I’m less than 8 years to retirement. I don’t think TODAY id like to be in normal law enforcement. Although maybe in another time not too many years ago I would have gravitated towards such a job after retirement.

Looking to retire up here in Wisconsin, they give a huge preferential treatment toward prior military for hiring game wardens, or “conservation wardens” as they call it. I think that would more suit my lifestyle and temperament.

Any game wardens on the forum I could chat with?

I knew ours for quite a few years. He was a really good guy. Understood people and the situation on the ground. They transferred him out after so long. The politics are the reason I would not consider it. It is a very political job and you will be jerked around while trying to do the right thing and it will sour you on the whole process. It is not a clean deal. Far from it and is seriously corrupted too. That is my take and experience.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
I knew ours for quite a few years. He was a really good guy. Understood people and the situation on the ground. They transferred him out after so long. The politics are the reason I would not consider it. It is a very political job and you will be jerked around while trying to do the right thing and it will sour you on the whole process. It is not a clean deal. Far from it and is seriously corrupted too. That is my take and experience.

Sounds a lot like the Navy ORC. While I don’t doubt your estimation of the job. Do you think I’d be in a better position if I didn’t need the job? If I was doing it cause I enjoyed it?

Only you can answer that J. All I can tell you is when I was the age you will be when you will retire from you commitment I was done being told what to do, when to do it and how to do it. Those games were over and I never regretted that. That was in the private sector as well. You will still be young with a lot in front of you. Good for you for thinking ahead.

Owning about 70 acres of forested hunting land, and for a wide variety of landowner reasons, I am in somewhat common contact with two of the local NYS DEC Officers.
(NYS speak for Game Wardens, derogatory slang is Fish Cops)
One guy, a lazy and almost useless slacker.
The other, a nice decent guy that enjoys his work. A true outdoorsman.
The 2nd guy, he has commented to me that he is personally unable to deer hunt. Why? Deer season is his busiest time of the year, and no vacation time approved by the boss during deer season.

I also knew a tough old guy a long time ago. He was wrestling with a suspect that didn't want a conservation ticket and ended up getting shot in the stomach with his own service revolver.
Then he got stuffed in the trunk of his patrol vehicle.
He successfully got out of his vehicle trunk, accessed his hidden vehicle key, tracked down and arrested the guy that shot him before going to the hospital.
At one time I had permission to deer hunt out behind his house.

So what is the percentage of people a "regular" Law Enforcement Officer interacts with that have a firearm? You assume everyone is armed, but the real percentage is likely low.
As a Game Warden, everyone you interact with is actually armed! Dealing with fishermen, perhaps a lower percentage, but hunters? Most with high powered rifles!

I couldn't do either regular Law Enforcement or Game Warden work. I already know I have the wrong personality for those career choices.
Best of luck to you if you decide to follow that branch in your career pathway!

Go to the Wisconsin Fish & Game website. I bet you can find a phone number for your local Game Warden and chat with him in person if needed. Lookup Here: https://dnrmaps.wi.gov/H5/?viewer=POC

You need to check on the actual process of becoming a Warden . I looked at the requirements for Louisiana and it's pretty extensive . Pre selection testing , including physical fitness test. If you are not already POST certified the Academy is 6 months long. Your assigned location after the Academy could be anywhere in the State. So much to consider .

I can’t tell you about all states’ hiring practices, but many/most require college hours. A BIG plus is having that college relating to biology.

Our game wardens are under the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, which includes the Texas Park Police. The TPP are state police, like game wardens, but are assigned to at least one state park. They normally live on the grounds in a provided house for a very small monthly fee. One state park superintendent wanted me to be her TPP, and she said I would die in that position. She, of course, meant the job was so good that I would eventually die of old age while employed, never retiring.

TPP are ‘the law’ at these parks, and they are pulled from their regular duties, sending them anywhere they’re needed in the state. They, along with other Texas state officers, were sent to the uS/Mexico border during Bide’s mess. Another regular duty is deployment to areas like hurricane/tornado disasters.

I ponder what would have happened if I went into being a Game Warden/Conservation Officer over being a Sheriff's Deputy/Police Officer.

I can tell you that even to this day, the testing and competition to get into the Ohio Game Warden system is tough. I had family all throughout Ohio, so we hunted and fished through most of the state. I do not recall ever encountering one that was an ass.

I have worked with quite a few in Virginia in my LE career and they were down to earth. The academy used to be 36-40 weeks long, and for a long time worked out at the same gym I did.

A lot of book learning/classroom time: Hunting/fishing/trapping laws, plus criminal and traffic codes-laws.

On the flip side, they get to do a lot of pratical training on driving/operating boats, ATV/UTV, trucks, bikes, etc..

Looking back, I wish I would gotten my degrees in Conservation, wildlife biology, etc..
I know Univ of Wis-Milwaukee has a great degree in Conservation and Environmental Science. To me, it combines the best of both worlds.

OR....
If you need a new challenge once you retire, the various Medical Examiners are hiring Investigators throughout the state of WI.


EDIT---
As you get closer to retirement, keep an eye on USA Jobs...
Most military installations have Game Wardens, and they are GS series.
There were a couple at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, and one of them was the biggest most useless, sloppiest Shitbag I ever met. I hate saying that about people, but wet toilet paper was more useful.

I know our local warden pretty good. Stops by our lake place once or twice a summer to chat. He's looking forward to retirement and getting out of it. Dealing with meth heads who break into unoccupied hunting shacks and set up shop has become a regular thing the last few years he tells me. A lot of very strange folks are trying to live back in the woods. Off grid weirdo's who will drag anything into the woods to make a shelter. He says they leave these people alone for the most part even though he knows they are shooting deer whenever they want and keep as many fish as they want. They just aren't worth dealing with. He's advised me to stay away from any makeshift shelter I find out in the woods.

Many of the city problems have found their way into remote areas. You aren't dealing with just sportsmen any more.

My Nephews oldest boy has a degree in ecology and works for the game and wildlife management in Oklahoma.

I can ask him what it took to get in with them.

quote:

Originally posted by mrapteam666:
I ponder what would have happened if I went into being a Game Warden/Conservation Officer over being a Sheriff's Deputy/Police Officer.

I can tell you that even to this day, the testing and competition to get into the Ohio Game Warden system is tough. I had family all throughout Ohio, so we hunted and fished through most of the state. I do not recall ever encountering one that was an ass.

I have worked with quite a few in Virginia in my LE career and they were down to earth. The academy used to be 36-40 weeks long, and for a long time worked out at the same gym I did.

A lot of book learning/classroom time: Hunting/fishing/trapping laws, plus criminal and traffic codes-laws.

On the flip side, they get to do a lot of pratical training on driving/operating boats, ATV/UTV, trucks, bikes, etc..

Looking back, I wish I would gotten my degrees in Conservation, wildlife biology, etc..
I know Univ of Wis-Milwaukee has a great degree in Conservation and Environmental Science. To me, it combines the best of both worlds.

OR....
If you need a new challenge once you retire, the various Medical Examiners are hiring Investigators throughout the state of WI.


EDIT---
As you get closer to retirement, keep an eye on USA Jobs...
Most military installations have Game Wardens, and they are GS series.
There were a couple at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, and one of them was the biggest most useless, sloppiest Shitbag I ever met. I hate saying that about people, but wet toilet paper was more useful.

used to be in VA the Game Wardens patrolled their given area, and the Parks had Park Police,

not sure how they are managed today,

all the GW's I have interacted with were very nice, even the one writing me a ticket for not having my boat registration once,,
45 yrs ago, I was in Pocahontas State Park, in line behind a Park Cop to pay my entrance fee,

he was too busy trying to impress the college girls running the kiosk, so one of the girls came out, walked over and took my money, handed me the receipt/ticket and told me to just drive around ,

so we did,

got pulled over for doing that, by the Park Cop,
he ripped my ass for about 5 minutes before allowing me to talk, and then got more pissed when I showed him the reciept and told him the girl in the kiosk told me to,,,,


but he let me go

quote:

Originally posted by mrapteam666:

I can tell you that even to this day, the testing and competition to get into the Ohio Game Warden system is tough

Same in Arkansas.

There are only about 150 game wardens in the entire state, which works out to an average of 2 per county. So openings are few and far between, and competition for them is stiff. Lots of good old boy outdoorsmen who want to be game wardens, and very few slots.

I know a couple of them fairly well. They love the job, the freedom it entails, and all the toys you get to play with (4 wheelers, boats, thermal scopes, etc.). But it's not all puppies and rainbows. It also involves a lot of long nights, cold/heat/inclement weather/bug/snake exposure, and working alone in the middle of nowhere with your nearest backup a long ways away. You also don't necessarily get to pick your duty station, so most newer game wardens end up in the very small and rural areas for the first chunk of their career until they get the seniority to bid on the station they actually want.

The comment earlier about struggling to find time to hunt because you're so busy working during hunting season is accurate, which especially sucks because most folks who become game wardens are big into hunting/fishing.

And if you end up being stationed in a really rural area, you may find yourself acting more like a deputy sheriff much of the time, responding to rural emergency calls like domestics and drunk drivers because you're one of the only LEOs around. So it's not all frolicking with the deer and cruising the lakes, it does involve some "normal law enforcement".

For example, one of the (now retired) wardens I'm friends with was stationed for most of his career in a rural county where he would be one of only 3 or 4 cops total on duty in the entire 900 square mile county at any given time. 2 sheriff's deputies, and maybe a state trooper, and him.

Lymman:

Thanks for reminding me
Pocahontas State Park is patrolled by Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) Law Enforcement Rangers who act as certified park police officers. (Same with other VA state parks)

I tried that route for something different, and that is another agency that is hard to get into.


Caveating what RogueJSK stated:
There were a few times that a Game Warden stopped by to check on me during a traffic stop and/or a call for service at a house. During that time (2004-2007), we ran 7 patrol deputies on day shift, (not including traffic, court or SRO) and we covered 420 miles. Two of our zones were very rural, with back up being 30-45mins+ running full tilt. (Heck there were spots where our radios were very sporadic.)


Thanks to the base re-alignment and GWOT, the Northern VA area, Fort Belvoir, and Quantico started booming. With that boom came a huge influx of individuals, which increased call volume. Our command was used to 20-30 years of a few calls a day and 2 or so at night... Not a dozen a minute.

So, you could easily find yourself responding to calls for service or even back up.

Its my understanding that assaults on Rangers and Game Wardens have increased substantially in the past few years. Not surprising, given the amount of guns they encounter and working remote areas with backup far away.

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:
You need to check on the actual process of becoming a Warden . I looked at the requirements for Louisiana and it's pretty extensive . Pre selection testing , including physical fitness test. If you are not already POST certified the Academy is 6 months long. Your assigned location after the Academy could be anywhere in the State. So much to consider .

I've heard the same down here in LA

Not a Game Warden but to echo some of what has already been posted...

My interactions were with a GW in Sharon, OK. Good guy to a better extent however what I found:

He grew up in the area and knew the people (people who's two sections I hunted on grew up with the GW's parents) but the GW started (per the people I hunted with) getting the Hall Monitor attitude.

At one point he (the GW) caught me dead to rights - I brought my 14 year old son from out of state and bought him an in-state license. Son went out one morning with a hunting buddy and two other similar aged kids. GW had a hardon that morning and after the hunt followed the friend and kids back to Sharon. He wanted to see all the licenses and my son could not / would not lie. Instead of confiscating my son's rifle and all his tagged meat, I only received a $35 ticket.

(Rumor is a couple years later the GW was busted for fraud - he would confiscated rifles and not report them then would resell them. Bad, bad, bad.)

During the previously noted interaction with the GW we were talking friendly talk and I asked him about aspects of the job:

a. No hunting on opening weekend (deer, dove, turkey, etc) to include archery, muzzle loading and modern gun.

b. In every encounter, the other party IS armed.

c. Good ole boys (and girls) are typically dirt poor and cannot afford a license but need to the meat and may not be willing to face consequences of being caught.

d. Out of area / out of state hunters have the $$ and resources to get away and out of state and as such, may not feel as though they need to face the consequences of getting caught.

e. Typical encounters were very rural with backup/help being at least 45 - 60 minutes away

f. "Polite" and "respectful" have to be your middle names

A FWC officer used to live down the street from me and he absolutely loved his job. We would stop and BS occasionally and he had some good stories. One downside of his job was he was sometimes sent around the state to assist as needed in other districts. Being Navy, you are used to this already, but he said it got old sometimes.

The FWC officers I've encountered on the water have all been very professional. Usually they pull up, see that I'm wearing my inflatable PFD with my PLB on it and have my kill switch lanyard hooked up, and they just exchange some pleasantries and move on.

Natural Resources / Conservation law enforcement in general; lumping game/fish/forestry/parks work together:
- You will be working for an agency whose primary mission is NOT law enforcement. Law enforcement is one of a whole catalog of tools used to manage the natural resources, and LEOs within the agency as a whole will generally be a small percentage of the total workforce. The LE program fights for slices of the budget pie along with all of the other divisions. A certain percentage of the non-LE staff would be perfectly happy if you-- or your function-- didn't exist.
- Corollary: There's a near-certainty that the policy-level officials-- the most senior careerists in the agency-- will not come from a LE background. If they're of that last mindset, buckle up for a few lean years.
- All of the "regular cop" work hazards, plus a huge array of environmental hazards that other cops simply don't have to deal with.
- "Backup" is a nice idea, but generally not a practical reality.
- On the plus side, unequaled levels of freedom (generally) to plan your own work. You won't be chasing the radio. There will NEVER be a shortage of opportunities for proactive cases. Tired of working x area or looking for y? Change it up. Then back. And your "office" is awesome.
- Good opportunities to develop skills around your interests (I was in series of digital forensics classes with a warden, for example) because in small agencies, needing to wear a number of specialized hats is common.
- Commonly heard: "I want to get away from people, that's why I want to be a Ranger/Warden." In reality the job is still about people, and is all about building relationships if you want to be even remotely successful.
- Very few people leave the job because they dislike the actual work. More leave because of frustrations over the first item or two, above, or for pay issues.
- You won't "seniority out" of working weekends or holidays, pretty much ever.

Take a look at the Dept of Veterans Affairs Police. It's not for running and gunning or major criminal investigations.
Retired from the US Army Military Police Corp and then I got this job.

quote:

Originally posted by lyman:

used to be in VA the Game Wardens patrolled their given area, and the Parks had Park Police,

not sure how they are managed today,

all the GW's I have interacted with were very nice, even the one writing me a ticket for not having my boat registration once,,
45 yrs ago, I was in Pocahontas State Park, in line behind a Park Cop to pay my entrance fee,

he was too busy trying to impress the college girls running the kiosk, so one of the girls came out, walked over and took my money, handed me the receipt/ticket and told me to just drive around ,

so we did,

got pulled over for doing that, by the Park Cop,
he ripped my ass for about 5 minutes before allowing me to talk, and then got more pissed when I showed him the reciept and told him the girl in the kiosk told me to,,,,


but he let me go

Ever wonder if she set you up doing that because she wanted him to leave? LOL