the warden shortage
 

OUTDOOR LIFE aug 2004
page 18
minnesota, for example has 44 warden positions open and 30 of the 153 warden field stations are unmanned. with adequate manpower, wardens cover an average of 640 square miles, but some officers are now responsible for 2,000 to 3,000 square miles. "we try to fill in as best we can with officers from adjacent field stations" says major bill spence of DNR enforcement division " but sometime it is just physically impossible to do that"

in wisc nov 2002 each game warden had to take off two days during the the deer gun season, because money wasnt available for salaries or vehicle operations. with 20 warden vacancies now and 15 slated for retirement we will be even more short handed for the 2004 deer season says DNR chief warden Randy stark

RE: the warden shortage
 

Its that way in most states and it doesn't look like it is going to get better anytime soon . It takes money which most states don't have and people already believe they pay to much in taxes and holler like hell if the tag prices go up . It's a no win situation

RE: the warden shortage
 

I remember seeing one a day every day I hunted. This year I never saw one. I did not even see one in their vehicle driving.

RE: the warden shortage
 

Yeah, just look at the gutting done to Illinois DNR. Tons of positions have been elimated. It is just not a prioroty to a lot of state governments with budget shortfalls.

RE: the warden shortage
 

Well i saw my first one in 2 years while i was hunting this year. There was two cars and they were doing checks a guess i didnt know that they actually could come onto your property while you were hunting and check you?! I was hunting in my stand during shotgun and a DNR officer got out of the truck and walked right up to my stand and had me unload my gun and check my license and tags. That made me kinda mad considering it was half and hour before sunset and almost the best time to be hunting and he comes walkin right up to my treestand. i thought they should have shown at least some respect and checked me when i came out.[:@]

RE: the warden shortage
 

Well now you know 501. Actually any PO can enter your private properties AT ANY TIME if they are acting to investigate or enforce any game law. Not just Conservation Police officers, any law enforcement agent.

Where were you at when he checked your paper? It was rather rude & inconsiderate of the officer to do that so close to sunset when, indeed it is most likely to be the "golded" hour. I feel if he were really intrested in some enforcement, or keeping you honest, or getting his best chance at catching you committing a violation he would have just waited a bit and checked you to see if.......1) You hunted after the posted time in the handbook, or 2) You put a loaded or not properly cased gun in your vehicle (In addition to having valid license and signed permit)

Uncle Matt (in IL)

PS: YES THIS NEW GOV GOBLOWAVICH IS TEARING OUR DNR APART! I teach the hunter safety classes and see plenty of this SOB's handy work, Stick together guys more now then ever. This Gov will say whatever he has to in order to soothe the people of this state when he has to, and he'll certainly (does) will stick a knife in your back when he feels like it. Thanks Go-blow ("Wear the face-to win the race" Problem is that his face is in the back of his trousers.) He has clearly shown that he will stop at nothing to tear down our fine DNR that Manning spent so much time and excellent effort to build up. Thanks Go-blow.

Let me make this perfectly clear! I see right thru this little toothed POC! He will tear the DNR into lots of little pieces whenever and whereever he can. He will then discard the pieces one by one. He will then announce that "the DNR is in shambles, a disgrace to his administration, unable to manage itself and needs to be disbanded or some ridiculous thing. Thanks Go-blow.

Firearm owners ID cards are running unbelievable lengths of time for renewals and first issues are way longer! He's got like two people in the FOID office, they are backlogged more and more every single day. Thanks Go-blow. By law the State Police are required to notify all current FOID holders, IN WRITING, not later than 60 days prior to their expiration date. I wasn't notified and it almost ruined my shotgun season this year. Thanks Go-blow. State said they do indeed notify everyone and I must have moved recently (I've lived here for 10+ years, no change in address) yet they could provide absolutely no evidence whatsoever that they had informed me. (Ever hear of registered mail that the recipient has to sign for? I would certainly use registered mail if I had a legal obligation on the line.) Thanks Go-blow.

It's getting darned near impossible to get educational materials for classes anymore. And who get's hurt by this-the kids, the future of our sport! Thanks Go-blow we can see how you have our kids in mind.. We're supposed to return all unused materials to depot so they will be available for all instructors thru out the state. But now everyone is holding on to any surplus cause thay can't get more when needed. Besides, if there is no one to get the materials out of the warehouse and get them to us, why in the world would we believe that there is anyone available to receive and put the materials back in the warehouse?!?!? Thanks Go-blow.

Will you see the Gov at any hunting or fishing events any time soon, I THINK NOT! He is no outdoorsman and not a friend of the Illinois outdoorsman.

In closing, with my blood pressure rising, I state the above in entirety, willingly and this is my sole opinion. I do not wish that this view be taken as that of the Huntingnet.com folks and would like to further take this opportunity to thank them for making this place possible to state our opinions on various topics.

I wouldn't waste my spit on his face.

RE: the warden shortage
 

I know he was doing his job but i just dont see the reason why he couldnt wait i was off a rock road in my treestand about 100 yrd. along a creek.

RE: the warden shortage
 

IL Rancher:

I have a sister who lives near Ohio Illinois in Bureau County. Is this close to you?

Relative to the DNR being gutted in Illinois, is this just cost cutting or is this a nefarious maneouvre to disrupt the hunting sport? I ask, because I recall that the governor of Illinois has been doing some strongly anti-gun and anti-hunting things. I don't know if this is total BS, but I had heard at one point that the governor was going to raise the price of the mandatory Firearms Owner Identity Card (FOID card) to perhaps $500, which would likely prevent some low income gun owners from purchasing the card. Any comments?

I grew up in Illinois, in LaSalle County, but moved to Oklahoma in 1981 and thence to Texas in 1995. I don't like how anti-gun Illinois government has become since I left.

RE: the warden shortage
 

I have a classmate who is a warden in Nebraska-he loves the job and would never give it up-but he says when he retires they have already told him they will not replace him-he says he believes it will become open season on wildlife when that happens. Pretty scary

RE: the warden shortage
 

I have not seen one in the field or been checked for five years at least. A good Warrden can make a real difference in an area. The last one we had was a bum. He cared a little about violators but could care less about helping the hunters and outdoorsmen.

RE: the warden shortage
 

JamesB, you are absolutely correct about that-a good one can make a lot of difference in an area-a bad one can screw things up in a hurry.

RE: the warden shortage
 

I am so hoping that the thing with his father in law comes back to bite him in the butt. He got his first job by iffy methods and he got this job becasue the GOP is in shambles in the Chicago Metro area and some other parts of the state. I could go on forever but I won't except to say that I saw not one CP this entire hunting season until the last day and they were at the check station talking to the owner of the shop.

Alsation,

Ohio is North Centrel Bureau County, I am far Western. I would say Ohio is about 1/2 hour away from the farm. Illinois has become more and more gun unfriendly as the color counties around Chicago have become less and less republican. I grew up in Kane County and back in the day (15 years ago, end of Thompsan, begining of Edgar) these counties would go 80/20 to Republican Canidates. This year, while Bush carried these counties, it was by thin margins and of course Cook county went Democratic by 1.2 million votes or something like that.

Chicago has always been anti-gun, I want to say it was one of the first cities to ban guns outright in the city (done wonders for crime rate hasn't it?) and Chicago more and more dominates the state. Right now we have a Gov. who basically works in Chicago instead of Springfield and couldn't care less about rural issues. One of his first announcements was he was going to eliminate the department of agriculture in the state of Illinois (Lets not mention that Ag is still one of the largest "industries" in the state).

Now, all of the cuts are not Blago's fault. Good old George Ryan left the state in shambles and the economy really took a turn for the worse. Something had to be done to balance the budget without raising Taxes so the DNR is an easy target. I don't know what percentage of funds the DNR gets is from the general fund but I have a feeling it is droping fast. Something I should really check out. Oh, and yes, I do believe he would like to eliminate the DNR all together. A lot of people are feeling that he is probably a one termer but the Republicans, or down state Dem's are going to have to get a legit canidate and quick since the elections are coming soon.