C is your answer and its a good thing you weren't in Wilkes county NC you and your friend would have gotten shot

Never encountered fish cops, but when I fished, it wasn't very often.

Most of the older Texas Game Wardens I've encountered seemed pretty cool. One year, in Summer, I was fixing all the feeders and blinds that the racoons had wrecked. I pull into the only little store/gas station within 50+ miles in East Texas. Game warden is parked there. I've got a pickup with a four wheeler in back and I'm dressing in camo and everything is absolutely filthy. Game warden goes, friendly like, "You didn't shoot anything out there did you?" I laughed and said "Nope, just fixing everything the raccoons messed up." That was it.

Met another Game Warden at a burger stand. He told me about getting called out in the middle of night because someone claimed they saw bigfoot.

The only two nice ones Ive ever met was one that was just out of college and one that must have been in his 60's.

Most likely he was watching you from a distance, saw you catch some small fish but wasn't able to see what you did with it.  The number of sportsmen who have no ideas about the game laws or follow the game laws 100% is huge.  

I have had a good encounter with every single one I have ever encountered in VA.  I only fish though never really got into hunting.

Bullshit.

 

You were breathing?

It's not bullshit.  It's true.  I have no time for the possum cops.   All the ones here are vermin

Then I wish you'd export some of them to Florida, because we have ass clowns on the water.

I was elk hunting on an Indian res.

My buddy and I both got an elk and we had cut them up to get them out of the woods. When we got everything to the truck, we put all the pieces in game bags. We were just going to split the meat two ways and didn't really care who's elk was who's or even if all the parts of the same elk were in each bag.
When we got done and cleaned up a little bit, we cracked open a celebratory beer.

And here come the game wardens (I don't remember but I think maybe the tribal police double as game wardens during hunting season).

I went into a panic. We have open containers, we don't even know what bag has the tags in it...........................

They drove up, asked us if we got anything, asked us if we were going to be hunting turkey there later in the year......................

They didn't ask to see our license, didn't look at the animals, didn't say anything about the beer............... they were just trying to get more money out of us by talking us into more hunts on the res.

I fish about once a week and my boat sticks out like a sore thumb.  F&G. NEVER bothers me at all.  It's really weird.  I've seen them pull the whole lake over but just give me a wave.  Maybe their keen on me or something

Funny fishcop story:

I was back down in FL visiting family so dad and I decide to go fishing in the Everglades. Dad's a resident, I get my nonresident. We drive out and find a remote area along the roadside with a dock and slip to get your boat in. There's a FWC officer parked there standing out on the dock, just chilling.

We grab our gear out of the truck and walk past him to fish off the end of the dock. He nods his head, that's all. No checking for permits, nothing.

A pair of ~12ft fishing boats pull up with several large coolers in each boat. Each cooler packed full of Oscars. Turns out the guys were from NOLA and I guess they're popular to eat up there?

Fishcop was like a kid in a candy store and anally annihilates those guys for every single petty violation you could think of. Fire extinguishers were expired, vests were too old, unsafe operating (fat guys in a small boat?) He was probably writing tickets for 45 minutes.

Dad and I just continued fishing.

He wanted to find your pot stash.

Yea. It varies a lot. A place we hunt did a "young hunters" event and invited the local game warden to speak. In return, the game warden set up at their exit gate and stopped and inspected every single car. They took what could have been a positive interaction with future hunters and screwed it, either turning them off of hunting or against game wardens.

Yep have a neighbor just like that and it works everytime

You said "they" as in more than one fish cop, so i'm assuming there were 2 on the boat. Its possible one was a rookie with an FTO, who was letting the rookie do the contact and he forgot to do the inspection. FTO then made him go back to your boat to fix his mistake. FTO's are not above embarrassing their rookies in public as a training method.

Not really that's a myth that they like to keep going and most people don't know the law. I once got to see a lawyer hand a game warden his ass over a search with out a warrant the GW claim that he didn't need a warrant and could search anything, anywhere, any time the judge didn't agree.

They seem like they don't have enough to do whenever I've dealt with 'em. Seems like there's too many of 'em if that's the case.

Pretty much this. I've said before, I'm generally a very strong supporter of LE.

But not them. Not in general.

I've only had one negative experience with them in many years of fishing in MD, GA, and FL. We were on lake Russel here in GA coming back in from bass fishing and right before the ramp is a bridge you have to cross under in a no wake zone which we idled from to the ramp. After we get the boat pulled onto the trailer a pair of rangers roll up and tell us that we didn't come off plane under the bridge and wrote us a warning for something they couldn't possibly have witnessed never mind we had been idling. I'm sure the two were out fucking off somewhere and used us as a reason to show they were actively doing their job. They also didn't check for anything else.

I'm sure the advent of the supermarket had nothing to do with that. At all.

I was once stalked all day by an undercover Fish cop.
Fishing on the North Thompson River in BC.

First contact with the guy was within the first 30 minutes we started to fish. The guy was in plain clothes and we watched him cross a railroad bridge to get to us, we were wondering out loud as to why this guy was heading towards us because most fishermen will not bother others and try to crowd in on a fishing spot.
Guy shows up and opens his trench coat and flashes his badge and sidearm and immediately starts going through our gear. Trashed everything we had in our tackle boxes on the ground. Said he was looking for barbed treble hooks but didn't find any. Made us pull our lines in to check the hooks and bait. The guy was a total dick and we did nothing to provoke him being such a dick.
An hour later he shows up and pulls a trout out of  a pail we had to keep our catch in, and every fish we caught that day this asshole would show up and measure the fish.
He even commented that he saw us release undersize fish.

At the end of the day we packed up and headed to the truck and we saw him get into his unmarked truck and started pulling away.
We started waving our arms at him in distress and he stopped and waited in his truck. We got up to him and asked him if he wanted to see our fishing licences since he failed to ask for them throughout the day.
The look on his face was and then

He told us to fuck off and tore ass out of there.

LOL

LOL.  Catch and release, gooberment style.



Used to be a nice place - way too many assholes from other places (+ the homegrown variety) have truly fucked it up

Of the dozen or so contacts with TX GW all were just routine license/boat checks. Pretty nice guys, all.

I've always found our Michigan DNR to be professional.  I would not want their job, if they are approaching hunters the hunters are armed and with fisherman and especially boaters there is always alcohol involved.  Everyone here has seen scary gun handling at the public range, imagine having to walk up to these asshats and still keep your cool?

Because, much like firearms laws in this country, game laws are fucking ridiculously complicated.  

And fuck the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission's wildlife officers.  They lied under oath on the stand against me. I was still found not guilty, but those assholes completely ruined the name of their organization for me. Again: fuck them.

So why do people occasionally shoot at these outstanding professionals up in the U.P.?

They are pretty much the top of the State LOE food chain.  I have never met any who were a dick to me - but most of the time I am immaculately clean.  Did get stopped once when I left my license 200 miles away.  He looked at my gear and said it would be a wast of paperwork to write me up as it was a given I did have the licenses I claimed to have left.

C+

Because Yoopers make West Virginians seem downright cultered by comparison.  Deer hunting is locally referred to as "eating", DNR or not.

Same reason why people elsewhere occasionally shoot cops (i.e., Pennsylvania), because they [the shooters] are criminals and cowards. Or are you attempting to make a veiled assertion that the Conservation Officers deserved it?

They've showed up to my front door and asked me questions before. Then asked permission to check my freezer. Wife's cousins husband was a douche a d liked to poach and thought everyone else did too so he called me in hoping to get the points for a new draw only spot.

Had tags for all the meat in the freezers and shit stain relative died a couple years later. Karma!


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I found this in the NC general statutes.

§ 113-136.  Enforcement authority of inspectors and protectors; refusal to obey or allow inspection by inspectors and protectors.

(a)        Inspectors and protectors are granted the powers of peace officers anywhere in this State, and beyond its boundaries to the extent provided by law, in enforcing all matters within their respective subject-matter jurisdiction as set out in this section.

(b)        The jurisdiction of inspectors extends to all matters within the jurisdiction of the Department set out in this Subchapter, Part 5D of Article 7 of Chapter 143B of the General Statutes, Article 5 of Chapter 76 of the General Statutes, and Article 2 of Chapter 77 of the General Statutes, and to all other matters within the jurisdiction of the Department which it directs inspectors to enforce. In addition, inspectors have jurisdiction over all offenses involving property of or leased to or managed by the Department in connection with the conservation of marine and estuarine resources.

(c)        The jurisdiction of protectors extends to all matters within the jurisdiction of the Wildlife Resources Commission, whether set out in this Chapter, Chapter 75A, Chapter 143, Chapter 143B, or elsewhere. The Wildlife Resources Commission is specifically granted jurisdiction over all aspects of:

(1)        Boating and water safety;

(2)        Hunting and trapping;

(3)        Fishing, exclusive of fishing under the jurisdiction of the Marine Fisheries Commission; and

(4)        Activities in woodlands and on inland waters governed by G.S. 106-908 to G.S. 106-910.

In addition, protectors have jurisdiction over all offenses involving property of or leased by the Wildlife Resources Commission or occurring on wildlife refuges, game lands, or boating and fishing access areas managed by the Wildlife Resources Commission. The authority of protectors over offenses on public hunting grounds is governed by the jurisdiction granted the Commission in G.S. 113-264(c).

(d)       Inspectors and protectors are additionally authorized to arrest without warrant under the terms of G.S. 15A-401(b) for felonies, for breaches of the peace, for assaults upon them or in their presence, and for other offenses evincing a flouting of their authority as enforcement officers or constituting a threat to public peace and order which would tend to subvert the authority of the State if ignored. In particular, they are authorized, subject to the direction of the administrative superiors, to arrest for violations of G.S. 14-223, 14-225, 14-269, and 14-277.

(d1)     In addition to law enforcement authority granted elsewhere, a protector has the authority to enforce criminal laws under the following circumstances:

(1)        When the protector has probable cause to believe that a person committed a criminal offense in his presence and at the time of the violation the protector is engaged in the enforcement of laws otherwise within his jurisdiction; or

(2)        When the protector is asked to provide temporary assistance by the head of a State or local law enforcement agency or his designee and the request is within the scope of the agency's subject matter jurisdiction.

While acting pursuant to this subsection, a protector shall have the same powers invested in law enforcement officers by statute or common law. When acting pursuant to (2) of this subsection a protector shall not be considered an officer, employee, or agent for the state or local law enforcement agency or designee asking for temporary assistance. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to expand the authority of protectors to initiate or conduct an independent investigation into violations of criminal laws outside the scope of their subject matter or territorial jurisdiction.

(e)        Inspectors and protectors may serve arrest warrants, search warrants, orders for arrest, criminal summonses, subpoenas, and all other process connected with any cases within their subject-matter jurisdiction. In the exercise of their law enforcement powers, inspectors are subject to provisions relating to police officers in general set out in Chapter 15, Chapter 15A, and elsewhere.

(f)        Inspectors and protectors are authorized to stop temporarily any persons they reasonably believe to be engaging in activity regulated by their respective agencies to determine whether such activity is being conducted within the requirements of the law, including license requirements. If the person stopped is in a motor vehicle being driven at the time and the inspector or protector in question is also in a motor vehicle, the inspector or protector is required to sound a siren or activate a special light, bell, horn, or exhaust whistle approved for law-enforcement vehicles under the provisions of G.S. 20-125(b) or 20-125(c).

(g)        Protectors may not temporarily stop or inspect vehicles proceeding along primary highways of the State without clear evidence that someone within the vehicle is or has recently been engaged in an activity regulated by the Wildlife Resources Commission. Inspectors may temporarily stop vehicles, boats, airplanes, and other conveyances upon reasonable grounds to believe that they are transporting seafood products; they are authorized to inspect any seafood products being transported to determine whether they were taken in accordance with law and to require exhibition of any applicable license, receipts, permits, bills of lading, or other identification required to accompany such seafood products.

(h),       (i) Repealed by Session Laws 1979, c. 830, s. 1.

(j)         The refusal of any person to stop in obedience to the directions of an inspector or protector acting under the authority of this section is unlawful. A violation of this subsection is a Class 3 misdemeanor and may include a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00).

(k)        It is unlawful to refuse to exhibit upon request by any inspector, protector, or other law enforcement officer any item required to be carried by any law or rule as to which inspectors or protectors have enforcement jurisdiction. The items that must be exhibited include boating safety or other equipment or any license, permit, tax receipt, certificate, or identification. It is unlawful to refuse to allow inspectors, protectors, or other law enforcement officers to inspect weapons, equipment, fish, or wildlife that the officer reasonably believes to be possessed incident to an activity regulated by any law or rule as to which inspectors and protectors have enforcement jurisdiction.

(l)         Nothing in this section authorizes searches within the curtilage of a dwelling or of the living quarters of a vessel in contravention of constitutional prohibitions against unreasonable searches and seizures.  (1915, c. 84, s. 6; 1917, c. 290, s. 2; C.S., s. 1885; 1935, c. 118; 1957, c. 1423, s. 2; 1965, c. 957, s. 2; 1973, c. 1262, ss. 18, 28, 86; c. 1286, s. 17; c. 1297; 1977, c. 771, s. 4; 1979, c. 830, s. 1; 1987, c. 641, ss. 20, 22; c. 827, s. 98; 1991, c. 730, s. 1; 1997-80, s. 5; 1998-225, ss. 3.1, 3.2; 2011-145, s. 13.25(xx).)

They look through your freezer?  How the hell would they prove that a frozen deer ham was taken illegally?  I've never heard of a GW coming to someone's house to check their freezer; that's jacked up.

I wish I could say my perception/experience of/with the FWC here in the Destin areas is different, but I would be lying.

I have personally been pulled coming back in by FWC, had him check us, untie and check another boat, then have him come back for round 2 on us and claim he hadn't stopped us.  Fortunately, the East Pass is so busy on the flat calm days I choose to fish, that a simple take all of the rods out of the rod holders and place out of sight usually eliminates any attention from them.

Now, the Coasties are OK in my book.  They've saved my ass in a big way before.

I've come across a few of the MD DNR/NRP guys.  Freshwater guy- not cool.   Saltwater guys -no issues.  Last year fishing the bridge by Asseateague in my kayak one of them came over, asked how the fishing was, said I was in a good spot and he went on his way without even asking for my license.  Last month pulling into the county ramp in Ocean City there were at least a dozen fish cops there.  Asked if I caught anything, "nope". And that was it.

in 89 i had 2 dnr come up on me in n-ill state park, the one old boy was hillbilly as hell (bout 60) and asked for my lic. i was heading back to my truck, and had no fish. didnt have it on me but in the truck, and tried to blow them off with "im not fishing now". well, old boy says they FEDERAL, and steps back and un-snaps his pistol.....startled, i say "calm down, ill get it." got it out the p-u and satisfied they went away. did'nt ever go there again, or any DNR overseen waterway to fish for many years. FEDS.

Moving at contact probably seemed sketchy to them.  Not your fault of course but it looks suspicious.

walking with a rod in one hand, wearing cutoffs and a wife-beater, barefoot? hell there were 2 of them, and broad daylite kids all over. gonna shoot me.

that potbelly old a-hole most likely kicked the bucket long ago. lol. well thats my fish cop tale.

I have been hunting/fishing for many years....mostly fishing the last 10 years. I have broken many a fish cop law....10' flat bottom jon boat with twice the motor the cute little tag said it should have.....heading out the Jupiter inlet on a regular basis - as a 12 year old, for starters.....anyway, I have only had 1 official contact in all my years in the out of doors. Me and a friend (about 16 or 17 at the time) parked the truck as close to the fence as we could. This was to use the bed to jump the fence and also block the sign that told us not to enter the area out of season........anyway, we are toting our shot guns and blasting away at every can we could find in the canal......we took no game and had no intentions of doing so. We were just wasting time in the woods. Out of nowhere, 2 fish cops stand up out of the woods and tell us to walk over to them. One of them told us to open our guns and show id....asked if we knew we were out of bounds? We said yes. The other one asked if we knew they could take all of our gear and the truck? We said yes. First guy says to GTFO and don't come back. We said thanks - never did go back.....

Seems I have anti-fish cop syndrome...kinda like my anti-hurricane syndrome...more than 50 years in Fl. and never had a hurricane get closer than 50 miles from my house - and I have lived in most of Fl.....mostly along one of the coasts.

I know csb....

Hell, everyone knows, DNR. Stands for DAMN NEAR RUSSIAN !
So I've been told.

 

Real fish cops had traded duty with Secret Service.

Fuck 'em....and feed 'em fish heads.

Never had a bad interaction with them.  They usually just ask to see the throw cushion and fire extinguisher because I always wear an inflatable life jacket.  They checked my livewell once but that is about it.

Because they are criminals?