NGPC guys

[BojiHawk]

Just curious about something and I'm going to proactively say here that budget contraints and the like do not apply and I've had this feedback from 2 people in the office who are refusing to hear what I'm asking:

I've been out there several times this year..as in a dozen or better.  So I would call this a good "sampling" but I'm making sure that it's reality and not perception.  I've NEVER (in a dozen or so times) seen the NGPC officer walk out to check permits.  I've seen him in his truck all but 2 times I've been there.  I've seen him check everyone and the dogs they took fishing for any and everything WHEN HE HAS A 4-WHEELER TO RIDE OUT.  Nice guy to be honest.  But here's the deal:  Law enforcement isn't a fair weather job.  I know he can walk since I've seen him do it so it's not a handicap.  I'm super glad these folks are there.  Without them ouR quality of fishery would drop very sharply...but I think that these guys could use a little more..enthusiasm.  Most poaching and other game laws could, quite frankly, be more discouraged when one of these guys pop over a hill or appear on a lake ON FOOT.  The very nature of game pusuit involves stealth and remote locales.  To think that any of these people are going to be illegally stalking deer, and yet, surprised by someone rolling up in a 4 ton truck is rediculous.  They aren't traffic cops...sitting at a ramp checking stickers is a joke. 

I'm not saying that these guys aren't doing their jobs...I'm just saying that DEA uses undercover agents, state troppers use radar and concealed positions to catch speeders.  Where are the remote cameras or tools like that?  It just seems to me that this branch of enforcement operates at a level of convenience rather than tenacity.  I would love to put on some camo, steak out some poaching areas, check for spotlighters, etc.  You put a hefty reward or bounty on this and you'll see poaching curbed..especially if the poachers are ordered to pay it to you for catching them.  The point is that poaching is a reverse lottery in NE...it just seems I read more about busts in other states.  The question is "Under-paid or Under-passionate"

[Kooper2506]

i couldn't have said it better myself.  i am an avid outdoorsman, i fish at least once a week or hunt once a week and i can honestly say i have never been checked or questioned by a nebraska game and parks law enforcement officer.  i have been checked by plenty of federal officers on refuges but not local.  i have also requested game wardens assistance by my hunting ground because i find numerous illegally killed deer every year, but they simply tell me it is to hard to patrol everywhere.  lack of "passion" would be my guess since pay should not be a factor.

[icinfool88]

I have hunted and fished in Nebraska for nearly 45 years.  I had never been checked by a conservation officer until about five years ago.  The same officer has now checked me five times!  I have to applaud this warden for his sense of duty, but he sure can anger people with his demeanor. 
BojiHawk, I know from your posts that you fish Willow Creek.  Three of the times he checked me were there, once on the ice.

[FishGut]

Remember that we've only got 38 COs for the whole state, which translates to about 2,000 square miles per officer. If you want more COs, call your legislator to fund more. FYI, all law enforcement branches can enforce game laws, not just COs. If you've got problems with poaching, call your sheriff's office too.

[BojiHawk]

2000 miles of land...minus private would come to..??  A few hundred tops.  I'm saying that sitting in a marked pickup at the entrance to CRP fields isnt going to stop people from dumping roosters as they walk...but donning a balze orage vest, parking half mile away and popping out of a ditch will add some suprise.  I've just never seen a CO walk more than 100 feet from their truck.  If these guys attacked crime like the DEA and homeland security, we would see arrests go up and that is a deterrent.  I think it's the age old adage and perception of the job when it was old school.  You put a 10 by 10 B&C buck decoy 50 yards off a road a single officer could probably make 50 different arrests and seize all those great guns for sherrifs auctions and revenue resource.  DEA gets to use the fancy cars for more busts...why isn't the NGPC using these tactics??

I've called sherrifs with digital camera proof of colorado tresspassers (no offense coloradans...just where these particular jerks were from)...they told me it wasn't a charge that would stick...with 4 witnesses and pix of them yelling back at us.  Said it wasn't worth the time since a conviction was unlikely.  They may be right, I don't know.  But why don't they do it in reverse??  Give them a letter that comes up to contact the NGPC when you apply for a new permit on line.  Something.  Anything.

Another thing...I went out on saturday to Willow.  I've seen the CO there early before.  Why couldn't the NGPC spring for the whole $2000 to put a blade on these trucks?  If they are going to be going there anyway, lets have them move some snow while they are checking public lands.  Maybe they have them, but I've never seen them. 

These guys have tough jobs and I get that.  I'm just saying that convenience and comfort have gotten much more important than effective and laborious.

If I had that job, I would have a hayday with it.  Pulling a sled behind me while checking ice fishermen, carrying a dummy shotgun and my having my hunting dog while checking hunters.  To be honest, I think you have to be about brain dead to get caught with a limit violation on the ice or at the ramp...you see the guy coming a mile away and he never checks coolers.  Probably doesn't want to get involved with alcohol violations (which is entire different thread).  Another great thread would be "why are boating fees so low?"  I think if you can afford the $40,000 22 foot walleye boat, a $300 yearly fee would seem about right.  This country has turned into a "rob the have's to pay the have not's"...lets apply that to our public sporting coffers.  I would have no problem with paying a 10% premium on firearms or ammo or whatever...Or paying $250 more for an instate permit for expanded limit privleges or something similiar.  I've always felt like our game and parks fees were kind of paltry.

I'm certified through the state of NE to teach hunters safety.  I don't know one CO who is a teacher...maybe they're there but I haven't heard of one in 10 years of doing it.  It is an unpaid volunteer position and I love doing it...and the organization can be very thankful they have me.  They are.. since I get some freebies and "thank you" type things.  I was always curious why the NGPC officers weren't involved in this?  I don't work 40 hours a week...that would be nice..I work 50.  No...no tiny violins...LOL...but I put in my hours. 

I don't want this come off like I'm tossing these guys under the bus...I'm not doing that.  I'm just making the point than municipalities (like the one in Wayne) are considering a fleet of electric work car/golf cart things.  I just think that a deteriorating American work ethic and where we set the bar of expectations has slowly dropped over the past 20 years...and for once I put it on the Gen-Xers and let the Boomers off the hook (only as far as the work ethic goes - I don't want to talk about what my fathers generation did to investments through sepeculation buying and the housing market).  I would just love to see some work that involves more than rolling around in a truck and typing/writing violations. 

I picked up another bag of trash at the ramp at Willow...please keep our areas clean fellow sportsman.  It's really kind of up to us....we are on our own for this.