ORIGINAL: VA5326

Here in Virginia the Game Wardens are so underpaid (I think they start at the low $20,000's) they are having a retention/ high turnover problem. I know for a fact that, in the county I hunt in, we have ONE Game Warden for the four surrounding counties. You do the math, one Warden that has a jurisdiction of four counties. In turn,what that means is...... well, let's say you find someone tresspassing, poaching, etc. He may not even return your call or come out toinvestigate if he deems it unimportant. My question is "What do I do if I do find a poacher on my property?"........Citizen's arrest or call the cops I imagine.But then again, we're talking about RURAL Virginia here and theSheriff's response time?....well...I just don't know about that and I'm not trying to get into an AaronBurr vs. Alexander Hamilton situationin the woods.Sorry about the vent, but, I feel in my area, something needs to be done aboutitbefore something happens that makes the papers. (i.e. give the Game Wardens a pay raise and try to keep a few on board until they get some seniority). Yeah, it's pretty bad here in VA too.

VA