Met the warden!
 

I met the local Game Warden today on my way out of the woods. I was running kind of late as I went in a bit farther than I realized, and was kind of in a rush to get out before the locked the gate (WMA) Anyway, I'm getting it up the road when I see a guy with a flashlight in the road motioning for me to stop. I thought it was another Hunter having problems, but it was two GWs. I guess I looked a bit suspicious being out there that late. They checked my documentation, and looked in the trunk and back seat then sent me down the road. They were polite and even joked with me a bit when I came up clean. This is the first time I've run into them, and happy to report a positive experience. I guess it's not always the case judging by reports from others on the board.

You should have told them that you were looking for your turkey dogs! :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

Next ime just deny doing anything related to hunting. Just tell them you were back there tending to your plants.

too bad they dont do a whole lot about poaching around here

LMAO:happy0001::happy0001::happy0001::happy0001:

wrong time of year bro....the frost would have done killed them....unless of course you have a generator with some heat lamps on them.....but hey what do I know?.......:party0005::party0005::woot:

Every time I've met a Game Warden around these parts, its been a positive experience. I've never had anything out of sorts in terms of the law so...and I feel that way with most law enforcement, to be honest.

Enjoy
 

I enjoy meeting my area wardens. Sometimes you can educate yourself by asking questions. All that I have met are very nice to talk with and sometimes they won't even check my license.

one of my favorite "encounters" with a local warden, was during rifle season and he mentioned "a lot of reports of shooting at night" and asked if i had been seeing any deer, "not many" i replied...then, my dog comes out of the woods behind him with a hind leg bone with hoof and hide attached...he yells "you didn't say you got one!" to which i reply "well, you didn't ask"

lol good point.

rotflmao that'll do it

I can honestly say that I've never had a negative experience with a Conservation Officer. All the ones that I've encountered were polite, and very professional. Indiana is fortunate to have such dedicated individuals. :happy0001:

I have never had a bad experience with meeting any Game Warden. They are always very professional and some actually enjoy a discussion about the on-going deer season.

Kinda funny in a way, but they all must go through the same training. There always seems to be small talk when they approach me. After they ask about my season, how many deer I have seen, did I shoot any deer, etc, etc, then then ask to see my license and ask where my weapon is located and is it loaded?

After they are convinced I really am a good guy, they wish me luck and off they go.

Bottom line - They are the good guys!

Im going to college to be a game warden right now. I probably wont be as nice as the others. (Just kiddin)

I remember a few years back (more than a few) in NH, during the Meredith Rotary Icefishing Derby (prizes given for tagged rainbow trout), we met 2 wardens. We had quite a party out there, both in numbers and in liquid refreshment. Each person is allowed 2 lines (we were using tip-ups). Just before the wardens came by, about a third of the group (women and kids) decided to go to a shore-front house and use the bathroom. The rest of us stayed out there, but we had the sense to roll up the lines and remove the bait. We left the lines in the water so the spools would not freeze, but the flags were all still set.

The wardens roll up on their snowmobiles. They make a quick count of the number of guys, then the lines. This one warden starts licking his chops and pulls out his book of tickets. They take this smart-ass tone and ask if we know how many lines per person is legal. We all say, yeah - two. Then they ask all of us to stand by one tip-up and point to your other one. After quite a debate as to what line belongs to which guy, we do that. Then the warden walks to one of the odd lines and says, Now whose is this? I explain it belongs to either a kid or one of the women that went to shore. He didn't believe that one bit, he just knew he had us. Then he told me they were still against the law because the other people were not present. I told him they were not illegal, because they were rolled up and had no bait. Then he says, So you mean to tell me if I pull this line out of the water (at the same time grabbing it and pulling it out, snagging the spool on the ice and badly bending the axle), the line will be rolled up with no bait on the hook?" I said, well, see for yourself. He looked at the spool and his jaw dropped a foot. He then checked two more for good measure. Then he looked inside the shanty we had. There he found a jig-pole with a wet piece of cut-bait. He said, Now how do you explain this? The bait is still wet, so somebody was just using it and had too many lines. I said I brought it in earlier and the bait was covered in snow/ice, and it was thawing because the shanty was warm. The warden's face was getting red, and not from the cold.

Then he checked licenses, all legal. Then he asked if the other folks that were returning had licenses. I replied, What do you think? A new shade of red appeared.

Then he asked if we caught any fish. I said, Yeah, but the ones we caught had these tags in them and we let them go because we figured they were part of a research study. The rest of the guys burst out laughing. This really upset them good, and they started walking to their machines. I asked where I should send the bill for the damaged tip-up. More laughter from the rest of the guys. The one warden kept walking and the other said "sorry about that" and they just got on their machines and rode off.

Whenever that day comes up in conversation, we have a pretty good laugh.

NORBY...:lolabove::lolabove::biggrin::biggrin:

awesome story...did you get a new tip-up?

No, but,

New tip-up, $15.

The look on that warden's face, priceless!

I find they'll always chit chat, but it's likes the cops, they'll smile and nod or smirk, but they're looking for contraband and laws being broken...

sure they'll answer questions and help you out, but they're not there as your buddy. Everytime you see them you're like darn I hope I have it all in check, even though you do your best, you always are like geez.

Luckily I had a legal expandable broadhead in IL this year, ie a Rage 2 blade, he infromed me that expandables that essentially could not be pulled out by a wounded deer were illegal, kinda like a harpoon type design. Like that NAP one i see on here all the time would probably be illegal in IL...first time i ever heard of certain broadheads not being legal in IL...he made me open up my expandable and show how it would collapse etc...if pulled out of a deer etc...

might swith over to those NAP razorbaks and call it a day. All these states all these rules.

Interesting stories! Most LEOs of any kind are like any other group of people, most are decent people. Anybody ever heard of a guy named Totch Brown? Some of the Florida guys might have. Anyway he was an oldtimer who lived down in the everglades. Born in 1920 he did a lot of hunting and fishing and such. He has a few tales of Game Warden encounters that are pretty funny. There is a book about him, and a few shows that run on TLC from time to time.

I personally know one GW as a friend, not a GW and he is a pretty nice guy.

My dad has told me a story from when I was about 5 years old and they actually video taped it. My dad and a few guys were out hunting and were heading back to the house to eat dinner when they got stopped by a GW. They joked around and what not for a while and someone had the bright idea to have the GW arrest one of the other guys for fun and video tape it. The GW had him and handcuffs and acting like he was taking him to jail. It was a pretty fun video and story.

There is a GW who stops by my grandparents everyonce in a while because they are near a state wildlife habitat. My grandparents have both said that he is a pretty nice guy.

I get checked out on the ice quite frequently since I am out there about every day. I see the same GW's and now they know me and often don't ask to see my license. Most of them are real nice and they can tell who the bad guys are.

My wife's uncle used to tell a story about these 2 guys fishing along a creek and a game warden came upon them and the one guy grabbed all his tackle and took off running. After about a 100 yard foot race through the woods the game warden caught up with him and demanded to see his fishing license. He immediately pulled them out and handed them over. The game warden looking confused at that point asked him if he had his license why did he run to which he smilingly replied, Well, my buddy didn't have his.......:)

The few game wardens I have met have been nice enough. But then again, they should be since they are violating your constitutional right against unlawful search.

My uncle was fishing one time with my aunt. A game warden was up on the bank watching him and my uncle didn't know he was there. He handed the pole to my aunt while he dug something out of the tackle box. The warden wrote my aunt a ticket for fishing without a license. There is no room for common sense anymore. Their motto seems to be "Find em, bust em, get the money out of em".

My dogs are coming, hang on. Here, while we wait, check this AK ammo to make sure its legal. And look at what I did to this Savage! The barrels nice 'n' short, ain't it?? lol
:violin:

Here in Pa, all a GW needs is "reasonable cause" to search you, your vehicle, or even your home. Yes, even your home. No search warrent needed if they believe a game law has been violated. These boys ain't no joke!

With all the time I spend in the woods I have yet to actually talk to one.

Wow! Sounds like, "Papers, please." And no, 420, not those kinda papers. :)

I haven't run into a warden yet. With my luck, I'll have left my license in another pair of pants or something...

With all the time I spend fishing and hunting, I still havent run into a gw

I am a bow hunter instructor with the local GW and biologist, I have total respect for these guys. They are only doing there jobs in protecting our sport and keeping thieves from stealing our game. For those that said poaching is rampant in their area then report it. Their hours are long and the pay sucks.

Bobby

Years ago me and some friends would always go out during the opening Trout season here in Va. One year we had been fishing most of the morning and the only one catching any fish was my friend Paul. He caught more than his legal limit and was giving us some of his "culls". Me being stubborn, I did not take any as I wanted to catch my own fish. Well, later on a GW came by and asked how we were doing. My friend Paul's son said "my daddy caught every one of these fish by himself!". The GW thought that was pretty interesting, but did not write anyone up. He did warn us that it was illegal to take any fish that we did not catch ourselves, but then left us alone. Kids are so honest sometimes....

GW's have such broad powers and the laws can be very complicated and are often only briefly summarized in whatever annual booklet a given state provides to the point that they can give you a pretty good hassle about any time that they want. As with any group of folks in positions of authority, there are always gonna be a few bad apples. I have no complaint about my single encounter with a GW and actually enjoyed hanging out and talking with him for about 15 minutes after he checked me.

I think one thing folks in IL often overlook is that out CPOs are not strictly "game wardens" and that they are fully sworn state troopers of the Illinois State Police.

Never had a run in with one yet while out hunting. I did get the chance to meet our local GW when my brother in law called in that a deer had been hit by a car and was still alive barely. GW got there from a old back road my brother in law had pulled into. My bro-in law shot the injured deer, however he had turned off his truck and left his headlights on. His battery had died enough to not start his truck. Called me to being some jumper cables. The GW was stuck on the road as it was several miles of backing up to get out otherwise.

We had a few minutes to kill and eat some deer jerky I had made while we let the battery charge some off the GW's truck. When we left I gave the rest of the jerky to the GW as he said he loves hunting but being the GW doesn't give him much time to actually hunt.

Game warden
 

What state do you live in?

I live in Indiana now. The story was from when I lived in NH.

Not real happy w/ the current batch in western PA. I wait em' out now as they are consistent in spots where hunters exit the woods and hassle ya' if you come out at dark.. Well heck, I am pretty far back in it will be dark when I come out as it is dark when I go in. I would prefer a decent conversation instead of to being made to feel like i have done something wrong. Every ? asked seems loaded for a investigation type law enforcement response which the PGC has turned into and makes it's money off! They have lost respect for the people they work for and now we have lost respect for them! It should come as no suprise! No I have never been cited nor has anyone in our camp! We folow the rules !

here is oregon the reports seem to be on the negative side. i have not witnessed this yet. years back in idaho my dad, grampa, and brothers got pulled over by a gw. he was a lets say, not a nice person.. well later on down the road a few years, him and another gw decided to go and check on a guy living off the land in idaho. this was like 30 years ago. they had a tough guy attitude before they got there. they knew he was killing some deer to live. they got there, they saw some meat hangin in his wall tent. they decided to get pushy with the guy, so the dude shot them both dead. droped them in the river, and ran like hell! he was arrested later down the road. was in the idaho state prison for some years, then broke out.. on the run again. they caught him later and through him back in the pokee. served his time. now is out.
teo lessons here.
1. dont be a tuff guy all the time.
2. when a prisoner just flat out walks away from the state pin, get your story straight.
thats right, he just walked out.

OregonHunter5,

I think many people feel Claude was dealt with improperly by those 2 CO's. On that same token, many people feel Claude's actions were calculated considering he said he saw them coming from afar. It's hard to say how it really went down.

iSnipe

If you own land of any size, they are good to know. Those guys have a tough job and are lucky to hunt at all.

In my college days I skipped class a bit to go fly fishing. My buddy and I had all the right stamps and licenses, but the wrong permission slip for the "Fly Fishing" only stream we were on. GW came by. After checking our docs, he said "Bad news is I have to right you fellas tickets, good news is I'll give you the correct permission slip and tell you which flies to use"

Best $50.00 I ever spent.....

I don't think that shooting two game wardens, including one who wasn't even armed, then administering killing head shots with a .22 while both are laying wounded and helpless on the ground should be an acceptable course of action against GW's even if they are being heavy handed.

I read one of the biographies of Dallas and he was killing much more game than he needed to survive and was even giving meat away he had so much, according to some eyewitness accounts.