That’s the long and short of it. The worth, prestige and envy created by big antlers has made everyone more aware of hunting for trophy whitetails, including wardens. Many states now calculate poaching fines and sentencing according to the value of a poached deer rack. It is now most prestigious for a game warden to make a bust involving top-end antlers. This is comparable to municipal, state or federal law enforcement making a high-dollar drug bust. Several states exhibit a “Wall of Shame” that displays poached bucks with name plates denoting the arresting officer and county. Having bucks on this wall are great kudos for wardens. Should we, as ethical deer hunters, see this as a problem?

We should not, in my view. Deer hunters in many states were in the majority of sportsmen lobbying for penalties equivalent to wildlife replacement cost. If it requires a “Wall of Shame” to make violators realize how serious our game commissions regard deer poaching, so be it. It’s only in very rare cases that rogue, lazy or glory-seeking wardens use tainted investigations, baseless speculation and the court system to rob a buck from a law-abiding deer hunter.

LES DAVENPORT

4. Most game wardens chose this occupation for the love of the outdoors and wildlife.

5. Money is usually a secondary reason for those pursuing a wildlife law enforcement career.

Is Money the Problem?

Lately, a big issue concerning game wardens in several states is lack of adequate wages and budgets for wildlife law enforcement. Inadequate pay can attract less occupational interest, fewer qualified applicants, and less career dedication. So are today’s game wardens as dedicated to wildlife, their careers, and fairness to sportsmen as in yesteryear?

Early in my writing career, I interviewed Larry Closson, then chief of wildlife law enforcement for Illinois. There have been few interviews in my 20-plus years as an outdoor journalist which left me more respectful of the interviewee. Closson had a long and distinguished career in wildlife enforcement after being a highly decorated Special Forces veteran from the Viet Nam War. The almost 200 conservation police officers under Closson’s command highly respected his even-

Emotions usually run high during annual gun-deer seasons. This can lead to high levels of job-induced stress for today’s conservation officers.

handedness and professionalism.

“Larry was an avid sportsman as well as a dedicated CPO chief,” said former Illinois Natural Resources Director Brent Manning. “Larry knew that not all violations of the wildlife code were intentional.”

Closson offered these paraphrased words to me about game wardens:

1. A game warden who performs his job well does not see just black and white.

2. There are gray areas when sportsmen need to receive the benefit of the doubt.

3. Earning the respect of local sportsmen is a big plus for a game warden.

Still True Today?

Chief Dennis Steward of Missouri’s Protection Division has spent 34 years in this state’s wildlife law enforcement. His last six years have been as head man over 167 conservation agents, 24 district supervisors, and eight regional supervisors.

“Our agents are every bit as dedicated to their professions today as in the past,” Steward said.

He added that it still holds true that wages are secondary to new recruits and veteran agents. Missouri’s baby-boomer-era agents are beginning to retire, but Steward reports that at least 250 applicants apply for 12 to 20 class openings each year.

Chief Steward continued by saying that applications for agents have progressively declined from past years mainly due to less young people being introduced to the outdoors. Wages for agents, however, have raised in accordance with those of the Missouri State Police. The Protection Division’s budget is also well funded for necessary overtime during peak periods of outdoor activity. This was not always the case in Missouri.

In 1937, citizens of the Show-Me State became fed up with legislators pillaging wildlife and voted in favor of a conservation commission. Although this four-member board is appointed by the governor, there can be no more than two members from any single political party. This commission, not the governor, has full say-so on matters regarding Missouri’s conservation and wildlife issues.

Things rapidly improved in Missouri. Four decades later, however, it became evident that conservation was still under funded. The commission recommended a 0.125 percent sales tax increase that citizens approved in 1976. This small sacrifice on behalf or Missourians now provides 60 percent of the conservation budget. The other 40 percent is funded by license sales, timber revenue tax and federal match-