Ups and Downs
Being a Game Warden in a small town has its ups and downs. I enjoy small town life in the bush. There is a great core group of Fox Creek residents. I have come to know and respect many of them.
Last November a couple of these good town folk reported that they had found an illegal bait site north of Fox Creek. As concerned citizens and ethical hunters they did the right thing and notified Fish & Wildlife. I appreciate their help. That would be the upside of working in a small town.
I began an investigation. I spent a lot of time at the location trying to catch the suspect at the bait site. I attended the location at least 16 times last November. Because I could not be there all the time I installed some pretty neat surveillance equipment. I acquired video images of a suspect hunting over the bait. The images were not quite good enough to identify the suspect. At the end of the hunting season I seized the tree-stand.
I believed that the suspect was local.
This investigation went unresolved until just recently. A local hunter, whom I had come to respect, approached me and asked me to keep an eye out for a tree-stand that someone had stolen. After a brief discussion it became clear that the tree-stand he was reporting as stolen was actually very safely stored as an exhibit!
The investigation was re-opened. The suspect will soon be charged. As I said I had come to respect this fellow. I had checked him many times in the field; never had there been a problem. He is a devoted family man. I had begun simply saying hello during our meetings in the field instead of putting him through a full compliance check.
I have no choice but to charge this fellow. That would be the downside of working in a small town.
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Category: Columns, Field Notes
Just wondering, is there such a thing as legal baiting? Are hunting and guiding companies exempt?
Baiting for bears is allowed in some areas (not around Fox Creek). Baiting for ungulates for hunting purposes is illegal…for everyone. No exemptions.