When it comes to fish and wildlife violations (poaching), how significant a problem is it in Maine? Or, put simply, how many bad guys are there? Good questions, and ones not easily answered.

A good rule of thumb, according to a former top Maine game warden who I used to work with, was what he called the “10 percent rule.” He figured from his experiences in the field that 10 percent of people who fish and hunt will repeatedly breach a major fish and wildlife law if tempted by what appears as an opportunity to get away with it.

On the other hand, the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine (SAM), when supporting legislation a few years ago to take away a game warden’s authority to make random regulatory checks of hunters in their vehicles, relied on license compliance statistics from files of the Maine Warden Service. The records, said SAM, showed that a majority of sports checked by wardens in the field have had their proper licenses.

Perhaps, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

What we do know is that when so-called sportsmen turn bad and take up systematic, calculated poaching, they raise unholy havoc with fish and game populations. In fact, poachers each year in Maine reportedly take as many deer as legal hunters!

A few years ago, as a spokesman for the Maine Warden Service, I tagged along on a major bust of a poaching ring in the Cambridge area. That was an eye-opening experience. When the smoke cleared, and all the bad guys were rounded up, a half-dozen hard-core poachers were summonsed. One was an elderly gent regarded as a pillar of the community. These guys had it all – night vision scopes, flat-shooting small caliber rifles with homemade silencers, hiding places for guns, a leadership hierarchy, freezers bulging with venison and commercial meat grinders. You name it.

Breakups of major poaching operations are not everyday happenings. But periodically they occur. And when they do, we are reminded of our darker side. Case in point:

Game Wardens arrested two people and charged 12 other people this winter after serving 2 arrest warrants and six search warrants simultaneously in northern Aroostook County. Eric Argraves, 30 of Castle Hill, was arrested and charged with 37 counts of various wildlife crimes. Argraves hunting license was currently under suspension, and it also had been revoked one time previously. Among the charges are four charges of night hunting, four charges of illegally hunting moose, one count of killing deer during a closed season and two charges of illegal possession of deer or moose. All those charges are Class D Crimes, and carry a minimum sentence of three days in jail and a $1,000 fine for each count.

Also arrested was Shawn Bragg, 22, of Castle Hill, who was charged with 19 hunting violations, including these class D Crimes: three counts of hunting deer after having killed one, three counts of night hunting and two counts of exceeding the limit on deer.

The charges are a result of a two-year investigation stemming from complaints that Argraves was continuing to hunt, despite having his license revoked. The investigation revealed that Argraves continued to hunt at night, out of season, out of motor vehicles, basically whenever he wanted, and hunting for whatever he wanted, including deer, moose and fox. Many times Argraves would hunt using these illegal methods, and that is how others were charged. Most of the 56 violations occurred in Castle Hill, where those charged would hunt illegally as opportunities arose.

The point, that needs to be appreciated by sportsmen and non-sportsmen alike, is that there is in Maine an established hard-core “poaching community,” a few bad guys that operate with no regard whatever for the law or the resource. And the vigilant citizen, ethical sportsman, and district game warden are all that stand between them and destruction of our fish and wildlife. With game wardens prosecuting fewer and fewer lawbreakers each year, the bad guys may have a new edge.

Law-abiding citizens and sportsmen can counteract this setback somewhat by “getting involved.” One way is to call Operation Game Thief when things don’t look right in the Great Outdoors. The toll-free telephone number of OGT is 1-800- ALERT – US.

Correction: In an earlier Outdoors In Maine column, I wrongly reported that Maine ATV fatalities had far surpassed snowmobile fatalities. That is incorrect. Although serious ATV accidents have doubled in the past 5 years at the national level and Maine has experienced a record number of ATV accidents during the past 5 years according to state statistics, Maine has had far more snowmobile fatalities than ATV fatalities.

V. Paul Reynolds is a Maine Guide, co-host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network (WVOM-FM 103.9, WCME-FM 96.7) and former information officer for the Maine Dept. of Fish and Wildlife.

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