Conservation Officers

V

V-John

Active member
It seems that most everyone on here has had an experience with conservation officers on here. I personally feel that they have some of the most difficult jobs out there, dealing with people who are routinely armed on a constant basis.
Some of my very best friends are COs. One lives three houses down from me, and we hang out quite a bit. Some of the stories that I hear from them are eye-opening to say the least.
I've not had a bad experience with a CO, everytime I have been checked, it has been a pleasant experience.
I just wanted to start a thread, I suppose, tipping my hat to those guys who do this for a living. It's a tough job, and they don't get hardly any credit, it seems, if at all.
 
Have only had one bad experience. Got blindly accused of driving through a WIHA field after I sat in my truck and waited 15 minutes for him to get off of his cell phone to ask him a question.

Really? I drive up beside you and wait 15 minutes to ask a question beside the field I supposedly drove in? Agitated me quite a bit.

I heard this guy retired this year. Im kinda glad as he seemed pretty lazy and the stories the followed him spoke of more of the same.


As far as that one particular guy, never had problems with anyone else and its always been a good experience. He just twerked me the wrong way.

The rest of them I definitely tip my hat too. Wish the state could afford to hire more to help keep people in line.


Not to inflate Troy's (PrairieDrifter) ego too much....ha, but also wish there were more like him in the dept that knew as much about upland birds and habitat for quail. Doesnt seem to be such an emphasis on that with the higher ups. Then again politics rules the day at the top like everything else.

:cheers:
 
Never ahd a problem with any one of them in any state. If you don't do anything wrong, you should have no problem.
 
I agree.

DNR enforcement wardens have always been first-rate professionals in my experience, who put up with more crap from many folks than any human should have to tolerate.

Only met one who was young, and SO proud of his badge and authority. On a cold and blustery day, he came up to me and my dog as we lay in the rocks waiting for a very stupid duck to pass by. He was buttoned up against the weather and demanded, not asked, DEMANDED, to see my license. I'm too old for that shit.

I asked to first see his badge, which was covered up by layers of weather protection, then savored the moment as he peeled open layers of clothing as the rain and the wind gusted, saturating him. ( a small joy, but there, nevertheless. :) )

He just had the "baby cop" syndrome. I've seen in young municipal policemen. Happens before they get seasoned, sort of like buying too many guns.

Mostly, they learn.:)
 
Mostly good experiences w/COs. A new one where I hunt is a bit more aggressive (and younger) than the prior one. I was hunting with two friends from CO on posted land where I held written permission. Still, the CO called the owner right then and there and asked if he wanted him to cite my friends from CO! I guess his view was that everyone in the group had to have written permission. The former CO was perfectly satisfied with my sole written permission when I had four non-residents with me some years ago.
 
Last edited:
Most i have come in contact with have been great. This includes federal game wardens. One in Leavenworth county one day was not so good. I was deer hunting some ground in leavenworth county that is owned by a friend of mine. I have had written permission for years. I parked my truck by the northern end and started to walk in. There is a house on the next property and the guy starts yelling at me that their is no deer hunting on this property. I inform him that i have written permission and that i am going to hunt. On my way back to my truck, I notice a conservation truck parked next to me. I get about 50 yards from him and he starts yelling at me to put down my rifle. I tell him it is already unloaded and proceed to put it in my truck. He starts telling me that he knows the owner and " they don't give permission to hunt here". I inform him that i have written permission and show it to him. He also asks for my license, which i produce. Then the guy accuses me of forging the permission. I tell him we can go up to the farmhouse and ask, as I always stop and say hellow to the old widow. By this time I am starting to get pissed. I am not a small guy, and soon a couple of Leavenworth county sherrifs show up. Funny story one of the guys go to our church. He proceeds to tell the guy that i am a pretty stand up guy.The CO is wanting to arrest me for something. In the end I got a ticket for no hunter orange. It cost me 50 bucks. What a dic@head.
 
I'm 31, have hunted Western Kansas every year since I was in 5th grade, often times several hunts throughout the year. I have never been stopped one time by a game warden. Have only seen one while hunting, we were standing on the road, eating a candy bar and drinking a coke. He goes by at 60mph, not interested in talking I guess. Must have had a hot tip come in for some violators somewhere.

I've elk hunted Colorado several times and antelope hunted Wyoming, never stopped and checked there either.

The first time I hunted in Missouri I was checked, and usually its about half the time I go out I get checked. Always polite guys.

My uncle was mad during dove season. They parked on the 'shoulder' of a gravel road going into some state managed ground in SEK. Walked around the bend in the road and a young warden wrote him and his buddy tickets for parking on a 'restricted access' road. He said there were no cables, no signs, no nothing that indicated it as restricted, said they weren't in the way of anybody, and were just pulled off of the main county road. Not only did they get tickets, but everybody else that was parked there got tickets as well.
 
Highbrass68 and I got checked by one of our guys last season south of I70. He had driven by 3 times so I knew it was coming. I flopped out my badge first, kinda shocked him. I've never had a bad experience. I do run into a good number of folks trying to be dics when I'm on the other end. You have to remember that this time of year 99% of the folks we check are armed and quite a few have their own rules and agendas. Your check may be as influenced by the last guy we checked as by what your doing. Our level of alert isn't run by a switch and it can be hard to decellerate after dealing with one of the problem people. Just don't push the edges of the law and most times things will go well. Too many guys want to cheat just a bit. With us, it's all black and white. Grey isn't in the mix. I can turn it on or off. I always start with it off. If you get me to turn it on, you're going to have a bad day.
 
I have never had an unpleasant meeting with a conservation officer. I am thinking that most unpleasant encounters are waterfowl related. Lots of start and stop times, baiting, zone rules, shot rules, can't afford to be a casual participant, and this leads to violations intentional or not. Us uplanders have it easy!!!
 
My experience has always been good. One really nice guy checked us a few years back when my boys were younger. We were hunting pheasants in NW KS. He gave my boys blaze orange Pass it On hats. They thought it was great.
 
I had never been checked in my life until last weekend. It was a federal warden. We stood and BS'd for 15-20 minutes. He was very pleasant and quite informative. He answered all sorts of stupid questions from our group and even acted like he appreciated our suggestions on policy changes for the refuge. Having never had an encounter with one before I left with very positive thoughts.

I cannot say the same for Missouri fishing officers:mad:. But that is a different story for a different forum.
 
I normally get checked every year by the same officer. Hasn't actually checked my license since the first year. (not sure if he remembers I have a lifetime or not) We go over where and what birds I've seen and he tells me where he seen birds posting the WIHA signs.

Did have one somewhat bad run in with a CO while I was deer hunting. Once he found out we were legal, he couldn't of been nicer.
 
I live in SD and hunt in ND quite a bit, and can count on one hand the times checked by a CO. However, EVERY time I hunt big game in WY, I have been checked in the field or go through a check station on the highway. Most all have been polite, but all business.
 
KsHusker said:
Have only had one bad experience. Got blindly accused of driving through a WIHA field after I sat in my truck and waited 15 minutes for him to get off of his cell phone to ask him a question.

Really? I drive up beside you and wait 15 minutes to ask a question beside the field I supposedly drove in? Agitated me quite a bit.

I heard this guy retired this year. Im kinda glad as he seemed pretty lazy and the stories the followed him spoke of more of the same.


As far as that one particular guy, never had problems with anyone else and its always been a good experience. He just twerked me the wrong way.

The rest of them I definitely tip my hat too. Wish the state could afford to hire more to help keep people in line.


Not to inflate Troy's (PrairieDrifter) ego too much....ha, but also wish there were more like him in the dept that knew as much about upland birds and habitat for quail. Doesnt seem to be such an emphasis on that with the higher ups. Then again politics rules the day at the top like everything else.

:cheers:
Click to expand...

And a big ole' DITTO to that Sir!:thumbsup:
 
I've only been checked while hunting twice. Once was on opening weekend and that fellow was incredibly nice and gave us some phenomenal advice. The second was later the same year and we walked up to his truck as we were walking back to our truck down the road. He talked to us for about 15 minutes and then said, well, I guess I need to check your licenses.

I've been checked several times while fishing.

I must say, all times have been very pleasant and suprisingly informative.
 
Larry Stone was the game warden for Smith County for many years and a very good guy. Always enjoyed interacting with him and he was always fast to respond if ever needed. I'm sorry that he retired. Don't know the new guy yet.

Chris
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top