Any Game Wardens on Here for Advice?

[11boo]

That was my dream job as a kid. Turned out to be a master electrician instead.
A few years as a deputy sheriff showed me I did not have the patience to deal with people on that level. Good luck.

 

[Gutshot007]

2 friends have been wardens . One retired and would trap hard. I don't think he looked back. Other guy took a different angle and currently at the end of his career and is now flying planes for law enforcement, animal studies, and fire. I think he's happy to be out of the 24/7 grind. He did some training of guys and would laugh about cops that wanted to become game wardens and how he would explain to them that "everyone had a gun on them" that you would be stopping . Good luck

 

[Mojave]

The most dangerous thing they do is drive hundreds of miles a day.

This is true for anyone in a profession with a lot of road miles. Complacency kills you.

 

[Hnthrdr]

I’m in Montana and would love to stay here, but could definitely be convinced to Wyoming as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What part of the state are you in? A great friend of mine from our time in the army is a game warden in the great falls region if you are close I’m sure I could ask if I can pass along his info and I bet he could answer all your questions…

 

[The_Wild_Rambler]

#1 - you have to want to be a cop first and foremost. I think this is the biggest misconception people have about becoming GW's, is that somehow they are not cops. GW's are cops first and wildlife cops second. So long as you are good with that, you'll do fine.

#2 - you will always be working when everyone else is hunting and you will work just about every holiday.

#3 - it's an incredibly lonely job, but that works well for people who want to work by themselves.

#4 - like teaching and other types of public service, GW is a vocation, not a "job" and not even a "career."

#5 - you'll never get rich

#6 - like all law enforcement, you accept a huge amount of risk and personal liability

#7 - you'll get to see and do things most regular cops can only dream about

#8 - so long as you're dealing with hunters and fishermen, it's one of the best jobs you can have. When you are redirected to work domestics, drugs, traffic enforcement, etc. it is no different than being a county deputy.

#9 - technology has really change the job from what it used to be. You'll find yourself doing a lot of paperwork (still) and making a lot of trips to court.

#10 - Like most LE jobs, it's long periods of boredom interrupted by moments of sheer panic.

If you feel it's your calling, I wish you the best of luck. We need all the good wardens we can get.

This and very much depends on your state and the amount of staff the agency has. You can potentially work multiple districts. This can lead to being on call more than normal but depends on the agency and state. On call can mean at home and if there's no calls no going into the field.

Like you mentioned about LEO, workforce across the country is down. Expect being called into anything from homicides to traffic stops with other agencies.

LEO in general isn't for everyone.

Hunting expectations should be limited to "Hunting the offseason", outside of the rut, not first day etc. You work when everyone hunts and hunt when everyone doesn't.

 

[manitou1]

A couple of weeks ago I was having a conversation with an aquaintence and asked him why he quit his job as a (WY) game warden to do what he does now. His response: "I wanted to be able to hunt again."

 

[bigmike23]

I'm in PA for reference.
It was a path I very much wanted to take when I was younger. Then reality of what it actually entails destroyed any prospect of being one as I got older. They never get time off to hunt during season. I've spoken to multiple wardens about this. They get a handful of days all year tops. Screw that. Pay is garbage. And I'd say it's even more difficult to get in than state police do to the class sizes.
It's a job you do because you love it more than anything else.
I think it's far wiser to go into the state police. Easier to get in tho of course still extremely competitive.
It pays substantially more. I don't know a single PSP trooper making less than 100k with the OT.
The best benefits of any job I've ever heard of.
And you'll still get lots of time off to hunt.
I got the invite to polygraph and background investigation last year. Decided not to go through with it as I got promoted at the time into an awesome high paying job in a state of the art manufacturing facility. I get an absolute insane amount of time to hunt every year. Only work 3 days a week along with 4 weeks vacation to start.

 

[Hnthrdr]

I will say my buddy doesn’t seem to struggle with getting time off, but he struggles with hunting with buddies from work, one of them is always working if the other is off. He does get to do amazing things during work hours, like cull rouge grizzly bears, float the smith river, pack into the Bob Marshall, and when he can hunt he has a great knowledge and lay of the land which tends to make his limited hunting time very successful

 

[Mojave]

I have been both a county sheriff deputy and a federal agent. I am not either one currently and never will be again. Was also in the military for 20 years and served in combat in Afghanistan.

Being a game warden is like any other law enforcement job.

People that work in professions like wildlife biologist and are around game wardens often get a sense that they would like to be a game warden. I doubt that you would like it.

Here are 5 questions for you:

1. Would you arrest your brother in law for a game offense?
2. Are you ready to get called out for domestic disputes because a police officer or deputy is 30 miles from town and calls for help.
3. Some states game wardens write speeding tickets.
4. I went to federal agent academy with some former Wyoming game wardens, I don't think they were dual hatted as state troopers like the guys in Alaska I went to the state trooper academy with. Most states are, and they spend a lot of time being a cop.
5. When my father was federal agent for the BLM he got involved on a raid on the Church Universal Triumphant compound in Montana this was in the 1990's. They told him to bring a hunting rifle that shot well in case they needed a sniper. He spent 3 days wondering if he would shoot a 15 year old boy that posed a threat. Could you do this?

It's not for most people, especially in states where they are actually dual hatted state troopers.