Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Pointed my spotting scope at a Warden

That's a sad story Seafire and a shame that folks like him are in the field. I've generally had decent experiences with the wardens.

As for the topic at hand, he was out of line for lambasting you. He put himself in a position where he knew it could occur and has no reason to protest. I would press forward to continuing it's use if it works for you.

was checked by 2 very nice young Miss gamewardens today on a dove field. Chatted awile and back to poppin doves. On the other hand if the one that gave you the toungue lashing had been there I'd told him to go pizz up a rope and to hit the road.
We don't put up with that down here...

That is odd. Several years ago (about 12 years) I mounted a small Leupold spotting scope to a gunstock at the request of one of our game wardens.

I mounted an aluminum block into the stock. The scope was held in place by a 1/4" screw which extended from the bottom of the stock, through the block and into the threads on the bottom of the scope. I worked really slick.

The warden still uses it even though he is now retired from the state of Wyoming.

Our "Possum Cops" are top-shelf.

After reading all the above posts and shooting the breeze for a couple of hours with the boys down at the local watering hole, I am not going to change the set up. It has served me well for years without incident.

Will be up at the cranberry bogs again this week looking for yotes.

I wouldn't change it either, I was just saying that I understand where he's coming from. He could have explained himself without being a di*khead though.

If he'd had prescience, he would have already known that it wasn't a firearm.

About 50 years ago when cameras and telephoto lenses were bigger than they are now, my family was in the hills of Virginny. My photography looney dad had mounted his giant lens and camera on a gun stock which made it much quicker to get wildlife pictures, especially on uneven terrain.
We pulled off the road near an old house, jumped out of the car to photo some critters. As dad was setting the exposure, (no auto stuff back then), an old man came out of the house and let loose with one barrel of his SxS shotgun.
Thought we were fixing to pop one of his cows I guess. Nobody hurt and after explanations and appologies we all had a good laugh later.
Luckily the old gentleman fired that warning shot into the air and not us. If you keep using that rig I pray that you continue to receive a "warning shot" and not something worse. It's a nice set up, but you have to weigh the pros and all of the possible cons.

The thing about hunting is, most times, the hunter is trying to keep his whereabouts a secret, especially with coyotes. Having the place crawling with humans doesn't help the hunting. I've never appreciated a game warden checking me while I was in the act of hunting or fishing. It is an imposition on my very limited time while lawfully doing something that I greatly enjoy. For a game warden to simply stop me while fishing to check my fire extinguisher and such or come walking up on my hunt to check my plug or license is, in itself, out of line. If I am actively and blatantly violating a game law (i.e. jack lighting, shooting ducks before or after sunrise/sunset, shooting five times in rapid succession, etc) then OK come check, but not just because it suits them to do so. I would be plenty pissed if I had finally gotten a day off to go coyote hunting, driven out to do so, set up, started calling and then found out that I had called up two game wardens. It wouldn't have mattered what they said.

For Game wardens, probable cause is simply being in the field. That shouldn't be.

Alan

I am thinking very seriously of sending my Hot Dog and Little Dog howlers back to Primos because they are defective. Sure they call in yotes but they call in game wardens too.

This ain't over yet. I called a couple of my contacts at the WDNR office in Black River Falls WI this morning and discussed the Friday incident. They both suggested I take the incident up the ladder so I called and left a message with their Supervisor. He returned my call a few minutes ago and he asked for a picture of my spotting scope rig and I e-mailed it while we were still talking. The Super said he has used a similar setup for years.

My buddy and I are typing up a statement of the events that happened that day and will forward to the Super. If nothing else, maybe the warden will get written up and placed in his personnel file.

I have an old B&L spotting scope from the 1960's mounted on an '03 Springfield stock that I use all the time. I never point it at people because I realize that I could very easily get shot doing so. If someone thinks I am aiming a rifle at them they would be quite justified in their minds to shoot first and ask questions later.

I don't point rifles at people and I don't point things that look like rifles at people. Your rig looks like a rifle.

I can see the guy getting wound up about what he perceived as a threat. He should have, however, backed off when he saw what was going on - as long as you were treating him with the same repect you would expect him to show you.

How big are these bogs you are talking about? As a long time coyote caller I see your set up doing far more harm than good in a calling situation. Unless these bogs are miles across I suspect you are doing far more spooking than spotting!

What I would be miffed about is why these guys didn't wait to check you out at your vehicle. Screwing up a hunt is bullcrap, pure and simple.

Thats what happens when you sneak around in the brush when people are hunting. Of course you are going to check out motion with your scope. He was not easily identified as a person, so I dont see how he can find fault with it.

The only issue here, is that your "binocs" looked like a rifle to him. Other than that these setups have been around for eons. As soon as you see its a person, you quit looking so they don't think its a rifle.

I could see being upset as the warden and I personally probably would have mentioned it when I talked to you, that it could be mistaken, but no harm no foul, just to be careful with it as I'd hate to see someone else shoot you.

As to the first glance.... I mean the warden is there snooping... you can only be SO certain of your target and what is beyond.... their risk goes with the job... always trying to sneak up to folks with guns... its dangerous... hell if I don't know you are there sneaking up on me and a duck etc... flies by low and I know its safe, nothing back there but brush, I"m gonna shoot.... You take that risk as a warden when you sign on to the job voluntarily. And I'm damn glad that you took the job as a warden, much appreciated and more are needed

Hello Joe788, the cranberry bogs we hunt on vary in size from 20 acres to 1/4 sections. The guy I hunt yotes with traps beaver for the cranberry growers to keep their canals and waterways free flowing. He beat my azz in a skeet shoot about 15 years and we got to talking hunting afterwards and he invited me to hunt yotes and now we make it a point to hunt two or three times a year at the cranberry farms.

As far as our setups spooking yotes and doing more harm then good, I think we have done extremely well on yotes the last 15 years on these bogs, thank you.

Come on guys! Some of you are saying that you might get shot using this set up? So its ok to shoot someone that you percieve to be looking at you through a rifle scope, but its not ok to mount your spotting scope to rifle stock? That is ridiculous! If someone shoots at you then they are going to prison. Nobody wants to risk that.

RoundOak, just keep using your set up and things will be fine. Obviously, you cant paint it orange for coyote hunting. The Warden was in the wrong. He should not have been coming up on your set like that in the first place. If your going to be walking through land that people are hunting, your likely to get scoped out. If I am watching a creek bed, and I see motion in the brush, I put the scope on it. Standard hunting practice.

Dont recall if the OP mentioned it, but did the warden have a good amount of orange on so he wouldnt be shot?

"If I am watching a creek bed, and I see motion in the brush, I put the scope on it. Standard hunting practice."


Sorry, but it's not standard practice for me. I have binoculars to identify things before I raise my rifle.

Safety first and foremost.

Just saw this post and only read the OP...and Bullet butts response..



Bulletbutt was right....


Ingwe

Might want to change up to a quality all weather stock though and glass bed the spotting scope so it holds zero.