Before I get into this article, let me take a moment and discuss the title of this article. Aside from perhaps a stray wildlife officer or two, I don’t for a minute believe the wildlife officers or game wardens in this country, whichever you prefer to call them, have gone bad. I asked the question in order to draw focus on a red hot issues that has confronted outdoor sportsmen for decades – the love hate relationship between those sportsmen and wildlife officials. I also believe that all game wardens under the direction of a somewhat errant commissioner can present a problem and the perception by the public that these wildlife officers have taken the law into their own hands.
Back a few months ago I wrote an article for my parent company, U.S. Hunting Today, and published it at several state hunting websites – part of the U.S. Hunting Today network of hunting magazines. The title of that article was, “Why Are Game Wardens Our Enemy?”
In that piece I cut the warden service some slack although I didn’t let them completely off the hook by any stretch. This is what I said in leading up to the explanation of why outdoor sportsmen see wildlife officers the way they do.
I’m not really sure why hunters perceive game wardens in the way that they do. There is a certain amount of ownership if you will with the public because it is their tax dollars and license fees that pay the salaries of these wardens. Some of it can be justified but I think most of it is the result of story embellishment, rumors, spin, guilt, anger and just about anything else you can think of.
There is good in everything and even though some people think hunters shouldn’t be questioning the tactics used by wildlife officers, I think they should. No law enforcement is absolute. Laws are created in our society to aid in keeping control over the reckless and those who choose to disregard the rights of others. We live in a free society and not one that is controlled by the law.
I went on to further explain what I thought were two basic reasons why we see wardens in a bad light. One reason is personal experience. The other hearsay and the embellishment of stories. In brief, personal experiences are those that actually happen to you and you alone. You can’t argue with that fact. What you can argue with is how an individual perceives the event.
The second reason is the more flagrant. We all love to pass on stories and with each pass the story gets bigger and better until we end up with a doozy of a tale.
Personal stories and documented factual events are what we should reserve our judgment of the officers on. Mind you though, those documented events can paint a real lousy image of a law enforcement entity that needs all the help it can get when it comes to public image.
Many of you here have read what could become a lengthy book on the ins and outs surrounding Dr. Rex Rammell’s elk escape in Idaho. I let it be known from the beginning that I believed what happened to Dr. Rammell was in direct violation of his rights as a property owner.
For those who may not know, when Dr. Rammell’s elk escaped his ranch, then Gov. Risch ordered the elk to be shot on sight, spreading fear and near panic among citizens that these elk were disease infested and genetically altered and would wreck havoc in the wilds.
When this executive order was signed into law, this brought in the Idaho Department of Fish and Game wildlife officers as well as private licensed hunters to shoot and kill the elk.
Let’s get one thing straight right now. I do not fault the individual game warden for following the orders of his superiors. I fault the decision made by Gov. Risch, which I’m sure was influenced by not only the hierarchy of Fish and Game but probably other prominent individuals and entities as well.
The decision to needlessly slaughter the private property elk of Mr. Rammell was a decision that showed reckless abandon in my opinion. Making that decision was bad enough. The tactics used to carry out the order is a whole different story. This is a classic case of why outdoor sportsmen view wildlife officers as, well, let’s say they get called names not proper to be repeated in this forum.
When I was younger and learning to be a coach of my son’s Little League baseball team, my older brother told me something that has stuck with me for over 25 years now. He said, “Remember on thing. The kids on your team will emulate the attitude and demeanor of you, the coach.” Such as is the case here, I”m afraid.
I was sent a copy (pdf) of a story written in The New American. In the magazine there are actually two stories. One is the story about the elk escaping the Chief Joseph Ranch as told by the author Dennis Behreandt. The second part is a short piece written by Dr. Rammell himself. These are his words.
What I was also able to get hold of were some photographs taken by either Dr. Rammell or his wife. Some of these have captions, some don’t. Some of the pictures I will leave without a caption so you can make your own.
If you chose to read the stories you will learn a bit more about the events. I would like to point out that in the story written by Dennis Behreandt, the overall content of the story is true. There are some specific parts that probably at the time the story was written were thought to be accurate but have proven not to be. It doesn’t change the events that took place during the slaughter of the elk.
I will end this article with the pictures. Remember, I have been writing to you about public perception and image of wildlife officers. If pictures could talk I think some of these would tell us much.
Caption from New American magazine: Heavily armed: Idaho Fish and Game officer checks his military-style assault rifle while hunting for elk that escaped from the Chief Joseph Idaho ranch. According to rancher Rex Rammell, the officer had just killed four of his elk right outside the pen being used to recapture the animals.
This image certainly paints a thousand words. This shows both arrogance and ignorance combined with the lack of respect for a dead animal. I know of no hunter who would do that after a kill. If Idaho Fish and Game was intending to send a message, they certainly did.
As I have already heard one reader say, there’s only one thing more intimidating than having a law enforcement officer, wearing sunglasses and pointing a finger in your face. And that’s being surrounded by the same.
For those of you who continue to ask me why game wardens are universally disliked, here’s one good reason.
Tom Remington
