Found the camera thief.

[Barry Willis]

Something has been bugging the dickens out of me to go back up to the rocky mountain foot hills where my trail cam went missing, so I did first thing this morning. In my almost 70 years on this planet, one thing I have learnt is to go with my instincts. I knew there was a poacher prowling around in my stomping grounds from the tracks I'd previously found. Well this morning I found fresh tracks leading into the bush so I followed them and I caught him in the act, sneaking through the bush with a rifle. He didn't see me but I saw him. To try and make a long story short I beat it the Hell out of there as there is no phone service, once I had service I phoned the report a poacher no. about 40 minutes later a game warden showed up and I led him into the bush  where the guy was and with the help of the game warden and my walkie talkies we caught him red handed gutting a white tail doe. We caught his buddy as well of course that was driving around so as not to create suspicion with a vehicle sitting on the side of the road. I told the warden about my camera gone missing and he asked me what brand it was and I told him, he reached into the back seat of the truck and brought out a trail cam and asked me, does this look familiar? Sure does I replied. So I got it back minus the SD card. The warden ran their ID. turned out the two guys had multiple warrants for poaching and fire arms offences, so the warden called the RCMP and they were cuffed and taken to the crow bar hotel where they belong. So all in all this was a very rewarding day, got my camera back and put two bad guys in jail. Thanks to those who took the time to read this, I know it's a long one, as usual Hahah.

Edited February 3 by Barry Willis

[Terry]

That is a great ending to the story 

I hope they get the book thrown at them 

[TJQ]

Holy Moly, thats both scary and awesome!

[Barry Willis]

Thank you very much for that Terry, and so do I. The Game warden and the RCMP both told me I was very lucky the guy didn't see me before I saw him, considering his back ground as he likely would have shot me.

Edited January 31 by Barry Willis

[Rizzo]

wow

[Big Cliff]

Well done🤗

[lew]

WTG Barry, always good to read a story with a happy ending.

[the spirit of fishing]

Happy to hear the good guys won this round.

Really fortunate the warden responded so quickly.

[aplumma]

Nice finish to a bad occurrence. 

 

Art

[AKRISONER]

Curious Barry, with just one game warden, how was he able to make an arrest? I know he called in the RCMP, but how was he able to take down two of them himself?

Were these two idiots that complacent? Or did he simply lead on that everything was fine until the point that the RCMP did show up?

the idea of tracking an armed criminal through the woods is terrifying.

hopefully these bozos get real jail time

[Cast-Away]

A couple of real lowlifes. It pisses me off to hear about people like this and any kind of thief in general. People like that should just get a job like the rest of us.

[Barry Willis]

Thank you very much for that Terry, and so do I. The Game warden and the RCMP both told me I was very lucky the guy didn't see me before I saw him, considering his back ground as he likely would have shot me. But that was the least of my worries. I was prepared for that as I legally pack a 44 mag on my hip when I'm up there, and it was in my hand.

[CrowMan]

Wow...I applaud your bravery Barry and especially that of the Game Warden. Going after an armed criminal by yourselves (with only one gun) in the bush took real cojones. No way I would've continued to remain on the scene to help capture the guy.  I woud've high-tailed it out of there after calling the authorities. I would've thought once you informed the Game Warden that the suspect was armed, the protocol would've been to call in the SWAT team or equivalent. .like I said brave man.

My heart was racing just reading about it...jeez scary stuff.

Edited January 31 by CrowMan

[CrowMan]

Ahh...didn't realize until you posted at the same time I did, that you had a gun.

[Barry Willis]

Howdy Akrisoner, as is with all our provinces the game wardens have huge areas to cover. The one that showed up on scene was the closest and going into the bush he was armed with a semi automatic rifle, either a 308 or 30-06 and being a government hunter I was armed as well. We worked in tandem. Yes, it was a little terrifying, lots of places for him to hide and ambush us if he detected us as he would do what ever he needed to to avoid being arrested and going to jail for years. So after finding him, disarming and cuffing him and he was a cocky bugger too, we wanted to slap the crap out of him but we can't do that. he was placed in the back seat of the wardens SUV while we drove around looking for his partner which didn't take long. This is a huge area with no one around for miles during the week, that's why I love it so much. The game wardens and RCMP don't travel in pairs, or with a partner so two RCMP SUV's showed up as these characters were considered very dangerous and were taken to jail in seperate vehicles. Back to Cast - Away, at the time I was very disappointed to lose a camera, it's really my only form of entertainment, it took me a long time to save up enough money for it on my CPP. at least I got it back. Back to Crowman, hey Rick, I'm certainly in no rush to do it again, never slept a wink last night thinking how fast things could have went south. the thing that saved us is when we found him his rifle was leaning against a tree out of his reach as he gutted the white tail doe. The SWAT team was on our minds, if we felt the need. In retrospect I feel we should have let them deal with it. I'm not the adrenaline junkie I used to was LOL. I have found that as I get older I am losing the nerve to do a lot of things I never used to give any thought to. If you look close in the first picture I think you can see the mountain peaks, that's where I'm heading, and the second picture (an old one) all this took place at the bottom of the hill. Thank you all. 

[lew]

2 hours ago, Barry Willis said:

 and being a government hunter I was armed as well.

Just curious Barry, but what is a government hunter, never heard that term before.

[Cando]

I'm glad all ended well and you are safe!!!

[Barry Willis]

Howdy Lew, when folks in rural southern Alberta have a problem, mostly with coyotes they call Fish And Wildlife - the Game Wardens, then Fish And Wildlife calls me with their information and I proceed from there as the Game Wardens don't get involved with problem critters unless it involves black bears or grizzlies, which I wont shoot any way, Fish And Wildlife trap and relocate them. Unlike B.C. we don't shoot bears unless they have become a real problem, having killed a person or mauled one. Many years ago there was a Government Hunter program  in Ontario that my dad and I were involved in during the spring mostly involving rabid animals, foxes, skunks etc. For some reason, Keppel township at that time had the worst rabies problem in all of North America, and not just one year, but several in a row. It kept us busy. It's a very sad thing for the affected animal to go through, so we were called upon to end their suffering and try and keep the disease from spreading as best as we could. It certainly isn't a term you hear every day Lew, most folks haven't heard of such a thing, but that's pretty much what a Government Hunter does.   

[AKRISONER]

This is actually one of the wildest stories I have read on any outdoors forum or the like. Lots of folks in the states boast about what they would do in this situation and dream about taking down criminals but this is the first story I’ve seen where it actually happened.

i still shudder at the idea of the guy realizing he was busted and deciding that rather than facing the jail time, he’d pull a side piece fire and go on the run. Especially a guy with previous gun offences. 
 

now it’s up to our justice system to make sure he doesn’t do it again.

 

call me crazy, but I’m going to assume that you will most certainly be brought on as a witness when this guys trial comes up. Or at minimum be required to  write an affidavit 

 

Edited February 1 by AKRISONER

[Barry Willis]

Thanks very much for that Akrisoner. Yes and not a thing crazy about it. I was asked to appear in court to testify against them which I will gladly do. Especially now, I just got off the phone with a buddy that works in the internal affairs division with the Calgary Police, in other words he polices the police. I likely shouldn't be saying much more here as my buddy informed me it involves under age children so no names or pictures of the family or the bad guy are being disclosed at this time. He is the one we caught and the Game Warden  arrested in the bush.  Years ago he allegedly threatened to shoot his wife and kids. Bailed himself out of jail and failed to show up for court and hadn't been seen or at least recognized since. For the life of me I don't understand why any judge in his right mind would grant someone bail for such a serious offence. After what we learned about the guy I am in no rush for a repeat of that day. I don't believe the Game Warden is either. I think a few more sleepless nights are on the horizon.

Edited February 1 by Barry Willis

[BITEME]

keep the .44 strapped!!!!!!!!

[lew]

Thanks for the info on government hunters Barry, always good to learn something new.

Edited February 1 by lew

[Barry Willis]

You're welcome Lew. I don't make much money for doing it but it gets me out of the city and helps pay for gas and ammo. 

[Barry Willis]

Got a call from the Game Warden this morning that made the arrest and the guy has also been charged for sexually assaulting his two young daughters. That's the reason for the publication ban.  What a sick person. I can't imagine what the girls are going through and what lies ahead.  Makes me feel that much better for doing what I did. Makes it all seem worth while now.  I hope they lock him up in solitary confinement and throw the key away.

[Cando]

3 hours ago, Barry Willis said:

Got a call from the Game Warden this morning that made the arrest and the guy has also been charged for sexually assaulting his two young daughters. That's the reason for the publication ban.  What a sick person. I can't imagine what the girls are going through and what lies ahead.  Makes me feel that much better for doing what I did. Makes it all seem worth while now.  I hope they lock him up in solitary confinement and throw the key away.

What a sicko. Glad that you did what you did not only for your property and cam, but for this guy pray on young defensive kids. You're were right when you said you had to limit what you say here. We don't need guys like this having the case thrown out and his guy walking the streets.