he does not care for rules or laws and is not a true sportsman.

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from woodsdog wrote 34 weeks 5 days ago

Even if this guy got away with it, I just don't understand how anybody would feel good about it. I don't care how big the antlers or the final score, in my mind it would always have been taken absent fair chase principles and thats just not sporting to me. I think people like this lose sight of why they hunt in the first place for whatever reason. I like to shoot a big set of antlers every year too and I have had luck some years. However, its the hunting experience that we should really value, not a bunch of bone.

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from sof365 wrote 32 weeks 6 days ago

I understand the temptation, but hunting is about patience. It's especially saddening considering the hard work the bowhunters had put into pursuing this trophy only to have it stolen. I'm also an avid bowhunter and would be extraordinarily upset losing the opportunity to sportingly take home a monster.

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from kseal09 wrote 28 weeks 3 days ago

It is the worst thing to find out that a buck you have been after for the longest time was killed by a poacher. I dont see how anyone could brag about there giant shoulder mount in their living room when they know that they killed it illegally!

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from IND_NRA wrote 35 weeks 3 days ago

Why does the title say Ohio poacher? Is he from Ohio, because this happened in Marion county Indiana.

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from blevenson wrote 35 weeks 3 days ago

Oh the stupidity of people these days. Don't know what makes them think they can get away with crap like this. Say goodbye to your hunting privileges for about 3 years.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Pathfinder1 wrote 35 weeks 2 days ago

Hi...

I think that now it is about time to teach poachers a GOOD lesson, via the courts.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Tom-Tom wrote 35 weeks 2 days ago

If you want to make an impact on the poacher, sentence him to 30 up to 90 days in jail, to be served on every weekend of the hunting season, 6pm Friday to 6pm Sunday. Here in MO that would be from Sept. 1st to January 31st. That would give him plenty of time to think about what he did and send a real message to others. Being put in "time out" lets the punishment fit the crime.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from kevst82 wrote 35 weeks 1 day ago

Well he would even be poaching to begin with since coyote season does not begin until Oct. 15th in Indiana. He was also planning to shoot on private property without permission apparently. Also you can shoot coyotes year round if it is on your own private property or if you have written permission from the landowner, none of which was the case here.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from kevst82 wrote 35 weeks 1 day ago

Well he would even be poaching to begin with since coyote season does not begin until Oct. 15th in Indiana. He was also planning to shoot on private property without permission apparently. Also you can shoot coyotes year round if it is on your own private property or if you have written permission from the landowner, none of which was the case here.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from carlgibbs wrote 35 weeks 22 hours ago

I dont understand how people like this should ever be able to hunt again. Obviously he does not care for rules or laws and is not a true sportsman.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from woodsdog wrote 34 weeks 5 days ago

Even if this guy got away with it, I just don't understand how anybody would feel good about it. I don't care how big the antlers or the final score, in my mind it would always have been taken absent fair chase principles and thats just not sporting to me. I think people like this lose sight of why they hunt in the first place for whatever reason. I like to shoot a big set of antlers every year too and I have had luck some years. However, its the hunting experience that we should really value, not a bunch of bone.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from sof365 wrote 32 weeks 6 days ago

I understand the temptation, but hunting is about patience. It's especially saddening considering the hard work the bowhunters had put into pursuing this trophy only to have it stolen. I'm also an avid bowhunter and would be extraordinarily upset losing the opportunity to sportingly take home a monster.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from kseal09 wrote 28 weeks 3 days ago

It is the worst thing to find out that a buck you have been after for the longest time was killed by a poacher. I dont see how anyone could brag about there giant shoulder mount in their living room when they know that they killed it illegally!

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Lexer Wolf wrote 35 weeks 3 days ago

Why would a BoneHead like this ever be allowed to hunt or possess firearms again? The penalties for poaching need to be harshened or idiots like this will continue to do this. Does someone with this mentality really give a darn if they have "hunting priveleges" or not? Is that going to stop them from continuing to poach? It's really laughable when you think about it.

-2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Dogrunner wrote 35 weeks 2 days ago

I don't agree with poaching but I have poached before never got nothin big under a light so I decided to start abiding by the law and turned away from my evil and devilish ways of poaching and still ain't seen nothin big lol

-3 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Dogrunner wrote 35 weeks 1 day ago

I don't agree with poaching but I have poached before never got nothin big under a light so I decided to start abiding by the law and turned away from my evil and devilish ways of poaching and still ain't seen nothin big lol

-3 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

Post a Comment

 

All submitted comments are subject to the rules set forth in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.