Seen Them Moseying Over Your Way

[AL WORRELLS KID]

 While out Fishing, have you ever noticed someone (wearing Green) just moseying over your way? 
Kind of like, when you are trying to get closer to the Herd (by approaching at an angle), without letting them realize you are closing in on them.
Doug

[pianoman9701]

 

[CoryTDF]

Last time I had a warden come up behind me at the river bank he pulled out his gun and screamed at me to step away from mine. I almost crapped my pants as he never identified himself. I turned around quickly to see him pointing his pistol at me. It was a pretty tense moment that I felt was very unprofessional. All he wanted to do was check my license and see if I had a plug in my shotgun. Could have gotten all that without pointing his gun at me.

[ljsommer]

Last time I had a warden come up behind me at the river bank he pulled out his gun and screamed at me to step away from mine. I almost crapped my pants as he never identified himself. I turned around quickly to see him pointing his pistol at me. It was a pretty tense moment that I felt was very unprofessional. All he wanted to do was check my license and see if I had a plug in my shotgun. Could have gotten all that without pointing his gun at me.

That's wildly unprofessional for any law enforcement officer. Asking you to step away from your firearm was reasonable, if done with a calm demeanor and a holstered pistol. Hand on his hip, sure - gun drawn and screaming is a great way to get somebody shot.

[bornhunter]

Last time I had a warden come up behind me at the river bank he pulled out his gun and screamed at me to step away from mine. I almost crapped my pants as he never identified himself. I turned around quickly to see him pointing his pistol at me. It was a pretty tense moment that I felt was very unprofessional. All he wanted to do was check my license and see if I had a plug in my shotgun. Could have gotten all that without pointing his gun at me.

There had to be more to it than that.

[ghosthunter]

I was out hunting not fishing with my lab she was three at the time.
We were setting on a pond waiting for shooting light.
She kept looking over my shoulder and growling. Very uncommon for her.
When it got light enough I looked over my shoulder and spotted two fisheries officers peaking out of the brush behind me.

I laughed the dog growled a little harsher at them.

So I said “ you two better step up here before this young dog wants a piece of you. She already thinks you are up to no good”

They walked over and checked my papers and left.

[gaddy]

While fishing I have caught them watching from afar before coming in to contact me. I always asked them, Why not just come on in and check me, I hate being spied on and made to feel uncomfortable while just trying to enjoy a day of fishing. Duck hunting one time with my young lab pup ( her first hunt ) on a very small Island. Not going very well. Had a couple birds looking at the deek's, finally, so I had the shotty in hand and crouched in the blind, ready. Then my pup turns and starts growling behind us. What the HE!! I turn to see two gammies behind us in the weeds. Of course I had the shot gun in my hands as I was about to blast some birds. WTF ? How in the he!! did they get on this small island with out me knowing ? How long have they been there ? My pup's going balistic. They never did say, asked to see licenses etc.. and told me to control my dog, a pup. All these years later, my dog hates anyone in uniform.

[CoryTDF]

Last time I had a warden come up behind me at the river bank he pulled out his gun and screamed at me to step away from mine. I almost crapped my pants as he never identified himself. I turned around quickly to see him pointing his pistol at me. It was a pretty tense moment that I felt was very unprofessional. All he wanted to do was check my license and see if I had a plug in my shotgun. Could have gotten all that without pointing his gun at me.

There had to be more to it than that.

Wish there was. I was just talking with my brother and all of the sudden we hear a guy say "Step away from your firearms!" turned around to see a warden pointing his pistol at us. No explanation of why and no provocation that would have warranted this. He holstered his weapon after we stepped back and he check out licences and plugs. After that he just walked back up the trail to the parking area. One of the strangest encounters I have ever had with LEO.

[bornhunter]

Last time I had a warden come up behind me at the river bank he pulled out his gun and screamed at me to step away from mine. I almost crapped my pants as he never identified himself. I turned around quickly to see him pointing his pistol at me. It was a pretty tense moment that I felt was very unprofessional. All he wanted to do was check my license and see if I had a plug in my shotgun. Could have gotten all that without pointing his gun at me.

There had to be more to it than that.

Wish there was. I was just talking with my brother and all of the sudden we hear a guy say "Step away from your firearms!" turned around to see a warden pointing his pistol at us. No explanation of why and no provocation that would have warranted this. He holstered his weapon after we stepped back and he check out licences and plugs. After that he just walked back up the trail to the parking area. One of the strangest encounters I have ever had with LEO.

How long ago and where did this happen? That is crazy for a contact to occur like that.

[KFhunter]

Last time I had a warden come up behind me at the river bank he pulled out his gun and screamed at me to step away from mine. I almost crapped my pants as he never identified himself. I turned around quickly to see him pointing his pistol at me. It was a pretty tense moment that I felt was very unprofessional. All he wanted to do was check my license and see if I had a plug in my shotgun. Could have gotten all that without pointing his gun at me.

There had to be more to it than that.

Wish there was. I was just talking with my brother and all of the sudden we hear a guy say "Step away from your firearms!" turned around to see a warden pointing his pistol at us. No explanation of why and no provocation that would have warranted this. He holstered his weapon after we stepped back and he check out licences and plugs. After that he just walked back up the trail to the parking area. One of the strangest encounters I have ever had with LEO.

maybe you looked like someone else? maybe that someone else is a dangerous person?

[KFhunter]

I haven't been checked in so long, I don't have anything to contribute to this thread really.  Only time I get checked is snowmobiling? huh?  ya.....making sure I got groomer tags


When I was much younger T.J HOOD put the sneak on me a few times, but then he quit even bothering to check me, if he did come up to me it was: "Oh its you, how ya doin?"  then wouldn't even check my licenses, just knew I had em 

[huntnnw]

Hood was a crook!

[Henrydog]

Hood was a crook!

Amen

[huntnnw]

crap I could go on about this guy, If I were older I woulda got him fired.

[CoryTDF]

Last time I had a warden come up behind me at the river bank he pulled out his gun and screamed at me to step away from mine. I almost crapped my pants as he never identified himself. I turned around quickly to see him pointing his pistol at me. It was a pretty tense moment that I felt was very unprofessional. All he wanted to do was check my license and see if I had a plug in my shotgun. Could have gotten all that without pointing his gun at me.

There had to be more to it than that.

Wish there was. I was just talking with my brother and all of the sudden we hear a guy say "Step away from your firearms!" turned around to see a warden pointing his pistol at us. No explanation of why and no provocation that would have warranted this. He holstered his weapon after we stepped back and he check out licences and plugs. After that he just walked back up the trail to the parking area. One of the strangest encounters I have ever had with LEO.

maybe you looked like someone else? maybe that someone else is a dangerous person?

This happened 10-12 years ago. I have never been one to argue with LEO's so I just did what he asked and when he left my brother and I just went about our hunt. Heard some other guys had similar experience with that same guy. He was a federal warden at the McNary Wildlife Refuge in Wallula. Looking back I probably should have reported it but I just did what he asked and went about my business. Second time I have had an LEO pull his weapon out on me. I understand how it goes though, who knows what information he had when he responded. I was paintballing in Hayden ID. and had a really interesting interaction as I was drawn on and told in a very stern voice to "Drop the gun!" turns out if you listen to LEO instructions and don't argue with them it usually works out. After it was all said and done the officer told me he was responding to a call that there was a gunfight going on. I told him I understood why he came in like he did based on that information. Anyway, I believe most LEO's to be honorable and honest men and women and I recognize that I have no idea what information they have been given prior to my interaction with them. A cool head and compliance nearly always calms things down. If not, the time to challenge it is after the fact.       

[HillHound]

Boy you said it. I would say 99% of what the news would refer to as excessive force starts with people not following directions. Don’t run, do what they say, and save the arguing for court if need be. Otherwise like my Dad taught me from a young age they will tackle you or shoot you if they feel that is the only option and that is them doing their job. Not sure when we all went soft and flipped on this. Now everyone feels bad for the thief who died and not the LEO who has to live with that for the rest of his life.

[jeffro]

I’ve had some interesting encounters in the field, first one that comes to mind is when I drew the Swakane late Modern buck tag.
Ran into a warden on our way in, he checked all our paper work etc and when finished I asked him if he knew where the good bucks were hiding.
And he told me!
Even drew us a map
Followed his directions and got into deer almost immediately.
A couple hours later I can see his truck sitting across the canyon, put the binoculars on him and he’s doing the same to me.
Then he starts motioning above me and to my right. I turned around and spotted a nice 4x4 standing there.
Dropped him and looked back to the gamie and gave him a thumbs up.
When we got back to the truck he was there, I thanked him profusely and he took a couple samples and was on his way.

[Mulie87]

Jeffro, now that’s a cool story

[BDildine]

Havent had tons of encounters with gamies, but the few I have have always been professional and cordial. The one got the slip on me was probably 8 yrs ago fishing the puyallup, was playing a fish, lost it, and before i can even reel in to check my gear he says "mind if I check your gear and license", it was all in order, said thanks for crimping down the barbs good, and have a nice day.
I agree with the sentiment that I'm not going to get aggressive, sit there and be the adult, you never know if they have bad history in the area, or got a call of "someone with a gun",  last time i got checked in my rig w rifle in passenger seat, he just said "mind if i check it, sure, ok could you just unlock the door. I travel w the bolt open just so theres never a question, he barely got the door open and goes "oh, your fine, have a nice day"

[AL WORRELLS KID]

I was trapping Muskrats along the Green River, long after Steelhead and Salmon Season had closed for the year.
Making his rounds,"Old Mike" the Game Warden spotted my truck (where the fisherman would always pull off and park by their favorite hole.)
 I always dress in Camos with my Waders to help blend in and keep a low profile,  (so as not to lose too many Traps or Critters, along my Trapline.

Now seeing his truck pull in behind mine, soon I could hear him searching back and forth on the trail just above where I stood.
 Always one to enjoy a good game of "Cat and Mouse," I froze, holding up a Muskrat that I had just taken out of my trap.
I could hear the frustration in his voice as he muttered to himself knowing I had to be close, but so far, that sure Citation for Fishing out of Season was eluding him.
 As he made one final pass just above where I stood, I wiggled the rats tail just a little and gave him a big smile as he peered through the tall grass covering the riverbank above me. 
To his surprise and my pleasure (the look on his face was priceless) he did a double take, then immediately and silently turned as though he had not seen me and exited, stage right.
The rest of the Trapping Season I noticed when his truck passed by my "Old Red 64 Ford Pickup" on the river road above, he would speed up rather than pull off. 
Doug

[Jpmiller]

Still waiting for my first encounter outside a check station, the ones at the check station though were all pretty great. Made me feel awesome showing off my first deer, a small spike blacktail.

[NRA4LIFE]

Anybody ever have an experience with a guy who's last name was Kram?  Spelling may be wrong.  This was up near Republic back in the late 90's.  He was a piece of work.

[Henrydog]

Cram, he is retired now

[Sitka_Blacktail]

Back in the 80s when I was living on Kodiak, I went out the road for a deer hunt with a buddy and his wife.  We parked at a wide spot where we wanted to hunt and started walking in to where we would split up and hunt. We got through a big patch of avalanche alder (sort of like vine maple) and were following a game trail up a ridge when we looked back to see a State Trooper pull in beside us and get out and start heading our way. We decided it would be faster if we just went back down and talked with him, so back through the alders we went. But when we got to the pullout, he was nowhere to be seen.  Then we saw him up on the hill, obviously looking for us. From the way he was acting it looked like he thought we had hidden from him as he was rapidly running around to vantage points looking up the hill for us. So we honked the horn to get his attention and he came back down the hill and sheepishly checked our licenses. We had a laugh and a good visit with him.

The only uncomfortable interaction I ever had with a warden was in the North River Unit.  Was out with my 75 year old dad and 8 year old son hunting deer.  After a morning of glassing a piece of State land we headed up to another piece my dad knew about. We were in a narrow spot in the road when a pickup came over the hill in the opposite direction. So I pulled into the ditch and stopped to let them drive by. To my surprise, the truck skidded sideways in the road and two wardens piled out and started running our way. I rolled down the window and they proceeded to good cop, bad cop us. One started talking all friendly to us through my open window while the other one was yelling at us about guns and what did we have in the back of my truck from  my dad's side of the truck. As I'm talking to the friendly guy I looked in the passenger side mirror and saw the other guy go around my truck with his pistol out peering into my canopy. Then he asked me to get out and open the canopy. I did and he looked it over then put away his gun finally. He went and got back in their truck and the other guy made a few friendly comments then said goodbye and off they went.  No idea why the one guy was so aggressive but when I told some friends from Westport, they sad that there was one warden in that area who had a reputation for going overboard when he made stops. Don't know if he's still in the area or not.

Luckily, that same year, I hunted the late season up on Tiger Pass near Ione.  I got a very nice buck and the next day I was driving my buddy around who had come down from Alaska to hunt whitetails with me. We were heading down the mountain for lunch and met up with a couple Federal wardens so we pulled over to see if they wanted by or wanted to check us. They were nice as could be. Asked if we were hunting which was pretty obvious and then asked if we got anything. I told them yes I'd gotten a buck the day before and asked if they like to see it.  They congratulated me on taking a nice buck and they seemed genuinely happy for me. Was a very cordial stop.