First run in with "the man"

[dante322]

managed to hit the woods for a couple hours after work tonight. didnt see anything. When I got back to my jeep at about 20 after five I noticed a truck parked in the driveway of the land owner. HHHMMMM... That sure looks like a wildlife insignia on the door. He was just finishing up with another guy that had been hunting across the street. He pulled up announced himself and asked to see my tag, license, permission slip and gun.

The gun was of course unloaded and all my documents were in order. I asked him what the other guy down the street had shot and he told me "nothing". Thought that was a little funny because there had been shots coming from those woods ever since I got here. We told each other to have a good evening and he left. As I was wiping down my gun and getting out of my camo I heard a shot in the next woodlot to the east. It was 5:30. That shot came from where "turk" is bedding. I hope the officer heard it (he wasnt even gone 5 minutes) and busts the fugger for shooting after legal time.

I was for some reason dreading my first run in with the GW, but that was painless. Just a guy doing his job.

 

[RedCloud]

So you met my buddy Officer Parr huh. Good guy but don't take him lightly. He will bust your balls if given a half a second to do so. He is a by the book kind of WO and doesn't let many things slip. Specially during gun season.

 

[jagermeister]

Nothing to be afraid of when it comes to wildlife officers, IMO. No matter how "strict" they are, you only get in trouble if you're doing something wrong. Glad to hear your experience went well, Dante. Hopefully he had the window rolled down as he drove away and heard that shot.

 

[Bowhunter57]

dante322,
I'm glad your first experience was a pleasant one and I hope they continue to be so. :smiley_bril:

I play by the rules/regs, but have had no less than 90% of bad experiences from GWs. :smiley_arrogant: The ones that I've ran into thought I was guilty of something as soon as I pulled out of my driveway.

I understand that they have a job to do, but that doesn't mean they have to be an ass while doing it. I'm very much a "yes, sir/ no, sir" type person, until I start getting berated and shown blatant disrespect. I've been hunting for over 44 years and have ran into 2 GWs that were both professional and polite. All the others were rude arrogant pricks, without a kind word to say.

Good hunting, Bowhunter57

 

[CJD3]

I have had maybe 2 stops in Ohio(hunting as a guest) and 2 in FL. (fishing) and 2 times when I called him as a land owner in OH.
The 2 Ohio stops were matter-of-fact and have a nice day. The 2 in FL the same.
Of the 2 times I called him; 1 ended up with nothing coming of it and the other, because I had a photo and made a statement led to the big fine, loss of a gun and the deer.

 

[jagermeister]

I've been stopped while hunting probably half a dozen times, and a half a dozen more while fishing up at the lake. I've never had a single bad experience with an Ohio wildlife officer. Maybe I'm just lucky. It's hard to ignore the number of complaints given about run-ins with them, though... Sounds like there are a lot out there with shitty personalities. Even so, a guy with a shitty personality can't give you a ticket for something you didn't do.

 

[Huckleberry Finn]

The only time I've ran into mine was at church...

 

[Jackalope]

I've been stopped while hunting probably half a dozen times, and a half a dozen more while fishing up at the lake. I've never had a single bad experience with an Ohio wildlife officer. Maybe I'm just lucky. It's hard to ignore the number of complaints given about run-ins with them, though... Sounds like there are a lot out there with shitty personalities. Even so, a guy with a shitty personality can't give you a ticket for something you didn't do.

Sure he can, and you'll get your day in court to call him a liar.. 10 to 1 it won't go in your favor. ... Almost got a ticket one night for hunting without permission on the RR tracks... The dog was on a leash, no gun, and walking the tracks back to the truck vs the shitty swamp.. Trespassing I might could see as it is RR property.. Hunting W/O permission is what he kept saying. I'll see you in court was all it took.. Got a verbal... I stay out of that county with my dog now.. Dudes a butt hole... I stay right here and have never once had a problem from our warden.

 

[jagermeister]

Sure he can, and you'll get your day in court to call him a liar.. 10 to 1 it won't go in your favor. ... Almost got a ticket one night for hunting without permission on the RR tracks... The dog was on a leash, no gun, and walking the tracks back to the truck vs the shitty swamp.. Trespassing I might could see as it is RR property.. Hunting W/O permission is what he kept saying. I'll see you in court was all it took.. Got a verbal... I stay out of that county with my dog now.. Dudes a butt hole... I stay right here and have never once had a problem from our warden.

touche

 

[Hoytmania]

He is a great guy Dante. I graduated with him and played football together. As long as you are straight up he is going to be straight up.

 

[saddlepants]

Only run in I ever had was fishing in the smokies. We no sooner got our waders on and our gear together and pick our way out to the middle of a cold mountain stream across slippery rocks to work your way to a nice hole and he comes along and makes you get out so He can be sure you have all your outa state shit in order...and only because he saw your outa state tags and thought OoOowee, this is gonna be a nice revenue bust. NOT!

 

[Bowhunter57]

Violations is what they're all about...it's the money and that's their motivation.

I've been checked while waterfowl hunting, everything was in order, but he wouldn't just leave. He stood around asking 20 questions about the area, shots fired, have you heard, do you know anything about...blah, blah, blah. I told him, "If you're looking for a violation, it's somewhere else, this conversation is over. Have a nice day and good luck." :smiley_blink:

Bowhunter57

 

[Redhunter1012]

My buddy was hunting near Tiffin yesterday and had the Helicopter fly over. About 20 minutes later 2 GW's walked over a 1/4 mile back across private property to check his license and gun. My buddy was scared and non confrontational. I woulda came un-fucking-glued on them. Why in hell fugg up someones hunt? Let alone he was hunting on his wifes grandparents land where he's hunted the last 10 years. Total BS

 

[DJK Frank 16]

My buddy was hunting near Tiffin yesterday and had the Helicopter fly over. About 20 minutes later 2 GW's walked over a 1/4 mile back across private property to check his license and gun. My buddy was scared and non confrontational. I woulda came un-fucking-glued on them. Why in hell fugg up someones hunt? Let alone he was hunting on his wifes grandparents land where he's hunted the last 10 years. Total BS

Same kinda crap happened the last time I picked up a shotgun, because my old man wanted to go. Airplane flying low overhead, GW waiting for us at the road after a push. Everything was in order and everyone was polite. We go a quarter mile down the road, again airplane flying love overhead, get checked at the road by a different GW. By this time patience are running low in the group, but we do what we were asked and move on. Less than 15 minutes later, and less than a mile from the first spot we were checked (driving same trucks, same number of guys, etc.) we were stopped again, by the same first GW, this time him walking back on me and my dad in the middle of our push. My dad was pissed to say the least, and that was the last time he has deer hunted, probably 3 years ago I think.

 

[bowhunter1023]

Found this as one of my last posts on OS. We've had a history of shithead GW's here in Washington County. I have no idea how the new guy yet...

In the thread I posted about our former Game Warden (Charlie Stone) getting a DUI, I mentioned how karma came back to bite him in the ass for being such a prick all those years. I was telling my uncle about it last night and reminded me of another funny story involving karma and a Game Warden. There is a valuable lesson to be learned from this story as well, just ask my uncle!!!

This story took place long before my time and involves one of the most notorious Game Warden’s this county will ever have, a fellow by the name of Winstanley. From all that I have ever heard, Winstanley was a world class prick and had the stature to go along with the attitude. At the time this story takes place, the archery season was still a “novelty” and the harvest of any deer with a bow was a true trophy. My uncle was fresh out of Vietnam when he drove out to the family farm to rustle up his little brother to do some bowhunting with their Bear recurve. My uncle was going through a rough patch and needed some venison for the freezer to help feed to family, but luck was not on their side and no deer were seen on the hunt.

After the hunt, my uncle went back to the house to visit for a while and left just before dark. It wasn’t long before he returned with a whopper of a tale. According to him, he had witnessed a deer running a cross what we called “The Flat” and “it just dropped dead”. When my Grandpa asked him what was wrong with it, my uncle replied: “It looks like it was shot with a 12 gauge.” Well my Grandpa was an old school preacher and if you did something, you did it by the book. Grandpa says: “I bet it was those damn Browns. (The neighboring farmers.) I’m calling Winstanley!” So my Grandpa gets on the phone and calls old Winstanley up and has him come out to see this deer. Winstanley knows something is fishy right off the bat and starts questioning my uncle. My uncle stays true to his story and before old Winstanley leaves, he says to my uncle: “I’m no fool Roush. I’m going to be on you like stink on $h!t. I plan to do a full investigation, including ballistics and you can bet your ass you’ll be seeing me again.”

Almost two weeks goes by when Winstanley drives out to see my uncle and gives him this dissertation about how the ballistic angle of the shot was consistent with someone firing from the driveway and blah, blah, blah. He tells my uncle that he has all he needs to convict him in court and he’ll see him there. In reality, old Winstanley was bluffing my uncle and got him to fess up to shooting that deer with his Winchester Model 37. Winstanley leveled him with a pretty hefty fine as a result. So here is a young man who graduated high school, went to Vietnam, comes home and in an effort to feed his family in rough times, shoots a deer out of season. (It cost him roughly $600 in today’s money to pay the fine.) Rather than take it home and get in it in the freezer, he tells a white lie to his old man and the old man calls the Game Warden thinking he can pin one on the neighbors who he had a running feud with at the time. The irony and the humor of the situation is one we have laughed about on many of occasion! The moral of the story, never lie to a preacher!!!

 

[Jackalope]

Its time for them to make those dollas...

But consider this guys... We all bitch about the shithead slobs in the woods this week. We pull our stands and cameras. And cuss at the idiots we see doing stupid stuff.... if its this bad now, just imagine how bad it would be if wardens weren't out in force. While they're a pain in the ass and can be assholes, they're just doing their jobs, and us a favor.

 

[CJD3]

Its time for them to make those dollas...

But consider this guys... We all bitch about the shithead slobs in the woods this week. We pull our stands and cameras. And cuss at the idiots we see doing stupid stuff.... if its this bad now, just imagine how bad it would be if wardens weren't out in force. While they're a pain in the ass and can be assholes, they're just doing their jobs, and us a favor.

Well said.

 

[epe]

Found this as one of my last posts on OS. We've had a history of shithead GW's here in Washington County. I have no idea how the new guy yet...

Stone was a douche... Never dealt with winstanley, but heard the same. Have met one of the fairfield county gws a couple times waterfowl hunting. One of the nicest ones I have met..

 

[Jackalope]

Stone was a douche... Never dealt with winstanley, but heard the same. Have met one of the fairfield county gws a couple times waterfowl hunting. One of the nicest ones I have met..

If they read this I hope they post... That would be hilarious. lol Then we could give them a douche bag infraction and make it official. lmao

 

[bowhunter1023]

Winstanley is deader than a door nail and Stone got ran out of town after his last DUI, so I doubt we see him either. But damn that would be funny!!!