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Protecting our game and fish

Until Tuesday, it had been a long time since I had been asked by a game warden to produce a fishing license.   In fact, the last time it happened the guy who asked for it was actually called the “game warden” when I was still living back in Virginia.

I was fishing with a buddy at Stonewall Jackson Lake.  We were fishing near the lodge when I saw the black Durango driving through the parking lot.    I had a feeling I’d be digging in my wallet and sure enough about a half-hour later and another 100 yards up the bank two brown uniforms emerged from the trees.

They started off asking how the fishing was going.   We answered and said things had been good early, but had slowed considerably since the first hour.  The general good natured chit-chat continued and I could tell this was an effort to probably size us up and see if we were acting nervous or suspicious.    Then they asked us to hold up our license.  Which we did.   

The officer commented on the fact mine is a lifetime license and how those are much easier to keep track of since they are plastic like a credit card and if it’s in your wallet, you’re never without it.  

He proceeded to check to make sure we had life jackets and even came on board the boat to check our live wells to make sure we didn’t have any of the Stonewall Jackson bass in them.  I’m fairly sure when he got in the boat he was looking for other possible violations–but he found none.  

We continued our conversation a few more minutes and we parted company.  

I was impressed and thankful.   As a sportsman, I’m glad to see those guys out there doing their job.   It was good to see them ask for license, check for safety violations, and especially to check the live wells.  The game and fish of this state belong to all of us and it’s their job to protect it.   

These guys were perfectly professional.   They were friendly, but not overly friendly.   They were very respectful.   The guy who got on the boat made it a point to wipe the mud off his feet in the grass so as not to track up the carpet and then pushed us away from the bank so as not to scratch up the craft.   They weren’t aggressive in their effort, but at the same time you could tell they weren’t going to stand for any monkey business, they expected us to be following the law. 

I hear a lot of people knock on the Natural Resources Police.   I hear plenty of stories about rude behavior, smart aleck remarks, demeaning statements, and overly ambitious ticket writing by the officers.    But I’ve never seen that.  I’m sure it happens–they are human like everybody and each individual officer has his or her own personality.    However, I’m willing to bet those kinds of incidents are more a result of somebody frustrated at getting caught than an officer being on a power trip.

My experience has always been, if you follow the rules, then you have nothing to worry about.    I always consider a couple of things in dealing with those guys.   First, they are working for us, sportsmen and women, protecting our heritage and the resources we enjoy so they’ll always be there to be enjoyed.   Second, most law enforcement officers worry anybody they approach may be armed–Natural Resources Police are almost guaranteed to face somebody armed. 

It’s a thankless yet extremely important job.   I just thought I’d use this space to offer a tip of the hat and a thank you to some dedicated and often under appreciated individuals.







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