And some people poach because they find themselves desperate enough to take the law into their own hands. As deer densities increase, the hungry animals gobble farm crops, tree nursery stock and urban gardens and landscapes. Thus, when landowners who've appealed to the IDNR for help feel that the help they finally get is too little, too late, some decide to deal with it themselves.

"This is happening in Cedar Rapids, even in midsummer," reported IDNR wildlife biologist Tim Thompson. "I've checked dead deer in city limits and found some of them gut-shot by a .22 rifle bullet. I presume that landowners frustrated by deer damage shoot the deer, which wanders off to someone else's property to die."

One Iowa tree farmer told me that deer are destroying his woodlands -- so he carries a rifle whenever he's on his land, and drops any deer he sees.

No matter what motivates poachers, any buck killed illegally is a stolen animal that won't end up legally tagged.

IOWA'S POACHING HOTSPOTS
Poaching appears to take place all over the Hawkeye State; IDNR biologist Suchy certainly believes that it's fairly widespread across Iowa.

"I think it may be more common in rural counties," he remarked, "because the risk of getting caught may be lower, but it also happens in urban areas. Iowa's cities are essentially deer refuges, and many bucks grow to massive size there. Poachers are well aware of this and are active in urban areas."

Sloterdyk agrees. "Poachers go where the big deer are," he said. "Sometimes, they even go where the rumors of big deer are. Every year I hear of people sighting a monstrous buck somewhere. Sometimes these sighting are legitimate, and there really is a big buck in the area; sometimes they're just a rumor. But either way, lots of people hear about a giant buck and go after him."

Sloterdyk listens closely to the tales of record-book deer and spends time watching for poachers in areas in which these bucks are reported to live. "Part of my job as a conservation officer is to figure out where poaching is most likely to take place and patrol in those areas," he explained. "I listen to the grapevine to get information. Surprisingly, often the friends or relatives of a poacher call me to tip me off about the illegal activity."

Also, Chief Joslin pointed out, every county in Iowa contains remote areas possessing decent deer habitat. Local officers get to know these areas, he says, which become likely spots for encountering poachers. Officer Jackson suggests that southern Iowa may have more poachers than does any other region of the state.

Steve Dermand, who administers the Turn In Poachers hotline -- 1-800-532-2020 -- has a good feel for poaching hotspots. "Location of poaching has much to do with the proximity of good (deer) habitat and a large human population," he said. "Generally, officers find more poaching in a place like a river corridor that's near a big city. The Cedar River and (the city of) Cedar Rapids in Linn County is a good example."

Poachers are even active in northwest Iowa, the part of the state that has the lowest deer density. "We have deer poaching in northern Iowa," said Rich Jordet, the IDNR Law Enforcement division's Northwest District supervisor. "Officers Steve Jauron and Stacey Sisco made an excellent case last year with three large bucks being shot with rifles within the Sioux City limits. One of those deer was so large that it qualified for the $20,000 liquidated damages fine." (Liquidated damages are the dollar values, as deemed optimal for the public interest, applied to game animals.)

And poaching in urban areas seems to be increasing, perhaps because many cities essentially function as deer refuges. Some cities, like Cedar Rapids, ban all forms of hunting. Others, like neighboring Marion, permit bowhunting. However, most legal urban hunts are designed to reduce deer population densities and thus usually target antlerless animals. Thus, Iowa's cities have become refuges for massive bucks, and poachers will go wherever those big bucks live.