Mr.Game warden nice timing

[colonel42]

Opening day sat the morning (saw nothing) went in for lunch. Excited to get out for the afternoon hunt so I was in my stand at 12:30. 3:30 comes around (prime time) when I hear talking to the south of me. (This is where my wife is) Pretty soon I hear something walking my way sure enough it was a guy dresses 1/2 in brown with an orange vest and hat. He walks up to me and asked for my license. Goes on telling me that the hermit that lives down the road has called in saying people are baiting in the area. So he asks me if I know anything about it. I answerd no I have not seen any type of baiting and that I had been hunting this area since Sept. 16th. He goes on and asked me who I'm hunting with and who the other people in the area that hunt next to us are. Then to top it off he wants me to climb down and make him a map of where everyone is hunting. Let's see in the area we hunt there are something like 20+ guys in a 1000 acre area and you want me to tell you where everyone is. Just to point out this whole conversation is not a whisper but pretty loud in the woods standards. Anyway he finally leaves. Pretty much the hunt is over for the evening. Come into camp to hear he had hit every single person in our group. Never found anything. This hermit guy that I have spoke of has been doing things like this since day one we have been hunting out there and this has been going on for 20 years now. Granted the hermit owns 80 acres and no one has ever touched his property. I myself own 120 acres and that is surrounded by State and county land. Every year is a new adventure with this guy. The sad thing is he doesn't even hunt. Some of the things this guy has done in the past is setting up his amp and playing his music at maximum sound, Shooting a gun in the air none stop most of the day. Not just one shot but about 20 in a row, leaving signs in the woods like go hunt your own driveway, cat killers you name it. Then the guy will get tied of herassing us and go on to the next group of hunters. Just in talking to the warden he was telling me that numerous time this guy has called in with many different complaints. When will he quit??? I told the game warden that I know it is his job but in reality they are just doing what this hermit wants and yes it is harrassment for the hunters. Just my two cents worth.

[gorrilla]

definately harrasment in my eyes...

[Rotwieler]

if the warden knows he is more than likely just trying to herass you he shouldn't be giving his complaints priority. if he plays his music again call in a complaint on him for disturbing the neighborhood. just what i'd do.

[almostthere!]

[note from admin: edited. Please read forum policy before posting again. Thank you.]

I would make an official complaint against the warden to DNR HQ, since he knows about the false complaints made by the hermit.

[Dhook]

I heard about the CO's doing this during the season. On the radio they said that the wardens were just going to go up to hunters and check if they are baiting! [Note from admin: edited. Please read forum policy before posting again. TYhank you.]

they could at least wait til you are done hunting. yeah, sure i think it's great that the wardens are busting these guys that bait, but where do you draw the line.

[Kodiak]

i am just getting scared now, i put some liquid mineral out on sunday and i hope someone didnt see me dumping it down and think i was baiting so a warden will bust up my hunt too. I mean what do they do test the liquids you put down on the ground on the spot or what. If a person was stupid enough to put a pile of corn or acorns, fruit or something down well that is one thing, but having a guy inspect you for a liquid would really tick me off.

[colonel42]

While talking to the warden he told me that during the day they fly a small plane around and must be able to see the corn. I don't think mineral liquids are baiting. Not sure though. This guy was a newbie to hunting because I know for a fact I wouldn't be dressed in his outfit while walking around in thick woods looking for hunters. Harrassment to the tee!!!! Oh well hopefully his mission is done now and we can hunt in peace.

[chucker34]

That sucks but I wouldn't make a complaint against the warden just yet. Talk to him first and find out if he has to check out these claims per DNR policy even if its possible they could be false. He could be the new guy just trying doing his job. Then, no matter what his answer is, I'd ask him who is boss is and let him know you'll be contacting that person in addition to him the next time this hermit interferes to file a hunter harassment complaint. See if you can get other hunters involved to do the same. The DNR will get the message if you put enough effort into it. The sad thing is, you have to do so to match the amount of effort this guy is putting into harassing you. : P

[dustin85]

I'm glad the co's are out there checking people. I've only been checked by an officer once, and he was nice enough to wait by my truck until I came out at dark.

[Powerstroke]

almostthere and dhook - Thats like asking him to wait till you leave your spearing shack to see if you're fishing illegally. I really hope you're not serious.

You can't catch someone baiting unless you "catch someone baiting". The officer has the right to investigate any and all complaints. SOmetimes getting pulled over cause someone "saw you weaving in traffic" is an inconvenience, but how else are they supposed to deal with it? Should a cop follow you home first and not interrupt you driving.....drunk or not?

Lets say you make a harrassment complaint against the "hermit" (which is what you SHOULD DO). Should the officer go talk to the guy during his harrassing behavior or wait till dark and ask him if he was harrassing you guys during your hunt?

You would be the first ones complaining about the CO not investigationg your complaint or being lazy and "waiting till the person was done".

Every year there are a laundry list of posts bashing CO's for investigating things and "ruining your day (How rude?!?), as well as another list about the CO not doing anything about your complaint, when in actuallity he/she probably did check it out but found no proof or condemning evidence.

Lets let the CO's do their job. Who do you think is more harrassing, the neighbor or the CO? Save the criticism for bad cops who actually break the law or abuse their power.

[Dhook]

Powerstroke, I think that it would be just fine for the CO to walk up to hunters if there was an actual complaint filed against that party. What bothers me is when these CO's are walking through the woods with out a complaint filed, just to check on the hunter.

[Note from admin: Edited. Please read forum policy before posting again. Thank you.]

[troutmaster]

[Note from admin: Please read forum policy before posting again. Thank you.]

[USDA3]

Well put POWERSTROKE! Finally it comes out. All this CO bashing here, and in another part of the forum you can find posts about "I called the CO and they didn't anything." Like powerstroke said, hard to catch the baiters baiting at the bar that night!

[Powerstroke]

a complaint was filed, by the hermit. He accused them on baiting. Thats the complaint.

I said it before and I'll say it again, you gotta catch baiters while they are baiting. Having corn in the woods is not illegal, HUNTING over bait IS. You can't be baiting if you're not found hunting.

Anybody here would fight a ticket for baiting if it was given to you because the CO found bait even though you weren't there....either that or you'd say it wasn't you.

If all you "the CO is the one harrassing" people called and complained about the CO, wouldn't you want to have the CO investigated? Would you want the DNR to say, nevermind, this CO is an HONEST guy?

It has to go both ways. It sucks when it happens to you, but you know you would want them there if you had a problem.

I've been ticketed by a CO for violating a game law. I had special circumstances, but they didn't excuse poor judgement. I'm still an honest guy with a ticket on my record. It sucks.

Last fall I turned a guy in for baiting on the land I received permission to hunt on. The only way the CO could ticket the guy was to interrupt his hunt while he was HUNTING over bait. You can't stop the guy on his way in or when he comes out for lunch. I'm glad I got the guy caught even though I lost can't hunt there anymore.

To the point of the real discussion, your CO knows this guy makes calls all the time, maybe you need to file a harrassment report against him. Let the CO bother that guy. He has to check it out cause its his job, unless you want the CO to leave the hermit alone cause he's might bother the guy...who knows, maybe he's legally enjoying his time in his yard, on his property and it just happens to interfere with your hunting. Nothing against that unless its intentional. How do you prove that?

[Big Dave2]

this whole thing isn't that big of a deal. The CO was doing his job was all.

If I were the one in the stand I would have showed the CO my lisence, showed him that there was no bait nearby, told him I don't know where anyone else was hunting and kindly asked him if he would please leave my hunting area.

[Powerstroke]

I totally with BigDave2.

[Mark Christianson]

I agree as well.

I have had a CO come sneakin on through the woods to where I would have NEVER imagined that I would get checked. Heck, he was a free deer driver if you ask me.

I cannot say I was disgusted about it. I was awfully surprised at the hike he took, and he did it on a TIP as well. Sadly his TIP had him looking on the wrong property. I commend the guy for following up on a TIP and putting his feet to work to find what was going on.

We have never been bothered since.

Harrassment???? Good luck on that case. Just drop the whole thing and get on with life. You can bet it will be a LONG time before you get bothered again due to the hippy or whatever you call him.

[Surface Tension]

Its the guy that gave false accusations that you need to be upset with. As other said contact the CO and fill him in on the history of harassment thats been going on.

COs are spread thin and busy right now. Getting tips from citizens of game violations helps then out tremendously. Not only is giving a false report illegal but it tied up and wasted this COs valuable time. So contact the CO and fill him in. I'd also try and improve your relationship with the adjacent land owner.

PS are you hunting around Kouppi lake?

[Deitz Dittrich]

Very good advice ST...I'm sure this CO was very busy, this time of the year has to be difficult for them. They cant wait for everybodys hunt to be done. They have a job to do, and are being paid by us to do it. Its very unfortunate that your hunt was hurt, that I do feel bad about.

[Guest]

CO's get complaints and check up on the complaints.. and now they are getting pointed out to be the bad guy... that doesnt make much sense.

They are doing their job. I would be happy they are following up on the complaints, I know I would be if I were the one doing the complaining.

I have been approached in the field, and also before and after hunting in the past. Yes, its a bit more of a burdon getting approched in the field.... but the CO's are just doing their job. That is the only way they can catch some of the people doing things they are not supposed to be doing.

Its more annoying while waterfowl hunting and having a CO come up to you in a canoe and start checking licenses, guns, shells, etc... at the same time, I had ducks coming in one time when they did it and the CO got down and told me to take the shots on the birds coming in. That action there told me that they dont really want to burden us either, but they are doing their job.

There are advantages of being checked in the field.. one major advantage is if we had seen any game violations that could be dealt with immediately.

[colonel42]

After reading most of your comments I see this is heading in the wrong direction. This is about the guy (hermit) that lives out there not about the CO doing his job. If the CO would have investigated the call he would have found out how many time this hermit [Note from admin: edited. Please read forum policy before posting again. Thank you.]has made false accusations of people intruding on this guys land. No one is questioning the job the CO does here. All I'm saying is I along with many people I hunt with have to deal with this dump every year just because of a hermit[Note from admin: edited. Please read forum policy before posting again. Thank you.] that lives in the area and feels that other people are moving in on him. Like I said NO one has messed with his property. [Note from admin: edited. Please read forum policy before posting again. Thank you.] I understand the job the CO has to do but my whole intention here was not to cut the CO down for doing his job but to vent about the hermit [Note from admin: edited. Please read forum policy before posting again. Thank you.] that thinks he owns the woods. With about twenty signs in his yard cutting all hunters a new one, with is manican positioned in the loft of his barn holding a cardboard gun all dressed in blaze orange. To listening to this guy many years ago telling us how he and his son got into a gun fight using .22 rifles. This guy is wacked and needs to be put away. Yes, the CO picked was doing his job but he also knows who this person[Note from admin: edited. Please read forum policy before posting again. Thank you.] is and what he is like. Like I said this whole ordeal was caused by a 50 year old person[Note from admin: edited. Please read forum policy before posting again. Thank you.]who's intentions are to disrupt hunting of others near his property. By the way there have been many phone calls made to the CO after this weekend about this guy. They just tell you they know all about him. Then why do you have to come on my property and wreck[Note from admin: edited. Please read forum policy before posting again. Thank you.] up something I have been wait for since last year.

[snapcrackpop]

Your post suggests it's about the game warden. "Mr. Game warden nice timing."

Otherwise I think everyone would agree with you that this "hermit" is a problem.

Good luck.

[Powerstroke]

You may not have outright criticized the CO, but like was said, you post wasn't called "blankety-blank hermit next door".

I know you're frustrated and for the most part you are taking the high road by avoiding a serious confrontation with your neighbor. Try to stay positive and maybe try to meet and get ot know him. Its really hard to do, but it may be a small sacrifice to salvage your hunting seasons. Maybe you can ask your CO to go over there with you. I know guys who've tried to help settle disputes too. I'm sure your CO wouldn't mind if it meant fewer calls form the neighbor.

90% of my rant wasn't for you colonel42, it was for the people after you who jumped on the opportunity to bash the CO. You're doing the right thing by complaining and being diplomatic. You don't want to be grouped in to the same category as the neighbor.

[Guest]

The way I read it is your upset with the neighbor and the CO for following up on the complaint.

Law enforcemet will cast their own judgement of people.. but even if the person is a flake they have to follow up on the complaints.

We have flakes for neighbors here in the cities who like to put in lots of unjustified complaints... the city eventually fined our neighbors. Since then the unfounded complaints have stopped. We dealt with alot of harrasment until the city finally had enough.

Hopefully this guy will eventually get himself into a bind if his complaints are unjustified.

[mooneye]

This is a tough deal and I can see your frustration. A few years back, I wounded a buck and it ran into a property next to ours that was "posted" Before doing anything, I went to the guy's house and asked permission, he said no problem. After finding the deer, our party was dragging it out of the woods and all of the sudden a CO comes flying up to the abandoned farmyard we were in with his truck, jumps out, tells us all to stop and put down our rifles, the whole deal. He proceeds to angrily check our license, our rifles, and the buck that we shot, and asks us what we're doing on posted land. I replied that we had permission from the landowner and he immediately left just as quickly as he appeared. All in shock, our party loaded up the deer and finished the day. That evening at a local establishment I overheard another neighbor from that area telling everyone that they turned some hunters in today that were "hunting on posted land" and "shooting does illegally without doe permits" Since I know the guy and there were about 5 pickups watching us from a distance during this ordeal, I went up to him and said "Yeah, that was us, we shot a nice buck out there today and by the way we all have doe permits and still have our hunting rights, then walked away" The point of this whole story is: CO's, while I still believe should treat everyone with respect unlike the one in this story, cannot predetermine what has happened, they have to investigate all complaints. Neighbors, can cause all kinds of problems and quite frankly the way things are these days, I am not so keen on confronting anyone or arguing about it so I can see why you want to just stay away from the guy that called in on you. In our case, another set of neighbors was just upset with us hunting in "their area" so they called in on us with a bogus complaint, in your case the guy might really be nuts so I would just keep doing what your are doing until someone tells you to stop even if it means losing one evening of hunting.....because if you stop, then the other guy will get his way and that's not right either. Just my thoughts.