The Pennsylvania Game Commission plans on making a strong push to promote its Operation Game Thief program next June when the 2021-22 license year begins.
But wildlife crimes are happening now, so the agency isn’t sitting back when it comes to linking the public to the program that makes it easy to report violations.
Operation Game Thief was rolled out in 2015, allowing people to report illegal activity by calling a toll-free number of via an online form. The program paid immediate dividends as more than 200 tips came in during the first three weeks.
It was clear that wildlife crimes aren’t tolerated by the public, but fast forward to 2019 and the disgust over such acts hit a fever pitch when two Jefferson County teens filmed themselves kicking and stomping a wounded buck.
The video went viral, and the case triggered so much outrage that the PGC’s Facebook page was overwhelmed with comments for months.
Matt Morrett, the agency’s bureau director for marketing and strategic communications, said the outrage over the Jefferson County incident hampered the PGC’s ability to reach followers with posts un-related to the crime.
“Posts were getting sabotaged with comments about the Jefferson County case and it took us away from getting our good messages out there,” he said. “It turns a great message south when that’s the only thing people wanted to get information about.”
As a result, the game commission launched a separate Facebook page for Operation Game Thief on Oct. 13. Morrett said law enforcement-related posts will still appear on the agency’s primary page, but he hopes having a separate page for OGT will direct more focus to the cases where the help from the public is needed.
As of Nov. 22, more than 1,200 people were following the OGT page, a figure that Morrett found encouraging.
“Those are organic followers. We want people excited about being a part of this, and they are,” he said. “We want people to be involved if there’s something going on.”
And right now, social media is the perfect venue in enlisting the public’s help to solve wildlife crimes.
Because COVID-19 restrictions canceled many fairs and large events – such as the NRA’s Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg – opportunities for the agency to promote OGT became limited. As a result, the importance of social media in reaching the public increased.
“We speak to a lot of folks at those shows, but that’s gone this year,” Morrett said. “We’re going to do a lot more live, virtual events, and our podcast, and social media definitely plays a bigger role.
“The biggest thing is exposure through modern-day digital media when it comes to raising awareness.”
Oftentimes awareness is raised with the use of visuals, that’s why the agency frequently posts images of wildlife that had been killed illegally. Morrett admits some of the images aren’t pretty and they some that are just too graphic to post, but it’s important for the public to understand what poaching truly looks like.
“Folks need to see how bad this is, and that can definitely be a motivational factor to get involved,” he said. “At the same time, when someone who is a violator sees what it looks like and see that they’re stealing, perhaps it can turn them around.”
While the value of social media is crucial, Morrett admits the platform doesn’t reach everyone. As part of the stronger push to promote OGT in June, Morrett said the agency will conduct a “hard launch” of the program with a kickoff promotion in next season’s Hunting and Trapping Digest. He said the digest is one of the largest marketing tools at the agency’s disposal, with 1 million copies printed and distribution to every license buyer.
In addition, Morrett said the program will also be advertised in radio and print media and the agency’s YouTube channel will be revamped.
“We’re going to get the word out there. There are so many good things about Operation Game Thief that we can all support,” he said. “As hunters, none of us want to see anyone doing anything that’s unethical, and we want to give people an avenue to get involved.”
