403 Poachers and Poaching. 



or looked for. Uncertainty as to the whereabouts of the 

 keepers is to them a most disturbing influence, and know- 

 ledge of where they are is regarded as a boon. In the 

 case of serious raids, when an affray is expected, the 

 keepers should always endeavour to surround and over- 

 match their opponents. Watchers and helpers should be 

 instructed to work in threes : this gives them an immense 

 advantage. If possible, guns should be dispensed with ; 

 but I should never allow keepers to encounter the deter- 

 mined ruffians who may comprise a gang other than on 

 equal terms, and should freely entrust reliable men with 

 revolvers, to be used, be it noted, solely in defence of life 

 or to threaten. Whenever possible, the aid of the police 

 should be obtained, because they possess many important 

 powers, particularly in regard to the highway, on which 

 gamekeepers have no power to act unless called upon by 

 a constable. 



The powers possessed by gamekeepers for dealing with 

 poachers are far more restricted than the vast majority of 

 them presume to be the case. It is most usually due to 

 the keeper's want of knowledge, causing him to act outside 

 the law, that failures to convict arise. Did gamekeepers 

 as a body possess more precise knowledge of how they 

 ought to act within the law, and not according to what is 

 only irregular custom, more convictions would be secured 

 and poaching offences be more successfully dealt with. 

 In connection with what I have to say upon poachers and 

 poaching I shall define what a keeper may do and what 

 he may not do by virtue of his office in dealing with 

 poachers and trespassers, as it is most necessary to observe 

 these restrictions if a conviction in full measure is to be 

 secured. 



It is a common practice for keepers to search supposed 

 poachers or trespassers for game or the means of taking 



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