I can't say I have ever had a bad experience with a game warden, or opossum cop, or what ever name they go by.

Funny thing is, there was a guy working in NE MO that had a reputation with some of the locals that didn't like him. He got fired after a few years. It was kind of funny when we heard that his boss found out he was a felon and somehow slipped through the cracks and got a badge with MDC.

I have a hard time believing that. You know this to be true? If so, convicted felon for what? The MDC does a very intensive and extended background check and their agents attend the state highway patrol academy. Frankly, I have seen a higher degree of professionalism from the MDC Conservation Agents than the State Troopers and I have worked with both over the years.

PM Coming your way.

I'll give you some names and you can check with your connections.

Ive seen many law enforcement agents slip through the cracks. Several with a felony. Sometimes they dont catch it on background but later find it on a gun license renewal...

Can you be more specific and provide an example?

Well I haven't. I've seen exactly one and I was asked to do the background investigation on this particular guy. Turned out he was caught removing a highway speed limit sign as part of a hazing for a college fraternity organization when he was nineteen years old and in college. The value of the sign was enough to bump the incident into the felony bracket at the time. He and his family were embarrassed and he quickly pled guilty and paid a fine and forgot about it. As many young people do he later changed his major and became a criminal justice graduate with a BS degree from that same university. He did make it through the law enforcement academy and was up for a full time law enforcement position when this popped up on his background screening. I brought my investigation results forward and his offense and this particular situation were judged to be a non-issue as he was a very highly regarded candidate with excellent skills and qualifications. Other than the college prank the young guy didn’t even have a speeding ticket. His hiring was postponed until he hired an attorney and put forth a petition to the courts to expunge his record. In his case he was successful and has been an excellent officer now for about twenty years. This is not to say I haven’t seen a few knuckleheads commit crimes while employed as a LEO. They usually get weeded out and things move on. The post causing this discussion reminded me to not spread gossip that I don’t know is true. And I think evidently that is exactly what happened here.

Been stopped a couple times. Always nice to me. Check my shotgun plug, game bag, and ask me how the hunting is. I try my best to not break the law while hunting.

I've never saw one while hunting, only while fishing. He was very polite and asked how they were biting, wished me luck and went on his way.

My experience with Warden's as well as any other law enforcement have been primarily positive.Esecially when i have all my ducks in a row if you will. Make their job easy they will be out of your hair soon enough. Only bad experiences with wardens occur with differing interpretation of rules and the confusion and headaches it can cause.

We need em and who can fault a person who actively pursues primarily armed people for a living.

Sure...A person had a felony robbery when they were a juvenile. They got a sealed record. So on his initial job application at age 21 he did not report it because it was adjudicated and sealed. Something u don't see anymore. Then after being on the job 10 years or so this particular state ruled the gun license background checks also apply to any arraignments and sealed records. So it came up. The funny thing is the Chief let him stay on the job, carry on the job, but would not issue him a permit to carry off duty.

If you want the particular case PM and i refer you to the news article also.

Mr. Benelli,
I can see how that happened because of the sealed juvenile record. I don't know that one mistake as a kid makes the guy a bad adult. It could be so but it might not and especially if in his ten years of service he was doing a good job. But as a reminder you used the word many slip through the cracks. That's one...?

Plus you got to remember the background checks are done by humans and errors or the good ole boy system can occur. Years ago if you were arrested for a felony and not fingerprinted, or the fingerprints rejected or lost it was not entered into national NCIC/FBI database.

GC ....the agency you did a background check hired a person with a felony.

Plus he was probably issued a gun license. Something that a lot of states would have rejected.

No... read it again.

Idaho CO's are great, for the most part.

Washington's almost always seemed to me to have a "you have to have some sort of infraction I can ticket you for" type attitude.
I have only bird hunted in Washington over the years, so this opinion does not apply to big game, for me.
I would assume the same folks check big game, though.

I have the same report on the fishing side of things.
Idaho guys are wonderful.
Been checked by Washington and Oregon officers that were a-holes.


P.S. I hunt & fish legally and have never had a ticket in any state.

For the most part they have been fairly decient.
There was one time where I was in an area where they were pulling in like a swat team road block asking to see my lic.
It was a little over the top and annoying since they sprang that same trap on the same vehicle 3 times in 2 days. While i was out Coyote hunting. It was during an elk hunt and as soon as you pulled down the road, they would come charging in and block you from the front and back to stop you and check the vehicle.
Last time I checked driving down a dirt road didn't require a hunting lic. but I went along with it anyways.


The only time i get upset with FG is when i find out they are flying around in a plane shotgunning coyotes from the air.. Something that hunters can't do. I also wish they would impliment the same night hunting rules as Texas. They set the rules for night hunting, which I doubt seriously they have personally tried.. If they had done it.. The rules would be different.