Game and Fish

[megahunter6969]

I deleted the whole post, BC EVERYONE JUST KEEPS HARPING ON my BAD EXPIERENCE THAT I WAS TRYING TO EXPLAIN!!!! GEEZ>>>>>>I HAD NO IDEA SOME PEOPLE WERE SO MADLY IN LOVE WITH SOME GAME WARDENS> I MEANT NO DISRESPECT TO GAME WARDENS> MY MAIN POINT I WAS TRYING TO GET ACROSS WAS THE FACT THE DEPARTMENT NEED TO RETHING SOME OF THERE MANAGMENT PROGRAMS!!! PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THE deer........cough cough.....herds in ARIZONA???

[Diamondbackaz]

I would put a complaint in writing and send it in to the the directors office. Hope you got the guys name.

[azcouesandelk]

I dont think that he is allowed to threaten you like that unless he has probable cause and there wasn't a probable cause it seems like.

 

By any chance were you able to get his name?

[megahunter6969]

I did get his name. I have filed a formal complain with the Dept. but i dont think its gonna do any good! Im looking to start a Group of Sportsmens for better managment of our wildlife in Arizona! In the long run, a class action suit against the Dept. to get them to turn there methods around and start treating our wildlife the way it is suppose to be!!!

[CouesWhitetail]

Good advice Diamondbackaz. Maybe with enough complaints he will have to change his behavior. Driving an ATV through a hunting area at primetime seems a bit odd for a game warden to do. Not to mention him threatening you...

 

Amanda

[coueshunter84]

Meegahunter,

 

 

Sorry to hear about your problems. I hope whoever he was gets knocked down a few. Without trying to beat a dead horse , I wonder how much USO had to do with what happened to you. I have never had any problems with any of the Wardens I have been in contact with. Not once. And I have seen at least one just about every time I'm out hunting a big game animal. Dosent seem to matter where I'm at. I had one sit down and glass with me for a while several miles from a road in 33 couple of years ago. Spotted each other about the same time, and it took him about 1/2 an hour to work his way over to me. He went out of his way to move around a couple of does that were between us. I dont remember his name but was a real nice guy. Told me he didnt need to ask to see my tag and license ( I was showing them to him at the same time) as anyone crazy enough to be where we were had to be a whitetail hunter. He was out watching a outfitter who had been accused of trespassing on private ground. I thougt it was kind of neat to see one that far out.

I bump into the fellow from 32 every once in a while. And last rifle elk tag I had several years ago. I bumped into about 12 of them over the 4 days of the hunt. The last of which helped us pack 2 cows back to the truck.

I hope the incidents you have had are isolated. The last thing we need is for the good guys to start acting bad.

 

 

Shane

[runningbird]

in 35 years I've only run into two managers. 1st time my little brother and I were fishing a hole in oak creek at dark. the fella then started telling my brother that rainbows don't hit after dark,my brother said that's ok were fishin for browns, he laghed and said there were no browns this far down stream. while he was still laghing my brother landed a 28" brown. the whole time he played it the warden was telling him it was a sucker. 2 weeks later we went back to that spot at 9PM and met him on his way back from our hole( he didn't catch any).

the other time was about 25 years ago about 6 of my buddies and I were archery pig hunting in 22, we didn't have a clue. any way this fella met us on a road and checked our tags and all. he then told us were to and how to hunt the pigs in the area, it was a real nice experience for a bunch of 20 y/o novices.

mark

[megahunter6969]

IT not just the Point of the YOUNG warden being out of hand im trying to make here! I know that most Arizona Sportsmen are starting to realise that THe AZGFD is doing a poor job managing our wildlife(ESPECIALLY OUR DEER) our lion population is at an all time high and our deer is at an all time low!!! AND SOMETHING Must be done, before it is completley ruined for our upcoming generations!!!

[COOSEFAN]

I did get his name. I have filed a formal complain with the Dept. but i dont think its gonna do any good! Im looking to start a Group of Sportsmens for better managment of our wildlife in Arizona! In the long run, a class action suit against the Dept. to get them to turn there methods around and start treating our wildlife the way it is suppose to be!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sorry to hear of your bad experience. If you filed a complaint, it will be dealt with. The AZGFD is actually on a push for better relations with hunters right now, they're actually passing out ( supposed to ) "report cards" to everyone they come in contact with in the field. This "report card" doesn't have his or her name on it, it's just for you to fill out about your experience with a G+F officer in general. There is a comment section though. I've never had a bad experience ever, actually all have been very pleasant, and I've been checked this year more than ever before. I will tell you that there is alot of things the Dept. deals with and does, that us, the general public, doesn't know about, and is easy to criticize and make accusations based on just what we see. FYI: a very close family member of mine is probably the person that recieved your complaint and is in charge of correcting things of that matter, and I guarantee he doesn't take them lightly, it will be taken care of. The whole situation still seems odd to me though, it just doesn't add up, there must have been more to why he did what he did. But, you never know, he could be just an idiot! Sorry again, JIM

[bchoitz]

MegaHunter,

 

I've read your post twice so that I don't over-react, or read more into it than I should.

My first question is whether the game warden that ran up the middle of the canyon on a quad was on an established road. If he was, it seems like a reasonable thing for him to do. If he was not on a road, I would make a formal complaint in writing, but he may have had a valid reason to do so, such as a report of a wildlife violation, poaching, etc.

If he was waiting for you, I am fairly sure it was not just because he did not like the way you looked. They are paid to enforce the statutes relating to game management. They may have had reports which put them on your trail, whether those reports were founded or not. (Do you have any vindictive enemies?) A lot of times the reaction they get from the hunter will determine how they continue to treat you. If you are confrontational, they are much less likely to see your point of view, or even care what your point of view is.

You probably should not have been threatened, and I would make the appropriate complaints to the AzG&F and send it to the directors office, BUT limit this complaint to the incident you described in the field, and save the anger over the management policies for a different time. IF you start in on the management policies and how you feel they are destroying hunting in Arizona, they are much less likely to care what your complaint is regarding the enforcement officer, and they will most likely feel his treatment of you was within reason.

 

the enforcement officers I've met in the field have been courteous, and even willing to talk about the area and what they have seen if you approach them or respond to them in a friendly manner, even when they are there to check out a report of a violation or problem, as happened to me when they were very curious about my white Wrangler during the Jr. Elk hunt in 6A.

 

This is just my 2 cents worth, and it's possible that I'm way off base, and this Game warden was just pissed that he did not get drawn and wanted to screw up everyone else?s hunt because of it. Or maybe the G&F has an APB out to look for you in the field and hassle you whenever possible because you have complained about the way they manage our resources. I hope this is not the case, and I choose to live my life under the assumption that they are just trying to do their job and go home to their wife and kids without bullet holes in them from angry hunters.

 

Bret

[COOSEFAN]

bchoitz, very well said! JIM

[megahunter6969]

MegaHunter,

 

I've read your post twice so that I don't over-react, or read more into it than I should.

My first question is whether the game warden that ran up the middle of the canyon on a quad was on an established road.? If he was, it seems like a reasonable thing for him to do.? If he was not on a road, I would make a formal complaint in writing, but he may have had a valid reason to do so, such as a report of a wildlife violation, poaching, etc.

If he was waiting for you, I am fairly sure it was not just because he did not like the way you looked.? They are paid to enforce the statutes relating to game management.? They may have had reports which put them on your trail, whether those reports were founded or not.? (Do you have any vindictive enemies?) A lot of times the reaction they get from the hunter will determine how they continue to treat you.?? If you are confrontational, they are much less likely to see your point of view, or even care what your point of view is.? ?

You probably should not have been threatened, and I would make the appropriate complaints to the AzG&F and send it to the directors office, BUT limit this complaint to the incident you described in the field, and save the anger over the management policies for a different time.? IF you start in on the management policies and how you feel they are destroying hunting in Arizona, they are much less likely to care what your complaint is regarding the enforcement officer, and they will most likely feel his treatment of you was within reason.

 

the enforcement officers I've met in the field have been courteous, and even willing to talk about the area and what they have seen if you approach them or respond to them in a friendly manner, even when they are there to check out a report of a violation or problem, as happened to me when they were very curious about my white Wrangler during the Jr. Elk hunt in 6A.

 

This is just my 2 cents worth, and? it's possible that I'm way off base, and this Game warden was just pissed that he did not get drawn and wanted to screw up everyone else?s hunt because of it.? Or maybe the G&F has an APB out to look for you in the field and hassle you whenever possible because you have complained about the way they manage our resources.? ?? I hope this is not the case, and I choose to live my life under the assumption that they are just trying to do their job and go home to their wife and kids without bullet holes in them from angry hunters.

 

Bret

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

That was very well said i do greatly appriacaite it! Im not here to make the Game and Fish look bad, but ONCE again Im here to try and get the point across that there managment methods are definetley in the wrong! ESPECIALLY FOR THE DEER! IF IT CONTINUES< MY children will end up not being able to hunt at all in the state of ARIZONA! The YOUNG warden was not on any sort of road! And there were no report of any violations, because that was the first questioned i asked him when he began accusing me of guiding! I dont think the Dept. is out to get me, i just hope this guy realizes he ruined some hunters hunt! You was upset beacause he saw me glassing for my buddy etc.....and thought i was guiding(Jim is 63 years old and cant hold the binos still!LOL) He thought i was gonna whip out a guides Lisc. or something, and when he realized i wasnt then, he thought he had something!

[Redman]

Megahunter6969

 

This year my father in law was stooped by a warden in unit 33. The warden and him glassed together and the warden found a small buck and asked if he wanted to go after it with him. Due to health issues my father in law cannot walk off road and had to decline (he has a champ permit).

 

I was not there when this happened, but my father in law was extremely impressed with the warden and could not believe how friendly he was and how willing to help.

 

Not that my father in law experiences help you in any way, but as with any organization there are good, average, and bad employees.

 

I disagree with you and the management statement and all they want is our money. I feel they are doing a reasonable good job and are looking our for the AZ resident.

 

Redman

[Couesi1]

Megahunter,

Too bad you had a bad experience. For starters there are always two sides to every story. Generally, the truth is about somewhere in the middle. It does nobody any good for you to complain about your experience in this forum. All it does is suck in those who have nothing good to say about the fish and game to share their miserable experiences and bring general hate and discontent to an outstanding website. Kudos to Redman, Runninbird, BChoitz etc for not taking the bait. There probably is a complaint process that the fish and game has and if it is a good one, the incident will be thoroughly and impartially investigated. Furthermore, your allegation of making threats will come to light in a proper conducted investigation. There is no law that I'm aware of that states a game warden can't operate a quad at any time of day. I'd even bet that they can go off road if it falls within the scope of their duties. Heck, look at all of the off-roading and road hunting that occurs that we continually hear about on this site.

Finally, blaming your ruined hunt on the officer was a choice that you made. Being a victim is a waste of time and energy.

C-1

[Noel Arnold]

For the most part I think the Game And Fish are doing the best job they can. There are good and bad in every occupation in the United States. Not being there myself, it would be unfair to make any decision on what happened. As far as managing game, I think it is a no win situation for the game and fish. If they drop the number of tags, some people will be mad because it will be even harder to draw.If they continue to let out larger numbers of tags in some of the units ,then some of the people will be mad because the average age of the deer will be younger. I hunt in unit 32 and The number of tags for the early hunts have stayed about the same the last few years. The problem with that unit is over the years the ranches have been blocking more access. I have never seen before as many people in the area that I hunt as this year. I understand the reasons why ranchers block access (slob hunters) But I also think that if a rancher is blocking a large area of public land behind the ranch, then the game and fish or forest service should push in a road around the ranch.

Noel