The number of calls has stabilized since, with 338 last year, but the quality of information is higher, resulting in 62 busts and 12 warnings in '99 and 80 busts with 15 warnings in 2000. In a few instances, poachers have hurriedly called the hotline and acting as though they were witnesses after knowing their illegal activity was observed. Two poachers killed a mule deer buck with a 29-inch wide rack out of season in Weber Canyon last year, and hung it in a tree. A neighbor confronted them and called the hotline. The poachers also called the hotline to report they had witnessed someone killing a big buck deer.
Poachers are well aware of the hotline's reach.
A pair of miscreants shot a doe from a vehicle and left it to rot in Utah County last year. A hunter with a cell phone reported them. The central and northern regions make up the bulk of the activity. This is what happened to Archuleta. The vast majority of poaching hotline calls are from sportsmen.