Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Wild Justice.....and game wardens in general

Just watching the show "Wild Justice" about "game wardens" in Kalifornia. I know I am watching too much TV when I see this stuff.

I have always "liked" wardens in general and look forward to their visits in my camp.. Hell, I've worked with them to solve "problems" in our hunting area. Really good people in general (particularly in our area).

Am I the only one who thinks these guys (the "wardens" pictured on the show) are total a-holes who deserve every bad thing that happens to them. I have always worked with the local wardens to do their job (within reason).....but I watch this show and think I would screw them every way I could because they are total pricks.

Maybe just me....but screw the ass holes on this show.

I have seen numerous real life and online discussions about wardens. Trust me your experiences with wardens is not normal. I would say 90 percent or better of my dealings with wardens have been with ones as big of pricks as on this show. I am sure others will post similar. So for change this is one reality show that is pretty close to reality.

I can think of very few times a warden has not treated my like a criminal from the beginning. It is like they are all out to make some big bust or prove themselves or something. They are lots of fun to screw with when you know your in the right and you know they ain't got dick on you.

What mike7mm08 said.

The first time I had a "to-do" with the wardens I started out happy to see them just so we could shoot the breeze and see what was up. What ended up happening was a 30 minute grilling in order try and find something they could nail me on. I was shocked. I had been friendly and courteous, and all they wanted to do was take advantage of the situation to screw me over. I didn't do anything wrong so they had nothing on me and eventually went on their way. I learned my lesson though, next time a warden wants to talk to me I keep my mouth shut and I avoid them if I can manage it. They're a bunch of jerks trying to get honest, law-abiding hunters to incriminate themselves. Total dicks.

I think it varies from state and what the state is like in general,I'm from Texas also and have all ways respected the wardens more than any other leos.All ways treated right by them even when younger and pushing the boundries as to what was right.
Live in Alaska for many years now and respect the brown shirts for the same reasons all interaction qith them have been great.Having a camera present may have something to do with thier bad behavior as well,recently they were filming for some show here and the behavior of the game troopers was out of line and out of careicture

i have only meet a few in texas and they where all courteous.

Never have I had a problem with any Game Warden in Texas or out of state. Hunted & fished all my life, had many, many encounters with them and at 71 yrs old, I don't expect any problems. Been on the receiving end of a few breaks and have paid a couple of deserved fines. There are some ball breakers out there, no doubt. I've just not had to deal with any.

John

My main fall hunting trip is for moose. We go to lakes where normally there is no one else there so there may be either 2 or 4 of us in camp. A few years ago a Ministry of Natural Resources plane flew into our camp (in midday) and checked our licenses, number of fish in freezer, etc. What ticked me off in these days when the Ministry C.O's are complaining about lack of funds to undertake game surveys or do adequate enforcement was that there were 3 C.O's in the plane (not a hired pilot) and the plane was a turbo prop. Most anyone who has flown has an idea what one of those turbo props is worth.

IMO the license check could just as easily have been done much cheaper by being at the float plane base either before we flew in or when we returned from our hunt. By operating at the float plane base they could check 30 or 40 hunters in about 30 minutes with no flying time involved.

Three or four years ago a 76 year old buddy of mine killed a moose. In this case the C.O. was working at the float plane base when we came out. As part of routine questioning the C.O. asked my buddy where he was sitting when he shot the moose. He honestly answered "on a log along the shore of a pond."

My friend then asked him if he was trying to trick him into saying he was sitting in a boat at the time. All he got in reply was an evil grin. In this regard you have to realize that here in Ontario by the way I interpret the regulations if you have a powered boat pulled up on shore and you should sit on the nose with your feet on the ground you can be charged with hunting from a powered craft.

There was a time when we went out of our way to check in with the C.O's. Not any more. If we have to interact with them we do not volunteer anything since we are never sure what their motives may be for asking a particular question.

Jim

I'm partial to this one.

I've never had a single bad experience with a game warden. Not one. Maybe I've been the exception, not the norm. I've sat out rain storms under a bridge and shared coffee with them, waiting for the weather to change. I've been through Hunter's Ed classes with my kids and met some really nice guys. Was checked while on a guided goose hunt in Rochester, Mn. and the wardens were nothing but professional, courteous, and respectful. Sorry to hear others are having such issues, and I'm sure there's some bad ones out there, but my experiences have been nothing but positive.

All but one of my encounters with Game Wardens in Texas has been positive. I consider the majority of them to be the pinacle of LEOs. Had one that lived across the road of a deer lease I had years ago. Salt of the earth kind of guy that I was glad to have around.

The only one I had a gripe with was when I was fishing and the stripers were pushing the shad to the surface making the water boil. When that happens, which is a bit rare, you can catch a srtiper on every cast, but it only lasts for a couple of minutes. Was frantically casting and catching when a warden pulled his boat next to mine. I asked if he could wait a minute untill the action was over and he would not wait. I made another cast and catch and that torqued him off which resulted in a search and harrassment episode. I know I didn't help the situation, but he could have waited as the action was over in another minute.

Still, the rest have been great. As for Oklahoma wardens they are of a night and day different mind set. Never met an Okie warden I liked. Perhaps it's their official policy to crap on Texans?

don't forget it is a "reality" tv show, designed first for entertainment purposes. almost all the lines are scripted, as are the "reactions" and "responses", each done in such a way to entertain the viewer. once you get past that stuff, you'd probably find most of them are ok folks. i don't take it seriously because it's just tv.

the wardens i know are good folks, not wanna be tv stars. ymmv.

Most of my Game Warden experience has been positive. The one venue that I have a problem with here in Md, is duck hunting. Year before last, we were stopped nearly EVERY time out! This was very intrusive, basically frisking us, assuming we were criminals of some kind. There were never any infractions, by the way, just turning pockets inside out, tearing the boat apart, inspecting every piece of gear. Cripes, it was a search without a warrant.

Had more than my fair share of [bleep] in Alaska.

This has been my experience in several states. I don't know maybe they have a big ticket quota and have to work hard to write the required tickets.

I've dealt with them three times.
Two of those three times I got tickets.
Once for boating without life preservers.
Another for shooting geese, or rats with wings as I prefer, out of season.
They were professional enough considering the job they do on those three occasions.

I've never had a bad experience with the WOs in my county. I know one on a first name basis, I help him tabulate B&C scores. The other warden is related to my hunting buddy and he's also my district county commish.

lol, I got it sewed up.

I keep all my [bleep] above aboard anyway so no reason for anyone to
cop a 'tude with me.

I did get into it with federal usfs bitch about "arrowheads" once.

After 30 years in Texas & probably 10-15 routine checks while Dove & Deer hunting, saltwater fishing, never a poor experience & these guys earn every bit of respect they get.

Contrast that with 40 plus years & 20, or so, "Interactions" with the [bleep] pricks with Wisconsin DNR all but a couple were complete caulksuckers. Hunting , fishing, even had a couple random vehicle stops by these azzwipes. Never a citation in either state. [bleep] the WIDNR. May wicked, savage karma visit them, often.

its a thankless job and im sure dealing with all the daily drama tends to make some of them jaded.but its a tv show and im sure a lot of it is scripted to hold a persons interest.

All good for me in Cen\Tx. so far. One guy had a chance to get me good when I was younger, on some technicalities, but explained my errors and left. I can't speak for other states.

In Florida, it seems like the Fish & Game folks are, well, different than they used to be.
In the past, the game wardens were by and large, good old boys themselves. They understood the fisherman and the hunter. They fished and hunted themselves. You could feel comfortable being around a game warden.

Now, they are young city kids. They even have girls working the job. The two I have run up against were dumber than dirt, and knew nothing 'cepting the regulations.
Fish and Game laws are treated as revenue producers now. Confiscating your truck and boat brings the State big bucks.

Frankly, I just don't like the new style officer.