how are the wardens?

[fallriverwalker1]

all of you that have had a positive response to this post ,dont come to Cali /your attituide will definetly change ,if you run hounds in this state you are an outlaw ,they just havent caught you doing something wrong ,because you have they know it . any time a warden here talks to you its to see how he can write a ticket ,i hope soon these guys in this state learn you have the right to remain silent ,but most dont have the ability to do so,dont let them look in your vehicles ,make them get a warrant ,when one stops you get that video cam out and rtart recording . tell him your doing it .see how long he wants to see you do that .they cant lie then and they will if you dont .there is a complaint form yuo can get on line from f and g they dont like those either well as you can see i have no use for them i had my turn with them ,i did nothing wrong .i still got arrested taken to jail after two yrs and a lot of money the judge said they had no case but i still spent about 10,000 to win so who really won , some day i may tell the whole story but be assured you dont have to do anything in this state to be an outlaw just buy a hound www.fallriverwalker.com

[Hunter]

I have had good "run in's" with the law but, I've had alot of not so good ones. You are guility until you prove yourself innocent to them. That metality is what's wrong with game wardens now a days. If they would come up and ask how it's going and proceed from there everything would be fine. Instead they come up to someone and start off in a confentational manner and everything goes down hill from there. It's no wonder everyone that deals with them are so intimidated and defensive. I have a warden that I can go to day or night if I have a problem but, he's the minority. I understand they have a job to do and we as hunter are armed. I would be fired if I acted like that. It's also hard to know ALL the laws they can charge you with. A game warden does NOT have to ask permission to search your vehical on a public road. It's illegal to refuse search by a game warden in my state. That means your person, packs, anything they can rummage threw. If you refuse they will take you to jail and you'll call your dad to pay your $500 bail and the $120 to get your truck outta hock and $75 to get your dogs from the pound then go to court and pay $125 in court costs only to settle out of court with the law saying well you weren't illegal..... this time. Then you'll blow up and threaten to beat the hell out of every living thing including the fly on the wall if you hear another peep from anyone. When I'm confronted with a cocky warden he get's a Yep or nope and or a don't know. I don't talk to them unless the start off the conversation in a rational manner.
Just the other day three wardens were caught on my property... out of uniform and on 4 wheelers. When asked what they were doing they refused to answer any questions other than to say they were game wardens. When the regional office was called I was told they were doing undercover work. It was illegal however for them to be on 4 wheelers and they will be disiplined accordingly... meaning NOTHING. They also informed me that they don't have to inform me that they would be on my property. The problem is two of the three have asked permission to hunt this property for several years now. Go figure.

[BEAR HUNTER]

Had outstanding experiences with them in Colorado. Went elk hunting with some friends on public land. End of 5 day hunt nothing. Came acrossed a game warden and told him our story. He said their plane had just spotted a big heard of elk. Not only told us where to go but actually let us follow him. We saw the heard but it was to far away to get a shot and was getting dark. This would not happen in Ca. I know I sound bitter but I have reason. I have never poached game. Never shot a bear illegally, most of the time dont even take a gun. But when you get stopped here in CA they treat you like a criminal, search your rig, and hold you for a long time. 4 yrs ago When I was a cop I worked with them when they would come to into the city. They would even lie to me in uniform about hunting places etc. I have watched them testify in court. I stand by my statement. CA wardens are Jackasses towards houndsmen. When I was into falconry and they didnt know I had hounds they were nice and respectfull. Whole different deal when they know you have hounds.

[kickemall]

I live in Ca. and have been checked by Wardens while hunting and fishing and have never had a problem, or even had one be remotly rude. Most were pleasant, did their job and if anything were helpful when they didn't have to be. I hope it continues that way. Its funny, we complain if they are suspicous and doing their jobs and we complain if their sitting in a coffee shop wasting our tax dollars, can't have it both ways.

[srx600]

I understand that they have a job to do but it is how they go about their job that makes them real total a--holes as the few that i have met and heard other horror stories from other hunters to them you are always guilty no matter what and you have to prove yourself not guilty but maybe thats only in this great state of wisconsin dont dare talk to them than its a thousand questions and they try to get you to slip up and pin something on you as far as im concerned they can pack up all they wardens and the wolves and send them elsewhere

[kordog]

i think the problem is its a money racket the state wants wardens that will force a law into fitting . they dont want to lose out on the almighty dollar . ive seen them lie under oath quite a few times .

[ALEX]

Have had a good and bad experience with wardens in Ca. The good was while out scouting we came up on a couple guys and had a nice talk with them and told we were scouting the area for coon hunting. Didnt change their attitide at all towards us. Now the bad was my father and i were out hunting during season one night and a warden snuck up from behind us, yelled freeze while he shined a flood light in our eyes. He had a gun pulled on us and threatened to shoot our hound if we didnt leash him up. He then proceeded to search us. In the end, he couldnt find anything illegal but said he thought we were poaching white sturgeon in the channel we were hunting alongside of. But we had no fishing tackle with us at all.

[fallriverwalker1]

i allways have a prolbem ' when a houndsmsn in ca tells me he never had a prolbem with a warden , where in the heck do you hunt ive lived here all my life /turned dogs loose in every county north of sac and i can tell you where the worst ones live

[Tom A]

[slidecreekdan]

I would rather see my daughter being a whore than my son be a warden.
No talking to them around here.

[Justaguy]

I guess I have been lucky in California. It was July 1st or 2nd and I was out training my dogs on bobcats one night here in Southern California. It was really dry, as usual, and I could not get anything started and was heading home on this fire road when all of a sudden the whole back of my truck was lite up with lights. A voice over a speaker said stop and get out of the truck. I stopped, got out of the truck and here came two wardens I had never seen before came at me like I had just killed someone. They asked what I was doing and while I was talking to one of the wardens the other was going through the my truck. I took exception to this because I was being treated like I was a criminal. They had not asked they just started searching my truck. The one warden I was talking to had taken my license and told me I had no right to be on the mountain running hounds in the middle of the night and he was going to write me a ticket. I told him I had the right to be there and that I had discussed with the head warden in the area about training my dogs and gave him the wardens name.

With that comment the attitude of the one warden changed when I told him that but the other still kept going through my stuff. He finally got to the front seat and I had my loaded pistol in its holster lying on the seat. I was still a little pissed at the treatment and when asked "WHATS THIS" I told him it was mine and to be careful not to shoot himself as it was loaded. Well that lead to another discussion but when I explained that I carried it for protection because of all the people crossing through the area illegally at night they decided that I was probably right to do so and dropped the loaded pistol topic. When they did that I changed my tune and we talked a bit and the one warden I had been talking to told me as I was getting into my truck to get a new license because mine had expired two days earlier. So I felt I got off easy and learned that some wardens in southern California can be ok if given a chance....

[larry]

[fallriverwalker1]

again people we need to educate our selves pistols dont fall under fish and game thats ehy you didnt get a ticket the next time a warden asks about a gun pay attention to what he asks it will be /do you have any long guns / it took me a few yrs to pick up on that but i'm pretty slow ' so I asked a friend of mine who was a cop' he told me pistols dont fall under title 14 'only penal code thats why no ticket

[BEAR HUNTER]

In the interest of keeping someone from getting a ticket or arrested I'm going to have to disagree with your friend Fallriver. As a retired cop I can tell you fish and game are Law Enforcement officers and can cite out of any code just like a cop. They can cite out of the Penal Code, Vehicle Code, Fish and Game code or whatever law thats being broken.
The bottom line is I'm sure that there are some good wardens out there. I have never run into one. I have never been cited or even in a position where I could be cited. I have however been pulled over driving down a paved road by my house with an EMPTY dog box to check my license. I have been detained numerous times and had my vehicle searched just for being in the woods. I have been lied to by the rascals and treated like a criminal. I have been stopped in a "Deer Check Point" where they stop each and every car to see if you have a dead deer/Guns in your vehicle. Wardens in Ca hate hound hunters. The majority would like to see hounds outlawed weather they tell you that to your face or not. Those that have never had a bad experience with wardens, good deal. Hope you dont.

[wanchese]

bearhunter, thats how it is here. our game wardens can ticket you for anything, and they will. there is a couple of them that arent realy that pissy but most of them are 100% pain in the ass.