Question about CO behaviour

kamlooky said:
I think he is asking permission so he is not in violation of trespass.
He is using I wish to hunt only to garner access to check up on the other
hunters.
Once permission is granted, it will be tough to chase him away.
I would decline the permission to this CO.
And I would file a complaint with the CO's office.
My couple of pennies worth.
They are not your friends............
What you say and do could be used against you in the court of law.
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I don't know about other provinces, but I do know for a fact that MB Game Wardens don't need permission to access private land when job related.

Many CO's like hunting, I'm not sure why everyone is so apprehensive and suspicious as soon as a person in uniform is involved.
 
Well the COs do get lunch breaks etc. So if he is in an area already, I don't see the harm with him using that time for asking permissions. However, if he is hunting while on the clock, that is another story.
 
My thoughts ...

Since his Job is to drive around and watch for signs of poaching and whatever else, and this sounds like it's an area with decent game numbers, it's entirely likely that he is doing his job. And, if he's seen some nice animals, then there's no doubt he'd like to be hunting there.

Does askign in uniform make a difference? Yes. "Joe Nobody" knocking on a farmer's door asking for permission probably won't get the answer they want. "Joe Somebody, knocking ont he door and mentioning "My relative x farms away mentioned that I shoudl talk you abotu hunting on yoru land...." Will get a much better result. CO on his lunch hour, stopping by and asking for permission ... on my land, I'd be saying Yes if there wasn't already someone there.

The only qyestionable thing abotu all of this was him asking for the existing hunter's names & numbers. He probably should have handed over his Card (on his own, rather than being asked for it) with a Home # and asked if the Farmer could pass it along to them ...

We may not like it at times, but this world is run by WHO you know, not What you know. So long as he isn't asking for "special favors" of some sort due to wearign his uniform at the time, i don't see this as anythign more than bettering his chances at getting permission to hunt on this private land.

I'd be calling him up, and invviting him out for some target shooting and a "get to know you" afternoon, and see what kind of guy he is off duty ... at worst, you can say no thanks, at best, you get a new hunt buddy :)
 
If I'm not mistaken, I dont think wardens have to ask any private land owner for access to land. Provided it is to carry out thier job.
I tend to think that he would know this. So, I would guess his asking permission may be generally legitimate, even if it is a little questionable.

Hope you can resolve it without any confrontation.
 
bearkilr said:
I don't know about other provinces, but I do know for a fact that MB Game Wardens don't need permission to access private land when job related.

Many CO's like hunting, I'm not sure why everyone is so apprehensive and suspicious as soon as a person in uniform is involved.
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Exactly, job related. What the OP posted isn't job related; unless going around for a month asking for permission is really an investigation(doubtful, especially alone).

Don't get me wrong, I completely support our law enforcement and the struggles they face. Most I've personally encountered are great guys and we enjoy talking to them when they meet up to us. But as many are mentioning, it's very likely breach of conflict of interest and ethically wrong. There will always be bad apples, whether it's minor or major issues. Just like a poster above mentioned of a CO trespass hunting.

His aim is to find a piece of land to hunt, which is very evident of all the scouting and clearly with the asking of permission. But there's nothing wrong with questioning the way he's going about this. He knows his position of authority and is using that to his advantage when asking for permission. Sure, some say ''what if he's on lunch break'' so be it, but one would be in denial to argue that he's not using his position of authority to his advantage. He asked for names and numbers of people hunting there knowing well he may be given that. That can't be considered professionalism.

Of course a huge fuss about it isn't necessary, as with anything the most civil and peaceful solution is desirable(nobody getting in trouble, party at fault admitting wrong doings). No harm was done in this situation, but like the example above of a CO using someones land to hunt without permission.. if it's taken to that level, yes he should be reported and face any just consequence. Nobody is above the law and I personally find it worse when the person in question is in a position of authority.
 
Doing things on his own time would mean doing it out of uniform. While in uniform he is mostly on the clock. He could wait till after work to do it or on weekends.

Its an abuse of position. If one of my workers was out and about supposively acting on good faith on company time doing company business and I found out he went shopping at the mall with the company vehicle... He should be fired.
 
If he stated :"Sorry to bother you, I have a request that I am making as a private citizen" and perhaps took off his jacket. In other words tried to ensre that the request is clearly coming from him as Joe blow and not Mr CO. it's normally clear when someone abuses that line.
 
Well, I just called the MNR main office and spoke to a very nice lady. I explained the situation to her and asked if COs were permitted to ask for permission on land as I have indicated in the OP. I was very clear that I was not present when the CO asked and I am only relaying the info given to me by the landowner and I'm assuming that the info is correct as relayed to me.

She stated that as far as she was aware COs were not permitted to do this while in uniform and recommended that I call the district office where this CO would be working out of (Kemptville) for further clarification.
 
Where we hunt Moose there is a group of CO's that come up for the week to hunt and usually fill there tags on the first day,there a good bunch of guys who love to hunt,had a laugh at them this year as all of them got tickets for open booze on crown land! I would phone him and get to know him might turn out to be a good hunting partner\friend..
 
Well I just spoke to the regional manager of enforcement for the MNR. I told him the story I was told and was again clear to say I was not there when this happened and I was just passing on what I was told by the land owner. I explained that as a taxpayer and a hunter I didn't think this was an acceptable use of the MNR's limited resources.

I gave the general area that this occurred and the manager said he would discuss this with the COs that work the area. He did indicate that there was no hard and fast rules about this, but it may fall under the ethics category. So, in short, they are not explicitly denied from doing this.

He asked if I wanted to file a formal complaint and I said not at this time, but if it continues I may change my mind.

Of course I called from my USA work phone (no call display) and didn't give my name. Which will hopefully result in our gang not getting worked over with a fine tooth comb next week during the deer hunt :D
 
the fact that he apparently staked out the area a number of times as well as asked for the names of the people hunting that day, makes me suspect that he was given a tip that some poaching was taking place. Possible for example that people had heard shots late at night and he wanted to confirm that deer being taken out of the area had been recently killed and not killed the night before then removed during normal hunting hours.
On the other hand I would expect most COs to be hunters and he might simply have been looking for a good place to hunt. However if I knew that a small group of people regularly hunted a location on a regular basis and with permission, I would be reluctant to hunt the same area.

cheers mooncoon.
 
mooncoon said:
the fact that he apparently staked out the area a number of times as well as asked for the names of the people hunting that day, makes me suspect that he was given a tip that some poaching was taking place. Possible for example that people had heard shots late at night and he wanted to confirm that deer being taken out of the area had been recently killed and not killed the night before then removed during normal hunting hours.
On the other hand I would expect most COs to be hunters and he might simply have been looking for a good place to hunt. However if I knew that a small group of people regularly hunted a location on a regular basis and with permission, I would be reluctant to hunt the same area.

cheers mooncoon.
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I thought that too, but we have been out goose hunting in the area regularly on mornings that he has been seen. Goose decoys visible from the road and us shooting and we haven't seen him. You figure he would have stopped in to check licenses, etc.

Plus, we hunt about 4000 acres in the area and pretty much have all the land owners locked up. The farmers in the area haven't said anything about poaching, shots at night etc. either. The farmers are a pretty tight group and know what's going on in and around their land.
 
No matter how you look at it he is abusing the system, Do you get paid to hunt? Would you pay someone to hunt?

If he is in a work truck in uniform then he is on duty, the company he works for is the government. where does their money come from? Your pocket is where it comes from and i know that if no one pays me for going hunting, then i don't intend to pay someone to go hunting.
 
Give the guy a friggin' break. There is a lot about being a game warden that sucks. Stopping and asking a farmer if he can hunt there when he's not at work is a non-issue. Would it be wrong for him to swing by "Timmy's" for a coffee when he's working? If he was actually hunting on duty, then that's a different story. You should still meet him and get to know him. That doesn't mean that you have to invite him into your hunting area and give him half your sandwich, but you'll catch more flies with honey than with ####. It's better to be on someone's good side than staring down your nose at him.
 
Slooshark1 said:
Give the guy a friggin' break. There is a lot about being a game warden that sucks. Stopping and asking a farmer if he can hunt there when he's not at work is a non-issue. Would it be wrong for him to swing by "Timmy's" for a coffee when he's working? If he was actually hunting on duty, then that's a different story. You should still meet him and get to know him. That doesn't mean that you have to invite him into your hunting area and give him half your sandwich, but you'll catch more flies with honey than with s**t. It's better to be on someone's good side than staring down your nose at him.
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Sitting there for hours in one spot, different than stopping at timmies!
 
COs around here spot for deer well working all the time also.I spot deer well working also. CO did me a big favor in Alberta once and I tend to give them all the help they need. Had a goat and sheep disappear and he found them and brought them back home.
 
Dave, You did the right thing there. A CO using a uniform to influence people is unacceptable and unethical.

BTW..... If you ever need company on one of those field hunts.... ;) I was up your way a few weeks ago and there were a ton of birds in the air and on the fields. I wish we had numbers like that here....
 
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