‘Game warden’ is not a four-letter word to a good hunter

Game warden!!!

Isn’t it strange how the sound of those words tends to create anxiety in minds of even the most honest of hunters and fishermen? I suppose it’s just a human frailty in knowing that you’re being watched and if, for some unforeseen or unthought of action, there will be repercussions.

A local paper two weeks ago did a feature on Cpl. Ian Thompson, one of our Delaware Fish and Game officers. And for someone who tries to be squeaky clean in my actions afield and afoot, just reading the article gave me those tremulous feelings.

Few of us ever take time to realize that these agents are necessary to insure our sport survives, and we are often the first to demand why they haven’t stopped some particular individual we see violating those laws. Just like policemen, they are the first people we want to see when trouble is around and the last ones we want to see when they’re simply doing their jobs.

In my job, I always hear the stories about the “bad” ones. I wish I could say that every one of them is a good guy, but why should I or anyone expect to see a cross-section of humanity in any field who doesn’t have “good” and “bad” working side by side.  How many times have you, yourself, not been a paragon of hospitality to others? We get tired or weary and we use it as an excuse for our behavior but we fail to understand it in others. As I said, human frailties always rear their ugly head at times.

As an outdoor community, in actuality, we’re pretty much a “closed door” operation. Those who don’t fish and hunt haven’t a clue about the vast woodlands and waterways sitting right outside their doors. The lament at animals killed on the highways (until it’s their car that’s been totaled by a rut crazed buck or a doe fleeing one) without ever thinking about how much we’ve encroached on the habitat they survive in. They have no idea that it was us, the hunters and fishermen, who sought a set of guidelines to make everyone “play fair” and to pay for officers to enforce that charter. They have no idea what the Pittman-Robertson Act is and how we accept additional taxation on every supply and implement we use in order to pay for programs protecting those wildlands and wildlife. It’s tough to expect the general population to know exactly what outdoor recreation entails since many of us don’t fully know or appreciate it ourselves.

That was an unabashed plug for our Hunter Education classes. Even if you’ve already had one (albeit a few decades past) or are grandfathered in, you should go to get the new information that may have passed you by over the years. One of the first topics we discuss is ethics and how you, and only you, can determine how you act when no one else is watching. It may not make you more comfortable with hearing “Game Warden!” but it will educate you so that you should know already if you’re in compliance with all the governing directives we have set up for ourselves over the years.

The Hunter Education system is now a requirement in all 50 states with all of them having reciprocal agreements that your certification is valid in their state as well. The one issue I’d warn you of, however, is that several states do not have “grandfather” clauses in their laws and if you go there and plan to hunt, you may not be allowed to buy a license if you don’t have a record of attending a certified class. Strangely enough, before it was all computerized, I went on a trip to Alaska and had a difficult time acquiring a license. I presented the agent with my Hunter Education Instructor card, but was informed that it was not stating that I had been certified in teaching the class. Thankfully, a bit of explaining and common sense came into play and I was able to buy a license. But be warned, better safe than sorry.

I understand that my prognostications about the deer rut were about four days late if you read last week’s article. Late last Monday evening I saw bucks actively and aggressively chasing does. I had several calls on Tuesday and Wednesday telling me “It’s on!”

Our season starts bright (actually twilight) Friday morning and the chasing stage of the rut is likely to have passed by then. Still, the ardor won’t stop amorous bucks from seeking out does that might be late in estrous or who’ve not been mated successfully yet. Either way, who needs an excuse to be in the deer woods on opening day?