Game Warden Encounters and Stories

[Alan]

I was out fishing last spring when a game warden checked my license. Turns out, I accidentally grabbed an expired one. He was super cool about it, just gave me a warning. Anyone else have a close call like that?

 

[Jim Mayo]

Several years ago I was doing some pre-season scouting in early September. As I was walking across a cut bean field, a pickup truck pulled in behind my vehicle and started blowing the horn and frantically waving his arms for me to "come here". Since I was probably 1000yds or more from the road, and only a few hundred feet from the woods, I decided whoever it was could wait if they wanted to speak with me. 2 or 3 hours later as I was walking back to my truck, the same p-up pulled up behind my p-up and proceeded to wait for me to get back. Well, as I got closer, I realized it was the game warden. As I approached the edge of the field he jumped out of his p-up and immediately started reading me the riot act wanting to know why I didn't stop and come back for questioning. My response was " I didn't know who the heck you were, I was a half mile from the road!" Eventually he calmed down and we ended up chatting for about half an hour. One point of contention was his demand to see my written permision slip, which I had in my truck. I informed him that I wasn't hunting, I had no weapon on me or in my vehicle, and I shouldn't have to prove to him I had it. well, he persisted and I eventually gave it to him. He then informed me he could give me a ticket for not having it on my person. Later while we were talking, I found out he was "the new game warden" and had recently replaced the former warden. At that point he was about 1 month into it and probably just wanted to make a name for himself. The following conversation ended up being rather pleasant and we actually came to somewhat of an agreement about "the rules." He didn't confirm that he was wrong about certain things, and I didn't confirm that I was right, either. While we were talking I went ahead and showed him the 2 dozen or so written permission slips I had, for future reference.

 

[dademoss]

Mostly I get contact with park rangers checking fishing licenses. Only DNR officer I chatted with was a boat safety check at Caesars Creek decades ago. The Beaver (Theodore Ruxpin, my Australian Shepard) and I mostly don't go into the woods during hunting season, we stick to dog parks and trails. He wears his orange vest

If I can't pick my game up with one hand, I dont hunt it anymore.