[Dreadnaught]

I will allways have a great deal of respect and admiration for Consevation Officers because they have a dangerous and often thankless job ! It takes a special person to walk into a place where more often than not there are guns and knives and bad attitudes. These people are just doing their job, just like you do. Sure, some of them are a little overzealous in the way they do their job, but for the most part they are no different than you and I. sure it is a little inconvenient sometimes when they come down or to were you are fishing, but give them some respect and a good attitude and they more often than not, will return the same back to you.

 

[Guest]

Well said J.W.
They are plain folks like you and me jus' doin' their job!

 

[FS Driver]

yep i agree they do have a dangerous job.

i had one ask me for my license one time and i had my big tackle box in my b n laws trunk (just had a few things i was useing with me catfishin at nite)
well i told him that it was in the trunk up there and he said ok lets go take a look .
mike tossed me his keys and we went up to the car and i opened it up.
out of the corner of my eye i see he has his hand on his pistol.
so i slowly down my moves and was a little nervous myself until i handed him the dern license and we both loosened our butts up a notch....LOL

afterit was said and done i guess he thought i may have been going for a weapon or something.

all ive met so far have been nice /helpful ones .
i bet the right attitude vs wrong attitude can be the big differance
in their personalities.
they are no differant than you or i.

 

[Fatkat]

I agree with you Dreadnaught, we should all show respect for all branches of law enforcement, I have learned from my own personal experence for the most part if you show them respect they will return the favor.

 

[JERMSQUIRM]

not suprized to see this thread lol.

daryll if i was that CO and ya told me your lisc was in the trunk ide have just shot ya there on the bank. lmao. he must have been a real nice fella.

when are we gonna go fishing man??

 

[Mark J]

I know it sucked for one that had to put on chest waders and ford across real quicksand and a swollen river to get to me one time only to find out i had my license. I felt bad but the only thing and the right thing to do was offer him a cold beer. he declined but took me up on a coke.
I have no complaints. I go out of my way to help make their jobs easier including offering up a camp meal.
Had one officer on Shearon Harris lake that used to ride the lake from end to the other looking for our camp spot on Saturday nights. He knew who would feed him.

Our first meeting wasnt on the best of terms due to his lack of poor piloting skills but i kept my cool. Our second meeting came with an apology from him.
These guys are just like the rest of us. They have some bad days too and are severely over worked in many cases.

I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of people I know that would walk up into a crowd of spotlighters at two in the morning with nothing but a sidearm and no backup.
Thankless isnt the word.

 

[JERMSQUIRM]

a buddie of mine once said that officer --- morlock ill leave out his first name crossed the creek in chest deep water to give him a ticket for shooting across the creek on his own property. i say well its illegal to shoot across the creek. then the fella sent a check. doh!!!!!!!!!!!! they don't take checks. he ended up getting arrested on a warrent. my advice is obey the rules, unless ya got eyes in the back of your head it ain't worth the fines.

i bought a fishing lisc in illinois last year in ohio for three days and again in ark for three days. i made my wife get one for the first weekend we went camping this year with the kid and it was free fishing weekend in illinois doh!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and she ain't fished since. the fees are cheap if ya look at violations. i ain't saying i aint never kept 1 to many or one and inch short. just gotta pay if ya want to play. they are folks like us all. and if treated like folks they can be fine fellas.

now this CO mentioned above has a rep of being a jerk here in my county. but the folks whom say that were all poaching or doing something illegal. ive never met him. guess thats cause i really dont screw with the wildlife code much. i try and obey as much as i know.

one thing that i can say is police have let me go on a multitude of stupid little stunts like driving an unregistered car with no plates and such cause im a nice fella and were a small community. but it just a real treat to a person with a badge to be treated nice. thier not used to it much..

 

[FS Driver]

jeremy i sent u a pm would like to try clinton lake or washington county
maybe pyramid.
pm me or email me see if it gets to me i'll let you know.

 

[fwmud]

As of yet,I guess I've been just plain lucky in the fact that I've only met one CO with an attitude. He had one from the start and no amount of "no sirs and yes sirs" could change it. Now he may have just been a jerk or just was having a bad day. I however kept my composer and he went on his way.
Ihave since met several others from my home county and others. While fishing Cape Fear river I noticed a CO making his rounds down river. We over heard many people giving the guy grief on his way down to us. When he arrived at our boat,he was still very polite. I gave him our licenses and found out that I had thrown away the good ones and kept the expiered ones.
This officer, trolled around for several minutes trying to get a radio contact to call in and check. Once he nade contact and licenses were shown to be vailid, he promply gave us a warning ticket and explained it was only to show if any other officer approached. No court, no fine, just to show we'd been warned. He also stated we were some of the nicest and polite people he'd checked.

Long story short,He could have given us a hard time but didn't. We werepolite,showed him all the required gear and left our smart aleck comments somewhere else. Seems it went a long way.
After all, he was just doing what he was paid to do.And in my book, he just another law enforcement officer making some place safer for me and mine to fish.Wish I had his name with me to post it and give him proper credit for his high standards in his job performence. I did however call his office when I returned home to compliment him on how he carried out his job.

 

[Southernraised84]

Im glad to see this thread.I know must everyone will respect a CO or any kind of law enforcement officer.My father has been a cop for the past 8 or 9 years now so i know alot of cops and always show respect for them becuase i know what they go throu.I am looking ot become a CO myself or something in law enforcement, i get alot of people telling me not to do it but i want to even if it is a thankless job.I guess i wouldnt be looking for a thank you as long as i knew i was doing something right for our state weither it be getting a drug dealer off the street or arresting someone who was deer hunting in the off season.Whatever it may be i dont think they do it for the thank yous i know i wont i want to do it becuase it would be the right thing i do...i dont know guess im just rambling.Just glad to see this post i will end with that.

 

[centralcalcat]

I live out here in central California and about half of our Game Wardens out here have serious chips on their shoulders. I used to think to myself "what jerks" after being harrassed when doing nothing wrong.

Then one day I sat down with one and talked for awhile. He explained a few things to me, everywhere has people that break the law, but California is overcrowded and we seem to have an abundance. he said that he deals with gang bangers and others who just do not care about any law, who break it, and do not care who they hurt or disturb in the process. When you deal with people like that non-stop, you do get a chip on your shoulder.

After he explained that to me I understood and have a greater respect for them.

-brian

 

[Dreadnaught]

After he explained that to me I understood and have a greater respect for them.
-brian

I am glad you had that talk with him!
It kinda sheds some light on what they go through every day.
I know you have heard the phrase "walk a mile in my shoes" this is a good example of why it came to be,LOL!!!

 

[abilene]

Following is a list of Texas Game Wardens who died in the line of duty, and the circumstances surrounding their deaths:

• Joe Williams and Harry Raymond -- Both officers were washed away in a hurricane in 1919 while trying to reach their boat RELIANCE in Aransas Bay to put out more anchors.
• Claude R. Murchison -- While patrolling for poaching activities on the King Ranch in 1938, was murdered by a poacher near the site currently known as Murchison Lake. The lake is near the county line between Kleberg and Jim Wells counties. The murderer fled into Mexico and was never brought to trial.
• R.M. Wynne -- Was killed in a car accident near Amarillo in 1948.
• Gus Engeling -- A warden and a biologist, Engeling was murdered by a duck poacher in Anderson County in 1951 near the current site of the Wildlife Management Area which bears his name. The poacher was apprehended, convicted of murder and executed in the electric chair.
• Claude Keller -- Was killed in a plane crash in 1956 while patrolling the Laguna Madre for illegal netting activities.
• J.D. Murphree -- Was murdered by a duck poacher in Jasper County in 1963. The murderer was apprehended, convicted of manslaughter and given a prison term.
• Joe Evans -- Was killed in a car accident while patrolling in Young County in 1965.
• Lloyd Gustin -- Drowned on Somerville Lake in 1968 when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers boat he was riding in capsized and sank.
• Ronnie Germany -- Was murdered by a poacher in San Augustine County in 1973 while patrolling a remote river bottom area. The poacher was caught, convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to prison.
• James Daughtrey -- Was killed in a head-on collision with suspected night hunters while patrolling near the Nueces River in McMullen County in 1978.
• Barry Decker and Bruce Hill -- Both officers drowned while on patrol on Lake Murvaul in Panola County in 1990.
• Mike Pauling -- Stopped to offer roadside assistance in Port Arthur in 2001. A driver sped off with Pauling partially inside his vehicle, and the warden was thrown to the roadway and killed. The driver was convicted of aggravated assault on a public servant; he received 55 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
• Wes Wagstaff -- Was killed in a head-on collision while responding to an Operation Game Thief call in Hardin County on August 5, 2003.

 

[FS Driver]

sure is a lot of poacher/murderers out there.
that is a scarey thought.
with todays technology i would suspect surveilence has
helped trremendously .

 

[ShilohRed]

Theres no way I would have there jobs. And Yes I do respect them.
If they were not doing there job. I would hate to see how bad it would be without them.
Also WE do get one that is new and out to make a name for his self. but that takes care of its self soon enough.
Pete

 

[Dano]

ShilohRed, :thumbsup:

 

[oldprowler]

Well I might be the exception to the rule so to speak but I have never in my life had any contact what-so-ever with any conservation officer that I was not dealt with in the most respectable and professional manner. If I was in the wrong they pointed out where and how I was wrong and what we could do to correct it. If it was an inspection type contact they were very thorough but cleaned up their mess after (stowed all the gear where it came from). I have nothing but good to say about them.

 

[ShilohRed]

ShilohRed, :thumbsup:

Dano they should be payed more.. :grin-big:

 

[Dreadnaught]

That is an understatment, it takes big cahonies to do what they do!!!

 

[abilene]

TPWD Game Warden Field Notes

The following are excerpts from recent Texas Parks and Wildlife Department law enforcement reports.

Snagging Not Fish But Fines — On New Years Day, Wichita County Game Wardens watched eight suspects fishing on a local lake. The suspects were in three boats in the middle of the lake and fishing with silver spoons with treble hooks, using a jigging type of motion. What was suspicious was that the suspects were catching large flathead catfish. While watching the suspects through spotting scopes, it was noted that the fish were being hooked in the sides and fins. These fish were balled up in a deep hole in the lake, and the subjects were snagging the fish with the treble hooks. As night fell, the suspects came back to shore one at a time and loaded up and left the lake. Once the dust had settled, 16 citations had been issued for possession of illegally taken wildlife and 27 flathead catfish had been seized. Estimated live weight of the seized fish was more than 500 pounds. Fines will total more than $8,800.
Poaching an Endangered Species — A Matagorda County Game Warden received a tip concerning someone abusing wildlife recently and the resulting investigation uncovered one dead brown pelican. The individual was fishing from the bank in West Matagorda Bay and confessed to luring the bird with his fishing bait until it got close enough that he could "whack it on the head with a stick." The Justice of the Peace "whacked" the violator with a $584-fine, and a very large civil restitution fee is probably pending since the bird is on the state’s threatened species list.

Advice if a Deer Ends up in Your Home — Jan. 8, a Montgomery County Game Warden received a call from a woman near Conroe. She explained that a doe deer had been entangled in a small fence in her backyard. She had gone outside, leaving her door open, to see if she could help the deer. The deer freed itself then entered her home through the open door. The warden suggested that she open all of her doors, get out of sight and that the deer would find its way out of the house on its own. She didn’t want to do that and contacted a Wildlife Rehabilitator. The wildlife rehabilitator said he would lasso the deer then take it out of the house. The rehabilitator roped the deer around the neck and things didn’t go well. The house was demolished from the struggle and the deer died in the process.