History Main / RoguishPoacher

* In the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' novel ''The Gatekeepr Trilogy: Ghost Roads'', The crew of the ''Lizzie S'' sneak out to sea to fish even after the Coast Guard declares the bay off-limits due to monster attacks but are fairly benevolent people who aren't overfishing the area.

* The eponymous character in ''Catlow'', by Creator/LouisLAmour, steals cows from the corrupt {{Cattle Baron}}s who tired to have him and his fellow drovers murdered just for daring to start their own cattle drive for unbranded cattle rather than let the big ranchers maintain their monopoly.

* ''Film/LeCapitaineFracasse'': The servant of the Baron of Sigognac servant poaches rabbits on lands that don't belong to his ({{impoverished|Patrician}}) lord so his lord can have some good things for dinner at least. And even then, Sigognac ends up happily sharing the poached rabbits with a traveling CommediaDellArte theatre troupe that asked for refuge in his castle for the night.

As this guy is still a criminal, he'll either have a SympatheticInspectorAntagonist or the police/sheriff/gamekeeper will be [[DirtyCop in the pockets]] of the CorruptHick landlord.

** ''Literature/{{Pyramids}}'': Pteppic spends some time under the wing of a roguish poacher, whom his absent-minded father mistook for his tutor. The main thing he learned was how to operate a "punt-bow",[[note]]inspired by the real-life [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punt_gun punt gun[[/note]] a device that can turn a flock of ibises into a heap of pâté.

* ''Film/TheHungerGames'': Katniss Everdeen hunts illegally to feed her starving family and coincidentally stick it to TheMan.

-->''I have rights of chase and warren, as my dignity requires.\\
I can fish -- but Hobden [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trout_tickling tickles]] -- I can shoot -- but Hobden [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trapping#Snares wires]].\\
I repair, but he reopens, certain gaps which, men allege,\\
Have been used by every Hobden since a Hobden swapped a hedge.\\\
Shall I dog his morning progress o'er the track-betraying dew ?\\
Demand his dinner-basket into which my pheasant flew?\\
Confiscate his evening [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faggot_(unit) faggot]] under which my conies ran,\\
And summons him to judgment? I would sooner summons Pan.''

Whereas the Evil Poacher is an EgomaniacHunter out for endangered "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charismatic_megafauna charismatic megafauna]]", the Roguish Poacher hunts [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute prey animals]] like rabbits, fish, and game birds (the only quarry the two might compete over is deer). Where the Evil Poacher is a GlorySeeker who wants to put trophies on his walls, the Roguish Poacher wants to feed his family and maybe scratch a living selling the meat and skins.

* ''Film/CrocodileDundee'' fits the archetype pretty well, except for the "poor subsistence hunter sticking it to the man" part. He's allegedly a fisherman who runs a safari business in Australia's Northern Territory, but in the first movie a barfly calls him a "bloody croc poacher," and while Mick punches him out for it, it does seem to be an open secret in Walkabout Creek, where he's generally well-liked.

* French movie ''Film/NiVuNiConnu'' (1958) stars Creator/LouisDeFunes as Léon Blaireau, a sympathetic poacher who's pitted against Parju, a [[MeddlesomePatrolman Meddlesome Forest Guard]] and gamekeeper. Mr. Bluette, the prison director, calls Blaireau a "Rural Bohemian" but the mayor angrily reminds that he is still a poacher. Much to his dismay, Blaireau is incredibly popular in the village since he brings in most of the game and fishes...

** In ''Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves'', the boy that Robin finds trapped up a tree by some soldiers is accused of shooting a deer. When asked by Robin (after chasing the Sheriff's men away and branding himself an outlaw) the boy confirms it's true (although Robin doesn't seem to care either way).

* The 1923 version of ''Film/{{Scaramouche|1923}}'' begins with a peasant having been executed for poaching on the Marquis' land. We are meant to sympathize with the slain poacher, who was presumably desperate for food, and to see the Marquis as evil. In fact, this is how the Marquis is first established as the bad guy.
* The British propaganda film ''Film/WentTheDayWell'' has Bill Purves the local poacher as a genial old man who gets along well with kids and isn't portrayed negatively during a scene where he's trying to outwit the local policeman. Later he's a heroic figure during the conflict.

* In ''Literature/AClashOfKings,'' the second ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' book, Arya travels with a group of Nights Watch recruits which includes two pleasant-natured poachers named Koss and Kurz. The two men keep the group fed (Koss takes down larger animals with a bow and arrow while Kurz fishes with his bare hands) and never try to desert while out foraging. After being fatally wounded, [[spoiler:Kurz]] passes on his hunting techniques and survival skills to his younger companions.

* ''Courage of the Mountain Man'' by William Johnstone features AxCrazy CattleBaron Clint Black as the BigBad. Malvern, a local cowboy who was blacklisted by Black, talks about how he's been eating fine despite being out of work. Assuming a mock innocent expression, Malvern claims that every week for six months, one of Black's cows has been wandering onto his property and breaking its leg, forcing Malvern to shoot it. And since Black has forbidden Malvern from setting foot on his land, he can't return the beef from the cows and decides to eat it himself. Malvern's listeners, who can pick up the subtext about what's ''really'' going on, are deeply amused and hire the rustler on the spot.
* Creator/RoaldDahl's book ''Literature/DannyTheChampionOfTheWorld'' is based on this premise. Danny's father is a kindly but poor rural mechanic who poaches pheasants from the estate of the local rich guy, who happens to be a cruel, pompous, {{Jerkass}}. It's implied that he does so for the sport and challenge more than the food (considering it to be much more sporting than the canned hunts the pheasants were destined for). The plot of the novel involves Danny hatching a plan to poach ''all'' the pheasant on said estate, just before the big annual hunt.

** Carpenter the Poacher in ''Literature/LordsAndLadies'' is specifically described with [[WaxingLyrical quotes]] from "The Lincolnshire Poacher". ''Nanny Ogg's Cookbook'' implies everyone in Lancre has a bit of this, when talking about how fresh food is always available in the countryside: "As we always say, you can boil it, bake it, or fry it, but for preference, you poach it."
** In ''Literature/{{Pyramids}}'', Pteppic spends some time under the wing of a roguish poacher, whom his absent-minded father mistook for his tutor. The main thing he learned was how to operate a "punt-bow",[[note]]inspired by the real-life [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punt_gun punt gun[[/note]] a device that can turn a flock of ibises into a heap of pâté.
* The aforementioned ''Literature/FantasticMrFox'', who combines this with CarnivoreConfusion by stealing chickens from industrial-scale farmers Boggis, Bunce, and Bean.
* Black George in ''Literature/TheHistoryOfTomJonesAFoundling'' is a gamekeeper on an estate (the guy supposed to stop poachers) but also does some poaching himself -- a combination of feeding his family and being a (lovable) scoundrel. At the end of the novel, the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue indicates he was ultimately [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penal_transportation transported]] for his crimes.
* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' opens with Katniss and Gale hunting outside their District's perimeter in order to [[JustifiedCriminal feed their families]], which is described as a harshly punishable crime.

* In the 1927 novel ''Literature/NightOnTheGalacticRailroad'' by Kenji Miyazawa, as well as the 1986 anime adaptation, Campanella and Giovanni meet a friendly poacher who catches herons and turns them into candy.
* Several of the minor characters in ''Literature/PhoenixAndAshes'' poach the Fenix woods with the tacit permission of Reggie Fenix -- it's a source of protein that isn't affected by rationing.
* San Francisco Bay illegal fishermen and oyster pirates in Creator/JackLondon's 1905 ''Tales of the Fish Patrol'' are in a somehow sporty competition with authorities over fishing resources. London does not shy from portraying them as quick to beat, shoot, or [[KnifeNut stab]] people, but, at the same time, they are mostly trying to feed themselves and their families, rules be damned.

* According to [[Series/ToastOfLondon Steven Toast]], fellow actor [[Series/{{Bergerac}} John Nettles]] has had to become one after falling on hard times.
* ''Series/{{Poldark}}'' has Jim Carter, who is caught poaching pheasants and sentenced to transportation. He is portrayed sympathetically and saved from this fate by main character Ross, who pleads his sentence down to imprisonment.

I can fish — but Hobden [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trout_tickling tickles]] — I can shoot—but Hobden [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trapping#Snares wires.]]\\

* The ''Stanley Baxter's Playhouse'' episode "The Pool" is about a salmon poacher on a Scottish estate being caught by the laird, and eventually revealing that [[spoiler: he's the son of the local blacksmith, who many years earlier taught the laird to poach on what was then his father's estate.]]

* The play ''Theatre/ACryOfPlayers'' is about a young Creator/WilliamShakespeare, who gets caught poaching the local Lord's deer and has to flee Stratford, joining up with a band of players.

* Derek Badger of ''VideoGame/{{Poacher}}'' is one of these, being an UnfazedEveryman from OopNorth who mostly hunts small game such as rabbits to feed himself and his wife. Fittingly, he spends a fair chunk of the game pursued by his rival, Gamey the game warden.

* The traditional English folk song "The Lincolnshire Poacher" is sung from the perspective of a poacher who prides himself on his ability to outwit and, if necessary, fight the gamekeeper. The song ends by wishing "Success to every poacher that wants to catch a hare" and "Bad luck to every gamekeeper that will not sell his deer".
* "Longdog" by ShowOfHands, thus inspiring the band's FanCommunityNickname. A longdog is a variety of sighthound popular with hare and rabbit coursers, and the hero's ownership of one is used as circumstantial evidence to send him to jail.
* The Australian folk song "Waltzing Matilda" is about a "jolly swagman", i.e. a sheep rustler.
%%* The German song "Das Jennerwein-Lied", a romanticised tale of RealLife FolkHero Georg Jennerwein.
* The Music/EricBogle song "Poachers Moon" is about the traditional Scottish pastime of poaching salmon from the laird's stream.
* Foxes are often depicted as the animal version of this in several older folk songs. One of the most notable is "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fox_(folk_song) The Fox]]", a 15th-century Middle English song about, well, a Fox who steals a goose from a local farmer to feed his family.
* {{Defied|Trope}} by Music/JethroTull's song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXvl01MR-ac The Whaler's Dues]]"; the whalers see themselves as this, but the song points out they work for an industry that's rendered a number of species of these majestic creatures almost extinct, if not entirely.