If you’re driving through southeast Colorado this fall, you might encounter a different sort of roadside checkpoint. It’s not for drunk driving or border security. It’s for poachers.
Last week two dozen Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife (CPW) and law enforcement officials checked vehicles on Highway 50 at Lamar for hunting violations, as reported by Russ Baldwin in the Prowers Journal.
In what was officially described as a “biological check station”, drivers were directed into lanes, asked quick questions and either passed through or pulled over for more questioning if they’d been hunting. Those pulled over were checked for hunting licenses and possible violations, such as shooting the wrong sex or hunting in the wrong game management area. The checkpoint was operated over two days and others may occur.
Poaching is taken seriously by the Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife. Studies show that for every animal legally harvested in Colorado, another one is poached. CPW also operates Operation Game Thief, which pays rewards to citizens who turn in poachers and it provides an on-line list of current cases under investigation. Their website also includes online postings of all of Colorado’s hunting regulations as well as full information on hunter education.