You guys would save yourself a lot of grief if you got to know your local warden. I have mine on speed dial and we know each other quite well. If I have a question about his thoughts on a particular set, I call and ask his opinion.

On a very related subject, all trap tag requirements should be gotten rid of. There is NO REASON to tag your traps what-so-ever. The tags DO NOT prove anything. They don't prove who set the trap or who put the tag on the trap or who even owns the trap. If the warden finds an illegally set trap the only way to prove who put it there is to set on it and wait until the guy shows up (game cameras may work too).

I'll be the 1st to say that all GWs (and many other LEOs) dont have/use very respectful/tactful language or attitides when dealing with the public. This is unfortunate as we work for sportsmen and women and the public in general and we depend on cooperation with anyone with an interest in our wildlife resources to be effective in our jobs.

Im not familiar with the NY situation with the marten trapping, but my advice there would be to make absolutely sure that trapping regs are followed to the letter since it appears there is some conflict with marten trapping in the Adirondacks. Yall may lose it entirely if the conflicts are simmering already. Best case scenario is for trappers and GWs to get on the same side of that issue.

I agree. I readily answer/respond to all such calls. To me, this shows a person is willing to follow the law. I like voluntary compliance. Shows a true sportsman!

I tend to agree^^^

Swamp I just wanted to say thank you for participating in these discussions as it gives us the other side and hopefully all understand each other a little better.

Thanks

Absolutely, I talk to a couple of my local wardens weekly... I have never had a bad experience with the Natural Resources Police in Delaware. Great group of men and women.

Screw the communist state of NY. I don’t know how anyone stays there anymore.

I am unfamiliar with the Ouell trap but just as a matter of information.......marten nest boxes are made with an entrance hole between 2-2.5 inches diameter. They can get in a lot smaller space than one would think.

My Warden refers me often for research programs and education classes with the public. I send her cat pics to geo track if needed and show her my license every year to not put her on the spot I’ve always done that just a habit.

... I also agree with having the wardens phone number... how else would you call to send him on a wild goose chase on the opposite side of the county lol

If the GW dug up the first one and it was in compliance with a tag on it he probably wouldn't dig up anymore. If everyone he keeps digging up is a violation then no he won't stop. That's his job

No need to take it personal....because it isnt.

The GW may not know you or whose property it is. He is tasked by law to enforce wildlife laws and that includes wildlife laws on private lands. No one owns the wildlife. It is owned by the people of your state and is held in trust by your state's DNR. To aid in doing this, GWs are permitted, by law, to conduct inspections, including looking closely at the gear a trapper is using to ensure compliance with the laws set up by your state's legislature.

Your method of trapper inspection at the pickup truck would be sufficient if every trapper was known/where they trapped was known/when they trapped was known/etc. Also, most trappers are encountered by GWs due to calls received or when the GW happens to find a trap or encounters repeated entry sign on a property on routine patrols. GWs stay busy responding to many other types of calls, working various seasonal activity, such as deer and waterfowl hunting, fishing, environmental enforcement such as illegal dumping, and boating activity on public water. So trapping enforcement, in mostbstates, is low on the importance scale for time spent by GWs.

But, with that said, if I know a trapper. Maybe checked him before. Never a legitimate complaint on him. Always legal in every aspect. Great effort & attitude. Looked at his gear (in his truck) and always good to go. I will refer him to landowners and call him a fellow trapper. I know when i see him parked at the back of a field or creek bridge that he is good to go. Maybe a quick license check but that is it. This is the same way I look at other deer hunters, duck hunters, etc.

I enjoy Tman. We are all trappers.

Ive been trapping since I was 12. Been a GW since I was 29. 56 now.

Thanks!

You only get to pull that off once....

I live near the NY border in VT and I hunt in both states. I was hunting the early muzzle loader season northern zone and the temperature got up to 60 degrees so I returned to my truck in the parking area. I noticed a DEC truck across the road in another parking area. Once I reached my truck the DEC officer came over to me and checked my license, No problem . Then began to lecture me about VT hunters road hunting and why would I even be in NY hunting. So I was polite and said check my record you will find no offences . The officer said that they had waited for me because of my VT plate. I said aren't we all AMERICANS NY-VT? I said it was to bad that the time you spent sitting waiting for me didn't seem to make any sense considering I was in the woods since a half hour before daylight and was not out driving around looking for deer in meadows to shoot from my truck. I also said I can't stand road hunters and hope they catch them all. I also suggested they aren't very well informed and suggested they check and see how many NY residents hunt VT and I would bet not all NY follow VT laws either. I said its not a state thing but a human thing. I had a chip on my shoulder about the added words said as if I had no right to be there because I am not a NY resident but I guess it's frustrating when you can't catch the law breakers. I also said I have NY residents that hunt out of my VT camp.

In Ga, all game and fish fine money goes to the county where the violation occurred...not the state.

The NY GW involved in Joe's situation appeared to me to do nothing wrong. He did his job. His actions were NOT anti-trapping. He investigated non-compliance and handled the violations properly. Your description is anti-game warden and that is sad.

I have always filled out a police report whenever trap has been stolen from me. It has been quite a few times. It’s only way I figure I can cover myself.
I sure thought this thread would bring out all sides of the story. It has.

Yes. I'm sure it hasn't gone the way the OP wanted it to go. He admitted to illegally not tagging his traps and admitted that trap he was using by definition was a body-gripping trap. I can see where he'd feel these were very minor and the warden was being overzealous when he could of just said, "just get them tagged" and "don't use these body-gripping traps", but I don't know many wardens who wouldn't have issued the ticket and followed up to see if he continued his illegal ways. This is what I gathered when I actually read his entire post. I'm not saying this warden is not out to get him, and I'm not saying his attitude may have POed the warden. I'm also not saying Joe's post won't put a bigger target on his back. Anything is possible.

My experience has been that most COs are decent, fair people.
My wife and I like to watch the show Lone Star Law. I don't know if it's just for tv or not, but the CO's on that show treat most people with respect and fairness.