Game Wardens

[Mobasser]

In the area I fish, I have one game warden. I've gotten to know him, and, have become friends with him over the years. He covers a large area. Besides the small lake I fish, he covers two large lakes.                                                        He's earned my respect. His job is not easy. Along with checking for fishing lisence and poaching fish, he has to enforce curfew times at one lake, which closes at 10 pm.                            A lot of his work is done at night. Patrolling the lakes, and keeping tabs on guys breaking the law. He told me this is when many violations occur.               I've seen him many times, in his truck at sunup, when I go on early morning trips. He's sipping a cup of coffee, and, has been up all night, doing his job.                                                      In over forty years of fishing, I've never once been harassed by a game warden. The fact is, if your not doing anything wrong, you've got nothing to worry about.                                                      Many of these men are fisherman themselves. They have a job to do. I say respect our game wardens, and respect our laws.                                                Have you had any contact with you local game wardens? Hopefully, your experience with them has been good.

[Jig Man]

I was friends with one for a very long time.  He turkey hunted on us.  However, he died a couple of years ago.

 

 I met another one who was just starting out.  We became friendly and when he found out how much land we owned he asked about trapping on us.  He did that until he was transferred to a new region.  I haven’t seen him in a long time.

 

As far as I am concerned we don’t have enough of them here in MO.

[Functional]

My neighbor is a game warden. Nice guy, patrols the lakes I fish and gives me tips on what game lands will be empty for me to hunt. 

 

For the most part his family keeps to themselves but hes a good guy. Noticed him and his son shooting airsoft/bb guns and invited them to try long range real stuff with me. Well see if he takes me up on it. 

[fin]

17 hours ago, Mobasser said:

He covers a large area. Besides the small lake I fish, he covers two large lakes.

 

Our wardens cover about three counties, and that’s just ridiculous. There’s no way they could cover all that territory even if they worked 24/7. They earn very little and are required to have a college degree. Park managers used to have some authority, and that helped spread the work around, but that authority was taken away because enforcement got too dangerous. The system is broken. If someone wants to poach, in whatever form, it’s not that hard. And from what I’ve seen, people are willing to go through some pretty crazy stuff to get a few fish. Regular law enforcement officers have their hands full, so they’re not going to get involved.

The wardens I’ve met all take their job serious, I don’t put any fault on them. I’ve had some give me their cellphone number so I could call them directly. Otherwise you have to go through the State Patrol dispatch. Dispatch workers don’t know anything about the regulations or anything related to hunting and fishing, so you have to explain every little thing to them, and in the end, it’s a waste of time because the warden is two counties away and dispatch has no idea where they are.

In my opinion, part of the answer lies in some type of deputy system, where fishermen or hunters can get qualified to report directly to wardens and be able to text them photos of violators in real time. But the main thing is they just need to add more wardens. The state loves to take in the money for sports and fishing, but they are don't want to spend a dime on it.

[12poundbass]

Our game wardens cover a huge area and are rarely seen. They are spread too thin. I’ve crossed paths with one over the years and that was on a two track on state land. I’ve never had one stop me on the water heck, I’ve never seen one on the water.

[LrgmouthShad]

Yes I’ve had some short contact with game wardens in the past and once they verify I am obeying the law, they are often kind people to talk to. 

[FishTax]

Our wardens are also too thin. I was told by Marina staff they see a warden once a year, on memorial Day. Otherwise he's dealing with hotter fires elsewhere. 

 

I haven't encountered one in about 20 years. I had several encounters in high school. They weren't bad, but one did follow me to a tree stand and blow up my spot for the afternoon checking license which was irritating but he was just doing his job I think. 

[TnRiver46]

I’m friends with 5-6 of them i graduated college with, but they don’t work close to me. Ours aren’t spread thin, they check me all the time! 😂. One was in the parking lot checking all the boats Wednesday 

[Susky River Rat]

Most are very nice introduce themselves ask for the normal safety stuff thank me for my cooperation and go onto the next.  
 

I had two minor disagreements. One my throwable was already put away after my boat was trailered and I was packing up to leave as he came over. 
 

the other was life jackets have to be readily  accessible where throwable has to be immediately available. Which they interpreted differently than I. 
 

Personally I would love to see more of them out.

[MIbassyaker]

3 hours ago, 12poundbass said:

Our game wardens cover a huge area and are rarely seen. They are spread too thin. I’ve crossed paths with one over the years and that was on a two track on state land. I’ve never had one stop me on the water heck, I’ve never seen one on the water.

 

My experience here as well.   I suspect that the warmwater inland lakes and rivers I fish are much, much lower priority for them than the trout/steelhead streams and Great Lakes.

[Woody B]

I've never had a problem with Game Wardens or any other form of Law Enforcement.   I have a good friend who's a retired Warden.  

[Swamp Girl]

Quote

As far as I am concerned we don’t have enough of them here in MO.

 

I feel the same about game wardens in Maine and all LEOs. 

[PhishLI]

11 hours ago, Mobasser said:

Have you had any contact with you local game wardens?

DEC officers here are all active NY state troopers who transferred into the position. Troopers here are notoriously unmerciful if you get pulled over on the road. These DEC officers are all pretty cool and have been willing to share their personal cell #s in service of catching bad guys. Too bad they're spread so thin with saltwater being the priority around here. Drop a dime on some poachers and they might show up in an hour or two or not at all.

[thediscochef]

Texas needs more. I think there's only two for Denton County, which has access to two 20000+ acre reservoirs. I've only ever met one, but one of the Grayson county guys. I was at the Tioga ramp when he showed up to investigate an alleged boat in distress (fake news). Checked legalities and then left. You can go to the Denton community ponds and count the tickets that could be written if someone with a badge would show up in plain clothes. They all fish terribly because people show up with cast nets and 10 poles all with lines out (regs state 2 poles on any TPWD managed pond or state park lake that is completely enclosed by a state park boundary). Reminds me of a paylake out there when it's trout season. It's just a shame because Texas puts so much into their stocking and breeding programs, only to have minimal regulatory enforcement efforts 

[Susky River Rat]

It seems like the general consensus here is they are good and we want more of them. That speaks volumes for the character of anglers on this forum. Willing following laws to help ensure a safe, clean and enjoyable fishing experience. When we all think that way it just makes better/safer waterways for all.

[MickD]

I've had contact with game wardens in both Canada and US and as the OP'er says, if you're not doing anything wrong, no problem.  The MI game wardens were out checking duck hunters and they came across me fishing alone for bass, so they checked me out. I had two nice smallies in the live well and ask if they would take a pic of me with them, and they pleasantly did.  Then I released the fish.  I have a lot of respect for the game wardens, who like all law enforcement people, have a job that can sometimes turn very wrong very fast.  When checking hunters, ALL of their contacts will be with armed people. 

[padlin]

I had a friend who was a Ranger, https://cpfu.org/james-p-spignesi-memorial/

 

 

[scaleface]

They can be a little Barney Fifey at times. I know a guy , who doesnt fish, take his kids fishing for once in his life. They had a few fish on a stringer and got ticketed for not having separate stringers.

[Jar11591]

Aside from the one looked at me sideways when I showed him the fishing license that I purchased online and printed out (which is what they tell you to do), and the knucklehead who came flying at me on a jet ski like a jackass to check my license and totally burning the fishing spot, my other interactions have been short. Those 2 knuckleheads don’t speak for all of them. Every job has its idiots. 

[swhit140]

I wish we could have more game wardens in Nebraska, which unfortunately is a lacking situation in our state. I believe I have been checked 2 times in my life

If you have your boat/equipment, fishing license/paper work and safety gear you should not have any issues.

[Bird]

Growing up we had Wardens visit our hunting camp every year, check our license and sit down and talk for a while.

 

Fast forward:

I don't think I've seen a game warden in 20 years in this mountainous part of VA.

When I go into WV to hunt or fish, they're everywhere.

[Timpson]

I just got checked this year for the first time. I've lived here in ky since 2011 always saw them from a distance. 

[thediscochef]

6 hours ago, Susky River Rat said:

It seems like the general consensus here is they are good and we want more of them. That speaks volumes for the character of anglers on this forum. Willing following laws to help ensure a safe, clean and enjoyable fishing experience. When we all think that way it just makes better/safer waterways for all.

The regulations exist for a reason. There's too many of us for there to be people who don't follow them.

[Skunkmaster-k]

I’m going to be honest. I don’t like dealing with Game Wardens. I’ve met some nice ones and stuff, but I don’t really enjoy getting stopped by any law enforcement officer. 

[Shadow1]

I've had two experiences with game wardens.  Both were very polite and positive.  Just moved to a new area and went about two miles away to check out a creek.  I was about 30 yards from a bridge when he came walking down the path.  Asked me how I was doing, and what fish I had caught.  I had only caught one.  I asked him if he wanted to see my license, and he said no.  Told me to walk and wade about 200 yards north of the bridge and I would run into some great smallies.  I did and he was right!  The second interaction was a year ago.  Fishing a different creek only difference was I was armed.  Had a 9mm strapped in my chest rig.  I was threatened the previous year by a landowner who thought he owned the water in the creek.  The side I was on is owned by a gravel mining company.  I have permission to use their side of the creek.  Owner of the farm on the other side came up to me with a shotgun across his 4-wheeler.  Told me to get out of the creek.  He said he purchased the water from the state!!!  What a dumba##.   Anyway, I still fish the creek, and see the farmer watch me at times.  He isn't so tough now that he sees my pistol.  That's why the warden was there.  Farmer called him.  Warden didn't like I was armed, but told me I was well within my rights.  Said he talked to the farmer.