USF&WS Is it in the job description???
10-06-2003, 02:29 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Fenton, MI
Posts: 88
USF&WS Is it in the job description???
Saturday, two of my hunting buddies and myself pulled an all-day event in the duck marsh trying very hard, yet unsuccessfully, to fill our 3-man limit (which never happened)
.
The area we hunt is quite remote both in terms of location and accessibility. Basically, you' re miles away from the nearest town; 7-8 miles down a dirt road that is in reality only one lane wide... and before you even get close to the water you have nearly a half mile walk through the woods and fallen timber to look forward to (canoe drag + gear in our case). That leads you to a 1/2 to 3/4 mile canoe ride with multiple portages and short drags[&:]. Walking there is (or at least we thought) a non-option; one step you' re ankle deep... the next you' re waist deep in a sippy hole - and there are more than a few holes that are over your head[X(]!
Saturday afternoon, shooting time was approaching as we unloaded our guns and fetched up our decoys. By the time we were loaded up into the canoe for the 100 yard paddle to the first portage dusk was at hand. My friend at the front of the canoe got out first and pushed the cat tails aside to pull the canoe up a little only to reveal a lone individual in the water on the other side walking toward us! Dressed in full camo, wearing a pair of binoculars, NO shotgun, NO CANOE OR KAYAK, no light (although you could still see a little still in the fading light)... walking AWAY from the road with darkness approaching[
]. First thoughts on our part were did not involve the person being a CO; and he didn' t immediately identify himself as being one. Only after showing us his badge (and realizing this wasn' t some loony out to murder us or something) did our adrenaline levels subside. I have been checked numerous times in the past while hunting, even a couple of times in the field (no place quite this extreme though, always in a dry field), but low and behold... this guy walked ALL THE WAY out there in the swamp!
The officer checked all the normal things... licenses, number and identity of the ducks, shotguns for plugs, sheels for non-tox compliance, looked in boxes / bags for anything we may have hidden, etc. He checked all 11 of our ducks VERY thoroughly... one at a time... even teaching us a few things about ducks and identifying them that we didn' t know... and between the 3 of us we are probably coming up on 40 years of waterfowling. We were as helpful and forthcoming as we could be - why make this poor guys day any harder than it' s been to come out and visit us, after all.
The officer was very nice and quite informational, even giving us a little bit more insight on the area that we were hunting (it' s a very large area and he' s over-flown it in light aircraft)
. I think he may actually be one of the only other people I have ever seen out there hunting in the past.
After all that, the officer bid us good tidings for the next days hunt, commented upon how much he wished he would have brought his kayak in addition to his hippers and let us go on our way. I offered to come back in and pick him up in the canoe after dropping off my buddies, but he respectfully declined - stating he had walked in with the intention of walking back out and he wasn' t going to inconvenience us by occupying any more of our time. He turned around and started on his way back... on foot... to his vehicle, which we saw parked about 100 feet behind ours on the road when we got back out of the swamp.
What a job! I have to say, this particular officer went to work that day and earned his paycheck.
. The area we hunt is quite remote both in terms of location and accessibility. Basically, you' re miles away from the nearest town; 7-8 miles down a dirt road that is in reality only one lane wide... and before you even get close to the water you have nearly a half mile walk through the woods and fallen timber to look forward to (canoe drag + gear in our case). That leads you to a 1/2 to 3/4 mile canoe ride with multiple portages and short drags[&:]. Walking there is (or at least we thought) a non-option; one step you' re ankle deep... the next you' re waist deep in a sippy hole - and there are more than a few holes that are over your head[X(]!
Saturday afternoon, shooting time was approaching as we unloaded our guns and fetched up our decoys. By the time we were loaded up into the canoe for the 100 yard paddle to the first portage dusk was at hand. My friend at the front of the canoe got out first and pushed the cat tails aside to pull the canoe up a little only to reveal a lone individual in the water on the other side walking toward us! Dressed in full camo, wearing a pair of binoculars, NO shotgun, NO CANOE OR KAYAK, no light (although you could still see a little still in the fading light)... walking AWAY from the road with darkness approaching[
]. First thoughts on our part were did not involve the person being a CO; and he didn' t immediately identify himself as being one. Only after showing us his badge (and realizing this wasn' t some loony out to murder us or something) did our adrenaline levels subside. I have been checked numerous times in the past while hunting, even a couple of times in the field (no place quite this extreme though, always in a dry field), but low and behold... this guy walked ALL THE WAY out there in the swamp!The officer checked all the normal things... licenses, number and identity of the ducks, shotguns for plugs, sheels for non-tox compliance, looked in boxes / bags for anything we may have hidden, etc. He checked all 11 of our ducks VERY thoroughly... one at a time... even teaching us a few things about ducks and identifying them that we didn' t know... and between the 3 of us we are probably coming up on 40 years of waterfowling. We were as helpful and forthcoming as we could be - why make this poor guys day any harder than it' s been to come out and visit us, after all
. The officer was very nice and quite informational, even giving us a little bit more insight on the area that we were hunting (it' s a very large area and he' s over-flown it in light aircraft)
. I think he may actually be one of the only other people I have ever seen out there hunting in the past. After all that, the officer bid us good tidings for the next days hunt, commented upon how much he wished he would have brought his kayak in addition to his hippers and let us go on our way. I offered to come back in and pick him up in the canoe after dropping off my buddies, but he respectfully declined - stating he had walked in with the intention of walking back out and he wasn' t going to inconvenience us by occupying any more of our time. He turned around and started on his way back... on foot... to his vehicle, which we saw parked about 100 feet behind ours on the road when we got back out of the swamp.
What a job! I have to say, this particular officer went to work that day and earned his paycheck.
