Public Encounters Of The Wrong Kind

[greenhorndave]

years later I figured out what that group was up to that day. I bet you guys can too

Did they have a big marijuana grow back there?? I just finished a training class about drugs and the instructor talked about the cartel having huge marijuana grows deep in public lands. There was a grow in the Chequamegon national forest in northern Wisconsin that had over 20,000 plants. There was an incident where a guy and his boy were hunting and they stumbled into one of those grows. The gardeners of the grow killed them... I will always carry when hunting public land. Not for big bad bears, but for the crazies out there.

Dang, I sometimes spend time up there.

I haven't been carrying on bowhunts, but this thread reformed me.

[Singing Bridge]

I've encountered several small growing operations over the years, not of the size that it had armed guards at all hours. I have been known to staple a business card from the local Sheriff department on a tree next to the grow just for fun...

I do know of some spots on public land where if a forest fire burns through I'm going to park my truck down wind with a bag of Dorito's and a bottle of Mountain Dew!!

[greenhorndave]

I've encountered several small growing operations over the years, not of the size that it had armed guards at all hours. I have been known to staple a business card from the local Sheriff department on a tree next to the grow just for fun...

I do know of some spots on public land where if a forest fire burns through I'm going to park my truck down wind with a bag of Dorito's and a bottle of Mountain Dew!!

I’ll bring the pizza

[Singing Bridge]

I want to start this post by stating that I have a lot of respect for Conservation Officers (Game Wardens) as they have a very dangerous job and encounter armed civilians routinely as part of their job.

That being said, like every other profession out there, some of the people representing them are less than stellar... at one time, I felt CO's were like a box of chocolates- you never knew what you were going to get. One old timer should have auditioned for the "Dukes of Hazard" many years ago. I was driving down a back woods road when Roscoe P Coltrane (the conservation officer) came flying out of the woods in his patrol car (yes, they used cars back then). His tires were spinning and his car threw dirt 10 feet in the air as he came racing out on to the road with his lights activated. I remember glancing in my rear view mirror and thinking, "what the ?" I pulled over and watched him park behind me, emergency lights still activated (there wasn't another human for 20 miles). I rolled my window down and he approached on the driver's side, hand on top of his handgun. There was no "hello" or "I'm officer so and so..." or anything of the like. Now mind you, I haven't even had a speeding ticket to this day.


He stood there for a minute, and finally blurted out, "What are you doing back here?" I answered, "scouting for deer hunting spots." He asked for my license and registration and walked back to his car with it. He came back and asked me to step out of the vehicle, to which I obliged. He then went through and under my seats, glove box, etc. When he moved the seat forward and looked behind it, he saw the sheathed WW2 Japanese Officer sword I had placed there. Confused, he looked at me and asked what I was doing with it? I replied, "I jump out of trees and cut deer heads off with it." I actually saw a look of concern as it registered and could see his wheels turning as he tried to figure out what to do next... I spoke again and told him I was using it in a high school play. I don't think he knew how to react to my first statement so he moved on with his search. Finding nothing he spoke once again... "We've been getting reports of someone poaching back here." He gave me back my license, stated "have a good day" and left.


Unfortunately, that wouldn't be the only time Roscoe and I met on public land.


Bridge

[Singing Bridge]

I've encountered several small growing operations over the years, not of the size that it had armed guards at all hours. I have been known to staple a business card from the local Sheriff department on a tree next to the grow just for fun...

I do know of some spots on public land where if a forest fire burns through I'm going to park my truck down wind with a bag of Dorito's and a bottle of Mountain Dew!!

I’ll bring the pizza

[Dewey]

I found a small patch of weed growing on the edge of a cornfield in Iowa three years ago while scouting during the summer. While looking at it I had an uneasy feeling I was being watched but never seen anybody. It wasn't a huge grow or anything like that so I let it be. When I came back in October it was gone. Hope they had a good time.

IMG_1336.JPG

IMG_1341.JPG

[Singing Bridge]

I found a small patch of weed growing on the edge of a cornfield in Iowa three years ago while scouting during the summer. While looking at it I had an uneasy feeling I was being watched but never seen anybody. It wasn't a huge grow or anything like that so I let it be. When I came back in October it was gone. Hope they had a good time. IMG_1336.JPG IMG_1341.JPG

Were you on trail cam Dewey? I've definitely had that feeling of being watched, I know what that's like!

[Singing Bridge]

The return, of Roscoe P. Coltrane !!

Years after our first encounter (now in my twenties) I ran into Roscoe once again...

I was spring scouting deep within a northern Michigan swamp. I came back out at midday, hungry and ready for a drink. When I got to my truck I flipped down the tailgate to sit down and eat a sandwich and crack open an iced soda. All of a sudden I hear the roar of an engine *** and here comes Roscoe once again! He had been hiding in his car in the woods waiting for me to come out. He spun dirt with his tires ten feet in the air and came flying down the woods road (yes, I began having flashbacks ). He slammed on the brakes and stopped his CO car right behind my truck and jumped out. He hollered, "What are you doing back here!" Okay, I'm totally flashing back now... I stated, "I'm spring scouting for deer hunting." He almost yelled at me with his reply, "you do that in the fall". I replied, "actually, there are many thousands of Michigan hunters that spring scout."

Now this is word for word what happened with no elaboration on my part. He stomped past me, threw open the door of my truck and began going through the seats / glove box, behind the seats...

I stated, "sure, go ahead and search my truck!" and kept eating my sandwich while I shook my head. After a couple of minutes he closed my door and came back. He blurted out, "we've been getting reports of poaching back here" (you can't make this up, I wondered how many times he had done this). We were at something of a stand off as he wasn't sure what he was going to do next. I took another bite of my sandwich and a swig of soda. Next, he blurted out "there's an eagle area about a mile down the road from here and no one is allowed in there!" He was referring to an area closed off by the Forest Service which contained an eagle nest.

"I know right where you are speaking of, don't worry I won't go down there." Without speaking another word he got in his car and sped away.

Less than stellar, but what do you do?

[Ghost Hunter]

At least when he left day got peaceful once again.

[Singing Bridge]

At least when he left day got peaceful once again.

Definitely- I was told the old boy retired within a couple of years of our encounter. I give him credit in that he didn't try to pinch me for something I didn't do.

Burnout was evident, but I'm sure he accomplished a lot of good things during his career.

[Singing Bridge]

This is a public land encounter of the wrong kind, in a different way... And a great job by Michigan Conservation Officers.

My brother and I were steelhead fishing on Michigan's East Branch of the AuGres river. There were probably another 50 fishermen within a half mile of this prized stretch. We had been fishing for a couple of hours and had 3 steelies on the stringer when I heard some rustling on shore. The river is relatively small and I glanced to the side to see a Conservation Officer walking up the stream bank. Directly across from him was another Conservation Officer walking up the other bank. They kept moving upstream and disappeared from sight.

The next thing that happened I will never forget. Guys (I can't call them fishermen) were running in every direction! Upstream, downstream, straight away from the river... a number of them took steelhead slung over their shoulders on stringers with them as they ran for their vehicles! Very shortly thereafter my brother and I had the whole river to ourselves...

Some time later the CO's returned and were walking down the bank- they stopped next to us. The officer closest to me state, "good morning!" to which I replied back. He asked if we had been doing well, I told him we had 3 on the stringer. I asked if he wanted us to wade over so he could check our licenses. He replied, "Nope, I know you both have licenses, you were the only fishermen that didn't run away when we approached." He told us to have a great day and off they went.

I was very stunned at the time that not a single fisherman had a license... I guess I just assumed that most guys did.

[Jackson Marsh]

Too bad the wardens didn't catch a few of those guys.

It would have been a bit comical to watch all those guys scatter

[Dewey]

I found a small patch of weed growing on the edge of a cornfield in Iowa three years ago while scouting during the summer. While looking at it I had an uneasy feeling I was being watched but never seen anybody. It wasn't a huge grow or anything like that so I let it be. When I came back in October it was gone. Hope they had a good time. IMG_1336.JPG IMG_1341.JPG

Were you on trail cam Dewey? I've definitely had that feeling of being watched, I know what that's like!

Didn’t see any trail cams. I was on the edge of a farmland bluff so could see miles. Somebody could have been glassing that spot keeping an eye on it from a mile away on the next bluff for all I know.
When I came back to hunt in October and noticed it was harvested I then got worried the law found it and then were monitoring thinking I was coming back to get my stash.

[Strenke629]

Weed is probably going to be legalized all over soon anyway so these huge grows in the middle of nowhere we won't have to worry about for to much longer.