How to deal with game wardens?

"He cited me for them anyway with the tags and also cited me for two more that were still in the barn, batteries out, with tags sitting right next to them on the work bench but not stuck on them yet."

"Only actual ticket I ever got was also in Northern WI, it was a life jacket violation in a canoe in about 18 inches of water about 5 feet from my shoreline and right next to my dock as I was putting the boat in the water and moving it up the dock to tie it off. I was 14 or so at the time. I dont even think I had a paddle in the boat."


These are "Intent". Did you INTEND to be out whipping schitties on the two down and non serviceable bikes? No. That guy can F right off.

Same with the canoe. Did you yet "Intend" to travel and navigate the waterways or were you launching a boat and waiting to get squared away, then travel? That guy can F right off too.

The entire concept of fines, citations and infractions is to dissuade criminal or negligent actions.

I have a huge issue with Driving while Intoxicated. I've gotten in near shouting matching with Prosecutors during training classes over this.

Guy gets hammered up. Too drunk to drive. Does THE RIGHT THING. Either pulls over, pulls into a lot, or never leaves the bar or event parking lot. Puts the keys outside the cab. On the roof. In the bed. In the ditch.

Will still get hooked for the DUI. Not DRIVING anything. The concept of the fines and arrest are to dissuade the drunk on the roadways potentially injuring others. Accomplished. The action ceased and did not occur.

Stop with the BS.......
 
Mtndawger said:
Interesting story: as a kid we had a cabin in northern Wisconsin with a lot of state land around us and also a lot of private. Me and my friends used to free range a lot which often included hunting on both. Private landowners back then ( late 70’s early 80’s) were not nearly so uptight as they are now. Anyway I was hunting alone for squirrels, rabbits and grouse and I came out on a county road at the same time a forest ranger was patrolling for illegal Xmas tree cutting. He stopped me and questioned me ( 12 or 13 year old). I didn’t happen to have my firearms safety cert with me so he “ escorted “ me back to our cabin to verify it. Just so happened that my dad had a few tips ups placed out on the lake fishing for northern and walleye that were unattended while he went out for a snowmobile cruise. Long story short, the now involved conservation officer had a great interest in that and not so much in me. My takeaway was it was a petty move by the forest ranger to give a damn about a teenage boy out in the woods hunting. But that lead to a bust for my dad who was technically breaking the law. Draw your own conclusions. I hold no animosity toward either them nor current conservation and forest people. They have tough jobs protecting our natural resources. Own your culpability in breaking rules or laws.
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Those guys were the biggest douche bags, the warden fake wolf howling. It was worse than watching any scripted reality tv show full of do nothing house wives.

That show got an informant nearly beat to death out of cotton wood or red bluff area when he turned in a serial poacher on the show. They didn’t do a good job blurring his face and showed his house lol.
 
I've never had an issue....I've helped them multiple times bust poachers (fishing and hunting).

I feel kinda bad for the guys by where I elk hunt.

Almost a guarantee that they will have a handful of deer or cow elk "accidently" shot opening weekend of rifle bull elk hunt, probably minimum a couple intentionally poached bulls by people with no tag/license....And a bunch of people trespassing across the lower farm land that borders public land chasing herds of elk.

I've met some that aren't nice people, and seem to be eager for a "fight". But i honestly more or less ignore the attitude, I have my stuff in order. So i don't really worry bout it.
 
akhunter3 said:
Not sure how you can view this as anything other than a bad interaction- he followed you onto your private property and cited you for inoperable machinery? Just because he walked back after the fact doesn't make it a good interaction
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I think otherwise. The warden gets back to the truck, reevaluates the interaction and decides that while there was a technical violation he should let empathy drive his decision. Few, very few, people are willing to admit they made a mistake or didn't make the best decision. It's rarer yet in the law enforcement community.
 
You'll be asked the same questions multiple times. Just be honest with your answers and it'll be fine. You can't screw up if you're honest during the interview.
 
Fartrell Cluggins said:
I think otherwise. The warden gets back to the truck, reevaluates the interaction and decides that while there was a technical violation he should let empathy drive his decision. Few, very few, people are willing to admit they made a mistake or didn't make the best decision. It's rarer yet in the law enforcement community.
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I don't think citing someone for an inoperable machine that is clearly stored would even count as a technical violation. They are inoperable. I would question how he would explain that in court; comes across more as attempting to cover his own rear end after the fact so he doesn't have to explain himself to the judge
 
akhunter3 said:
I don't think citing someone for an inoperable machine that is clearly stored would even count as a technical violation. They are inoperable. I would question how he would explain that in court; comes across more as attempting to cover his own rear end after the fact so he doesn't have to explain himself to the judge
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See what I mean about people's willingness to admit they didn't get it right?
 
I'm usually pretty friendly with em. Hunted with one of the local ones back home and drank lots of beer with another.

Only had a couple negative encounters. One was when a trainee unsnapped on me while walking out to me. I was the one who called the warden in the first place
 
You guys don’t see your local game warden weekly? I’m on a first name basis with mine and I’ve never had a ticket or infraction.

Only bad interaction I’ve had with one was a few years ago. Working on a water project in town we accidentally cut a water line that wasn’t marked correctly. Belonged to one of the local wardens. They had just gotten home and got in the shower. That one was awkward.
 
Tobe_B said:
You guys don’t see your local game warden weekly? I’m on a first name basis with mine and I’ve never had a ticket or infraction.

Only bad interaction I’ve had with one was a few years ago. Working on a water project in town we accidentally cut a water line that wasn’t marked correctly. Belonged to one of the local wardens. They had just gotten home and got in the shower. That one was awkward.
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You’ll have that on these bigger jobs!
 
Fartrell Cluggins said:
I think otherwise. The warden gets back to the truck, reevaluates the interaction and decides that while there was a technical violation he should let empathy drive his decision. Few, very few, people are willing to admit they made a mistake or didn't make the best decision. It's rarer yet in the law enforcement community.
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So he realized he was in the wrong?

Sounds like a bad interaction.

Even if cops rarely realize they can be wrong.
 
Many years ago we broke down and bought an ATV. Had no idea you had to have an OHV sticker for it, we thought our state registration was all that was needed. Another hunter had stopped to talk at our camp, he told us we had to have the sticker. No big deal we drove an hour into town the next day on Friday because our hunt didn't start until Saturday. We got to the National Forest office in the little town after an hour drive. The ranger there was sorry but he was all out of the forms and said we would have to drive to another town with a main office and it was another hour away. Well we drove all the way there and got our paperwork but the sticker would have to be mailed. Later that week we were stopped by a NF ranger along with the game state warden who were riding together on ATVs. We could not find the paperwork anywhere. It happened to be the NF ranger from the small town who didn't have the right form. After a long bit of looking for the paperwork he said he recognized us and didn't care if we had it or not because we had come in and tried, I really wanted to show him the paperwork but never found it to this day. When we got home there was the sticker in the mail. I'm sure he didn't believe our story but it was true
 
Elkbelch said:
Many years ago we broke down and bought an ATV. Had no idea you had to have an OHV sticker for it, we thought our state registration was all that was needed. Another hunter had stopped to talk at our camp, he told us we had to have the sticker. No big deal we drove an hour into town the next day on Friday because our hunt didn't start until Saturday. We got to the National Forest office in the little town after an hour drive. The ranger there was sorry but he was all out of the forms and said we would have to drive to another town with a main office and it was another hour away. Well we drove all the way there and got our paperwork but the sticker would have to be mailed. Later that week we were stopped by a NF ranger along with the game state warden who were riding together on ATVs. We could not find the paperwork anywhere. It happened to be the NF ranger from the small town who didn't have the right form. After a long bit of looking for the paperwork he said he recognized us and didn't care if we had it or not because we had come in and tried, I really wanted to show him the paperwork but never found it to this day. When we got home there was the sticker in the mail. I'm sure he didn't believe our story but it was true
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I worked a summer as a sticker checker. Most folks had their stickers on their machines, but the few who didn't had them on their person. If they didn't have a sticker we'd just tell them the closest place to go get one then swing back through a few days later to double check. Never had anyone fail to get a sticker.

I always wanted to talk to the folks about their machines, where they were from, or whatever cool piece of camping gear I saw but my partners was a grade-A bonner that would just stand there with some kind of slack-jaw gaze and weird people out. I had a love/hate relationship with that job.
 
Questionablemorel said:
Give respect, get respect.
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Oh, the folks who think(or wish) all encounters are so rosy and professional.
The day before opening morning of turkey season, I was setting in my truck, (about 25 yards off a rural gravel road) listening for gobbles. Along comes a game warden, spots me, brakes to a crawl, stares, and slowly pulls out of site. About 20 minutes later, l leave and as I pull out on the road, I see his truck. He had turned around, was facing me, and had pulled off to the side of the road, as if he is listening for me to shoot, maybe. Nothing wrong with that, just doing his job. Did he stay there, until I passed? No, he wants to stay sneaky so he pulls into a private drive,(as if I didn’t see him), to eliminate any chance of conversation or casual confrontation, had I elected to stop at his vehicle. Maybe he was thinking, “That may be the guy who reported poaching near here, and I never called him back.”
 
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