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ODNR contacts

2K views 13 replies 11 participants last post by  bilman63 
#1 ·
How many of you have had contact with an ODNR officer over the last 12 months and if you have was the contact a positive one?
 
#2 ·
Very negative Steve. My wife stayed at the car last summer while I went into a wildlife area to check a trail camera. Young ODNR officer came by while I was gone. He didn't like the fact that she would not get off her cell phone so he could question what she was doing there. She felt she had nothing to explain as she was doing nothing wrong. He thought she was evasive in her answers to his questions regarding what I was doing in the woods. She told him I was "scouting". He was somewhat aggressive towards her and even when I came out of the woods with camera in hand he kept wanting me to admit to digging ginseing or poaching. I should have told him that if I was up to no good I was not stupid enough to leave my wife sitting in the car waiting for me in broad daylight on a Saturday afternoon. Left a bad taste in my mouth for sure. 30 years plus of hunting public land and this was the only bad encounter for me.
 
#3 ·
Very negative Steve. My wife stayed at the car last summer while I went into a wildlife area to check a trail camera. Young ODNR officer came by while I was gone. He didn't like the fact that she would not get off her cell phone so he could question what she was doing there. She felt she had nothing to explain as she was doing nothing wrong. He thought she was evasive in her answers to his questions regarding what I was doing in the woods. She told him I was "scouting". He was somewhat aggressive towards her and even when I came out of the woods with camera in hand he kept wanting me to admit to digging ginseing or poaching. I should have told him that if I was up to no good I was not stupid enough to leave my wife sitting in the car waiting for me in broad daylight on a Saturday afternoon. Left a bad taste in my mouth for sure. 30 years plus of hunting public land and this was the only bad encounter for me.
That is too bad. Most of my experiences with DNR officers have been in a positive light.
 
#4 ·
I recently had my first good experience with an odnr officer. We were taking a class together for two weeks. Got to spend a lot of time talking to him and he seemed like a good guy and good officer. Definatley had the right attitude. That said....in 9 years of hunting ohio that is my first positive contact.

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#5 ·
Had a decent run in with Clermonts WO officer while pulling and putting out new traps. Checked my licenses and asked how my season was going. all went well, then again it normally does when your straight forward, answer questions quickly and correctly, and arent acting nervous :thumbs_up:
 
#6 ·
I have been hunting for 40 years and fishing for 48. I have never had a problem. But then I have never given them a reason to give me a problem.

There is one officer in the central part of the state that seems to have an attitude with people for no reason. I have seen him at hunting and shooting related events numerous times.
 
#7 ·
Called the vinton county warden a couple years ago and told him about people shooting deer at night. A couple of the adjacent landowners told me that they've seen him a few times parked,in a nearby wood lot watching the fields at night. Don't know if he caught anyone but it did deter it for a while. He even stopped by and gave my hunting buddy his card and said to call anytime we see or hear anything. Very positive experience.:biggrin:
 
#8 ·
I have been hunting for 40 years and fishing for 48. I have never had a problem. But then I have never given them a reason to give me a problem.

There is one officer in the central part of the state that seems to have an attitude with people for no reason. I have seen him at hunting and shooting related events numerous times.
no problem here...but i have seen one gw give a guy a hard time over a 4 wheeler he had on a trailer at the wnf...we knew what happened as we seen the guy ride the 4 wheeler around the pond(wnf) then back up on the trailer...the gw shows up soon after they git it on the trailer...and immediately confronts the guy...its obvious what happened earlier as the grass was several inches tall there and you could see the tire tracks from the trailer and around the pond and back to the trailer...the gw ask the guy if he had it off the trailer and was looking right at the tracks...the guy nervously decided to say no...an the gw let him sweat a bit an tole him when he see's the trailer again (an its still on wnf)it better be on that trailer because its illegal to unload it(or ride it on twnshp roads or in wnf...)if so he would git a ticket................next time...:biggrin:the guy obviously broke the law an prolly considers that gw being a negative contact...i kinda got a kick out of it...so that was my last positive contact...:biggrin::biggrin:
 
#9 ·
GW, WO, ODNR officer, whatever the term...no, not run into any lately....all positive when I have met up with them.
I always expect the basic howdy and a handshake of a general meeting to apply amongst adults.
But, if either side of the shake has an axe to grind, if one gets a bit too species fixated and starts stamping a foot or there is set up the attitude of "you work for me" then any encounter might face struggles.

I do hope to never run into a PA warden who pulls out a blaze orange exemplar and places it next to my shirt or cap. I expect that encounter would be one that I would consider less than positive for the silliness it represents.

I also suspect that bad contacts seldom start that way...irregardless.
 
#10 ·
Never a negative encounter from me. Just the usual formality of validating licenses and such. After that is out of the way, the conversation is either entertaining or very useful. Fishing and hunting hotspots, what is happening where etc. Maybe a colorful story. It's all been good for me.

My last encounter was with the Muskingum County Wildlife Officer who showed up to the hunter ed course I was conducting. He was very helpful to the learning experience. He answered questions, volunteered info and knew a lot about the topics of discussion during his visit.

My only regret is he can't attend every course and stay for the whole thing. I get it though. These officers are stretched pretty thin and they do have a life of their own.
 
#12 ·
I was trout fishing over at lake alma the weekend they stocked it. The Vinton co GW was there. As I was getting off the lake he helped me load the canoe and talked for a bit as he looked over my stuff. Asked for my fishing license. Every thing was in order. He gave me a pat in the back and shook my hand. Great guy.

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one helped me at dow lake several years back load up muh boat...it was durin a heavy rain...it was most appreciated...:biggrin:
 
#13 ·
Never a negative encounter from me. Just the usual formality of validating licenses and such. After that is out of the way, the conversation is either entertaining or very useful. Fishing and hunting hotspots, what is happening where etc. Maybe a colorful story. It's all been good for me.

My last encounter was with the Muskingum County Wildlife Officer who showed up to the hunter ed course I was conducting. He was very helpful to the learning experience. He answered questions, volunteered info and knew a lot about the topics of discussion during his visit.

My only regret is he can't attend every course and stay for the whole thing. I get it though. These officers are stretched pretty thin and they do have a life of their own.
That's been pretty much my experience.
 
#14 ·
Have had a few positive encounters with the Greene county Wildlife Officer. He took the job about 4 or 5 years ago. One evening while coming out of the woods from a bowhunt he was waiting at my truck. Checked my license, tag etc then said something about my NWTF member sticker and asked where I turkey hunted. We talked for a good half hour. Really personable and friendly but professional as well. He has went beyond the call of duty for me a couple times. Cant say enough good things about him.
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