How to deal with game wardens?

[LongWayAround]

You-all gotta remember that the GW was likely called by another hunter or fisherman to report you or someone else near you. If GW has to drive out there to save the world over a short fish or extra bird or cause guy who called is pissed that you got the big buck or bull, he's going to hit up as many folks as possible. He also has this thing in his head - put there by the dude who called him.

It's pretty pathetic that most of these problems are caused by "fellow sportsmen" and their desire to save the world. Often reporting stuff they have no clue about.

I have only ever called people in who we're doing things that were outright illegal or blatantly unethical.

It's more likely that you get checked because you're in a popular area and the guy is there doing his patrol.

Some of you guys are ridiculous.

 

[LongWayAround]

She said she was 18, I swear.

Fixed it

 

[taskswap]

I don’t break a law so I have nothing to hide.
I always answer questions with questions.

1. May I see your LEO Credentials?
2. Where did you park?
3. How long is your shift?
4. Can I check your sidearm to make sure it’s safe?
5. You arrested anyone?
6. Can I see your feet?
7. Does your supervisor know where you are?
8. Etc. Etc.

Please video the next time you do this. It's really easy to post things on the Internet, but I find it REALLY hard to believe you ask an officer wearing a badge for their "LEO Credentials", where they parked, or to check their sidearm. Come on, check their sidearm? That's probably the single best way to escalate an interaction with any LEO. Maintaining control over their firearms is one of their highest priorities. Do you really expect folks to believe you poke that particular bear?

 

[taskswap]

Libtard Colorado says you have to have it if you’re younger than 75.

Hunter safety education was made mandatory in 1970 due to high accident rates. The political climate at the time was much more conservative than today, and the program has been extremely effective - accident rates have hovered near zero in the decades since. Save your hate speech for facts, if you have any.

 

[sodaksooner]

All good here. Ive had just a couple of interactions hunting. My dad worked for the SDGFP as a pilot and while they mostly did predator control, he did fly during the seasons looking for game violations, and would vector the game wardens in if he saw something he suspected. He also occasionally flew at night looking for spotlighters. That said our game warden lived just up the street and we grew up with his kids. He was tough, but as long as you werent blatantly doing anything illegal he gave you the benefit of the doubt. His son that is my age is still a game warden and is highly regarded.

Only other interactions were on the water. We got nabbed once for standing up in the boat while underway, rough water with a lot of debris so we were looking out for it. Don't think we got a ticket. Also had several safety checks at the ramp. No issues there either.

Have also gotten some good hunting tips from CO's in Colorado too.

 

[taskswap]

You-all gotta remember that the GW was likely called by another hunter or fisherman to report you or someone else near you. If GW has to drive out there to save the world over a short fish or extra bird or cause guy who called is pissed that you got the big buck or bull, he's going to hit up as many folks as possible. He also has this thing in his head - put there by the dude who called him.

It's pretty pathetic that most of these problems are caused by "fellow sportsmen" and their desire to save the world. Often reporting stuff they have no clue about.

I've never seen any stats that support a statement like this. Do you have any or is this just your opinion?

I wouldn't say I've personally had a "statistically significant" number of these interactions myself, but it's probably approaching a dozen at this point. I never directly asked them why they were called out but never had to - it was very obvious it was routine interactions. A few times they were roadside tag checks (there are a few GMUs here in CO where that's common - I've seen them twice in 501 when I wasn't even hunting), and all but one of the rest were in camp with them very obviously patrolling, doing a routine check of everyone parked there. The last one was while fishing with my daughter, a simple tag check at Barr Lake.

 

[mtwarden]

I don’t break a law so I have nothing to hide.
I always answer questions with questions.

1. May I see your LEO Credentials?
2. Where did you park?
3. How long is your shift?
4. Can I check your sidearm to make sure it’s safe?
5. You arrested anyone?
6. Can I see your feet?
7. Does your supervisor know where you are?
8. Etc. Etc.

Yeah I’d recommend not doing this

 

[sodaksooner]

Hunter safety education was made mandatory in 1970 due to high accident rates. The political climate at the time was much more conservative than today, and the program has been extremely effective - accident rates have hovered near zero in the decades since. Save your hate speech for facts, if you have any.

Most other states are the same, with varying ages. Has nothing to do with the Libtards. OK and SD are much the same and last I checked they were pretty red.

 

[Charlie Brown]

Last time I was checked by Fish &Game was some years back in Idaho. Came out to a trailhead and he was sitting in his truck. We are N/R hunters. We stood around talking and putting out gear away. My buddy was asking about job opportunities for his son. Must have talked for 20-25 minutes . Said he should check our licenses before he got going. Showed them to him and he barely looked at them . Said our goodbyes and we all left.

 

[skateabrock]

I just keep it chill. Rarely do we run into wildlife troopers where I hunt in Alaska, there's hardly any working at any given time and they have the entire state to patrol. "Do unto others" comes to mind, I won't get into unnecessary explanations but being nice and civil sure does go a long way.

 

[huntineveryday]

My grandma owned some dry creek bottom that I always liked to go walk the last day of Pheasant Season, more for the memories than anything, but usually would see birds. One year I pull in to hunt it, and there's a pickup with out of county plates parked in the edge of the field. I glassed the creek and saw two hunters walking out with a dead turkey. I parked behind them to block their exit as they walked up. Granny had said no one else should be out there, but she wasn't sure if my uncle had given anyone permission (he rented the ground).

As the hunters walk up, one approaches my pickup and I ask who they were and if they had permission to hunt there, who they had talked to, etc. They said they had talked to my uncle and he had told them to shoot all the turkeys they wanted, which would track. Then the guy made sure that I knew that he was the game warden for the area (he was, I recognized the name he gave me, just hadn't seen him before that). As I backed up to let them leave, I did chuckle a little at the fact that I got to pull a bit of the reverse card on the game warden and had grilled him a little.

I'm still pissed at myself for not asking to make sure they had a permit to be hunting that turkey...

 

[Speaks]

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

Yea the one I turned around down on the road were technical violations, the two in my barn were 100% not any kind of violation technical or otherwise. I think he knew I lived a few hours away and was unlikely to show up and contest the citation though (which is likely true). I am glad he changed his mind, really dont know if it case a cover his add thing or what.