GW Question

Interesting encounter with a “GW” last week. I was setting up my brother who is in a wheel chair and a truck pulls up on us. As I approach the truck a guy stepped out the passenger seat saying they needed to get down our road to check timber on a diff piece of property. I said not a chance at 3:00pm on Friday afternoon we were hunting. He was quick to say he was a GW and that he was contacted by a land owner to show a logger where their property was located. My response was “not my problem”. I did offer them access the next day around lunch if they wanted. He proceeds to show me some type of badge (I never really looked at it). In a matter of 3 min he went from area game warden, to retired game warden to GW in different area. He was not ugly to us just seemed irritated with us. Question is if he was a GW off duty do I have to give him access. He claimed to have permission to use that road but started side stepping when I told him I was the only one who could give permission. There are other roads to that property just in bad shape. I either own or lease all property bordering that road.

Watching this. I didn't think a legitimate Game Warden had to ask.

Like fred says , tell him to pound sand

We don't pay GW to show loggers where to go. Logger pick up a phone and call land owner's he needs to talk too

I think Barney Fife was blowing smoke. I would have called the land owner.

Doesn't sound right.

showing a logger to a piece of property doesnt sound like the responsibility of a GW you were right to tell them its not your problem. the logger can contact the property owner and figure it out im sure, using your road was just more convenient at the time.

X2.

I'm betting he's prolly a security guy for a large timber company I know Alabama power has land agents and so does Russell lands that are basically security guards the apco guys are actual law enforcement

tell him to pound sand.

At all




And kiss ur arse

And I would have had my cell phone out videoing and getting pics of him, the vehicle, and the tag. id put a camera up. He will be back.

Impersonating a law enforcement officer (when you are not one) and/or using the power of one's public office for private gain (such as to access a piece of property he wants to hunt, or aid a property owner in finding access for loggers access in exchange for being allowed to hunt the property) are all potentially criminal or fireable actions. I'm not saying you need to take this that far but if you have any more issues with this supposed game warden or especially if he starts harassing you, just keep that in mind.

WHASB

Sounds like a fired game warden to me. You need to have a good contact at DCNR you can call when something like this occurs.

Some large timber companies have their own conservation officers, or they used to anyway.
They only had authority on the timber company land.
I know Scott Paper company had their own officers around the tensaw delta back in the late 80s.

They had their own at Gulf States which is now Westervelt.

Any he should have identified himself in that fashion if that was the case

Absolutely. I wasn't defending the action, just saying there are game wardens that don't work for the state.

You are correct I should have videoed it. This was not a 2-3 min encounter this lasted 15-20 min. He was determined he was gonna pass. My favorite statement and one that really made me question him was when he told me he grew up in the community on the other side of our clear cut and knew all the land owners. I asked him why he needed my name when I told him I owned all the land up to the timber company’s land and that I lease the timber company property. He did not have a response. I’m just suspicious of anyone on that property due to the amount of trespassing. I knew he wasn’t the local GW because I spoke with him earlier this year on other issues.

I know you weren’t at all.

If you have a name I can find out immediately.

You need to contact DCNR Law Enforcement in Montgomery to give them the rundown on this.

Alan is correct.

You don't need to just let this go by the wayside.

Please do this tomorrow and let us know what they tell you.

PM Sent.

Not legitimate , on duty or off duty, GW right to go on land is to investigate for hunting or fishing related crime or to inspect hunters and their equipment used in the hunting.

I have no confidence in dealing with those people in Montgomery. Called them opening weekend about a bunch of deer I found dead down the road. They had been there I would guess a week a more and all shot with a rifle. This was Sunday of opening weekend. One deer had back straps cut off and the rest had never been cleaned. I was told it was not a crime to kill a deer and and not clean it. They said if I own the property and knew who did it I could go after them for dumping them on our property. His exact words were “ if they shoot a deer it’s at their discretion what they do with the deer, there is no wanting waste in Alabama” Called local GW and he was all over it.

This with "You can suck it"

To add to this: it was an 80 acre block that he wanted to get to. Supposedly. So not a big tract manager. And the timber company didn’t have their guys out there because we know them. They had just finished cutting that week.
Had it not been for my cousin in the chair hunting right there I wish we could have let them try to go in. The rain and mudholes there would have kept him busy all night trying to get out!

🤔

SPEC- got the answer you wanted. Check your PM.

why hell, he posted the question on a forum...can we not all see the answer?

lol, I was thinking that as well. Spill the beans

Spec had pm'd me more info. I called main office and they confirmed guy matching that description is not a GW. He was impersonating an officer. Wanted Spec to know I replied.

I like how you handled it. Maybe next time whip the phone out and start recording and taking photos of everything, especially any vehicle tags..

This man knows.

Ol boy was full of chit

I would think the real GW would be really interested in meeting this guy who is running around impersonating him.

BINGO!!

There used to be Deputy Game Wardens, the law that authorized them has been repealed. They were quite prevalent early in my career. Usually worked for very large landowners, they had to pass a test, post a bond , were only authorized to work on the property they were hired by. They had absolutely no authority any where else.

My memory isn't what it used to be but seems Roy Moore's son tried using his "GW" status that Sgtred described to get out of a DUI. That got attention to the program and brought an end to it. Just as I remember it.

Seems I remember IP hiring GW when they retired from the state. I've called Lawliss and Halbrook on IP issues long ago. But cost cutting got their jobs.

I was not aware of the incident with Roy Moore's son. The law authorizing them was just repealed in last couple years during the tenure of the current Enforcement Chief, on his recommendation as I understand it. The current Dept. Administration has pretty much altered or changed everything from the weapons being carried to the uniforms and everything in between.

As I said, my memory sucks so I had to look it up. Moore's son, who had quite a few frequent flyer hours in Alabama jails, was caught in Etowah Co. for several hunting violations. Things that weren't suppose to happen did. Once again be got off.

The GW impersonating deal was Sands Stimpson (mayor of Mobile) son: In May, Sands Stimpson was charged with impersonating a peace officer after he showed Alabama state trooper Brandon Christen his Alabama deputy game and fish warden badge during a traffic stop on Bay Bridge Road.

Christen testified on Tuesday that Sands Stimpson showed him a wallet with a badge in it and said that he was a "game and fish law enforcement officer," Christen testified.

This was in 2015.

Don't know the Moore person, I am acquainted with Mr. Stimpson. I was once assigned to Washington county. Spent time working around Bullpen, met Mr. Stimpson back then. I was not aware he was ever a deputy game warden. I knew he was an advisory board member and also president of the wildlife federation.