Officer's Logbook
These excerpts have been edited to remove personal identifiers and locations for privacy reasons.
A Good Days Hunt
Natural Resource Officers, Park Rangers and other personnel of our parks and wildlife areas rely on the citizens of our state to provide tips of crimes and violations being committed. These tips come in every day and most are reported anonymously. The majority of these tips lead to resolution and prosecution through investigation and our judicial system. Concerned citizens of our state utilize the Operation Game Thief link on our website to report these violations. If you see a crime or violation taking place, please try to obtain as much information as possible. Tag numbers, vehicle descriptions, descriptions of violators and any other information you feel might aid in the apprehension of the violators.
- Located a hunter with an untagged deer and issued paperwork. Received a call from local boat shop about zebra mussels on a boat from MILR. Investigation and interviews yielded source of mussels was from another body of water out of state with enough time lapse.
- Prepared for and assisted with Hunter Ed. class over the weekend with 46 students. Worked Milford for the duck opener, was very slow and not many ducks seen or harvested. I only saw 2 ducks taken on Saturday.
- Checking archery deer hunters in both counties and waterfowl hunters on the Tuttle Creek WA marshes. Thankfully the weather was decent for the waterfowlers because the duck numbers weren't. Continued increase in deer activity this week and received my first headless buck reports for the season...one in each county.
- Taught hunter Ed in Douglas County; had 94 students complete the course. Investigated another dumped deer carcass. Received a call regarding a couple dumped turkey carcasses.
- Taught Hunter education at Jeff. West Middle School.
- Called out on a drowning "record book" buck that had found his way into a creek and was so popular that he couldn't find his way out (my thoughts on why he drown minutes before my arrival) and then went to retrieve the deer as others were lining up to do so in the pouring rain to avoid the potential antler frenzy that would have followed.
- Taught hunter Ed at St Paul school and followed up the next day doing an archery clinic at the field day; taught a huge NASP class at Pittsburg with 1512 certifying more than ever before.
- Returned a gun from last years deer season on a county case and watched yet another statutory violation by the judge as three more mandatory 500.00 fines were turned into 50.00 on a case with written confessions and video evidence....something's got to give!
- Spent the week patrolling the area checking a few people still fishing and bowhunters out chasing deer. Got called on a bobcat hit by a vehicle the guy wanted to keep and mount. Found nice dead buck in the ditch with the antlers still attached. No signs of foul play.
- Excellent pheasant crop in this area, but weather conditions have delayed ripening of milo. I don't think farmers will want hunters in the fields which of course are the richest areas for birds. Unless there is a heavy freeze followed by dry conditions the birds will get a reprieve until after opener.
- Taught Hunter Ed. in Shawnee Co; Taught Hunter Ed to 10 students in LVCO.
- Sunday had a call of subjects shooting seagulls. It was the same area I checked on in previous years after finding piles of dead protected birds. With another officers assistance, made contact with 6 subjects, picked up 36 dead gulls.
- Some hard core "have to hunt" types and lots of NR. The deer aren’t really moving yet. Completed hunting accident report for a hunter who fell while placing a tree stand; released a skunk for a homeowner who caught it in a live trap and then didn’t know what to do with it.
- Received some info from a bow hunter about someone driving onto WIHA with no lights on in the early morning last week. Did not hear any shots, but the vehicle sped out of the field in a hurry. Assisted with an information booth at Iola Farm City Days. Assisted AL SO with stranded vehicle. Seeing more bow hunters out with the cold weather.
- Worked youth waterfowl day at NOWA and gave a K-9 demonstration; taught hunter education to a large group; called out four times in three nights on shots and lights.
- Helped with a Hunter Ed class in Pittsburg with 88 students. Helped with the Wing shoot at St. Paul. Attended the insurance meeting in Ft. Scott. Having several calls from nonresident deer hunters wanting to know where to hunt and some landowner’s names for contacts.
- Got to check my first firearm deer hunter of the season in unit 3. The Non Resident from Wyoming was hunting on his Step-Father's HOL Permit. He thought it was early firearm season; then I had to tell him it was in Unit 19, 200 miles east of where he was at. On top of that he shot a Muley Doe on a White tail antlerless permit and did not have a hunting license. NTA's written were No Hunting License X 1, Hunt Deer in Closed Season X 1, Illegal Transfer of Tag X 1, Take w/out Valid Tag X1, and Unlawful Possession of Wildlife X 1, this all equaled out to $2386.00 before his long drive home. The Landowner also received some paperwork for Illegal transfer of Tag and he paid $686.00.
- Prepared for, and taught at Hunter Ed. Course in Holcomb.
- Educated one hunter that Furharvester license does not make you legal for hunting ducks??? Marijuana and 2 pipes seized, report will be filed this wk. Ran some homeless off that were living at the lake. Over 14 days plus DOPERS, so good riddance. May be economy related or rent was spent on drugs. Attended the Gypsum parade on Saturday with 1118, hunting regs and other items handed out to the public.
- Saturday checked hunters from Wisconsin, Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. Some day I will get to check a Kansas resident. Followed up on a landowner using depredation tags issued to him last year.
- Prepared for and helped teach hunter education in Marysville this weekend, certifying 58 students. Surprisingly, only had one youth waterfowl hunter at my marsh on Saturday morning.
- Issued a subject a couple NTA's for deer violations and transported him to jail for outstanding warrants.
- Assisted with an Internet Hunter Education course in Wabaunsee County for a couple of hours then patrolled for hunters rest of day. Sunday patrolled for hunters found several archers and a couple of anglers in the morning. Gave a program to 34 furharvesters in Lyon County at a fur buyers open house in the afternoon.
- Archery hunting picking up. All bowhunters have been very legal. Road hunting and night shooting by the slobs also picking up. None of this bunch has accomplished anything right.
- I had a call on a possible deer being poached. It turned out to be a roadkill. We did find two Franklin Gulls in the burn barrel that were good for a ticket.
- Already playing babysitter and settling disputes among landowners who are deer hunting.
- Having the seasonal complaints from landowners and hunters about vehicles in the evening while they are out looking for deer. Had several spotlight complaints. Found one over the weekend with two guys but no gun was found. Checking some deer hunters and had several boats and fishermen over the weekend. Got called about a deer being shot and the RP identified the suspect. RP watched the deer. One of our K9 units helped to run a track. Found a guy deer hunting with the wrong deer permits and charges were filed.
- Investigated a nice deer head in the back of a truck at the High school. After the run around, he finally showed us the carcass and admitted to shooting with rifle.
- Had a bobcat shot, skinned and thrown in dumpster
- Noted an influx of bow hunters last weekend and even more mid-week this week. They can't believe how many hunters there are running around on public areas. Not many deer being shot as they are all waiting for the "monster buck" to hang on their wall.
- Found a guy this weekend down by the lake that shot a buck with a 22, and with no tags. Said they didn't know anything about seasons or requirements right after she told me that her husband shot the deer with the 22 two days ago, and he bought his hunting license 2 years ago.
- Assisted S.O. with a warrant arrest on an individual who blamed me for not being able to get permission to deer hunt on several landowners. Hmmm.. No job, no driver license, no house, no car, criminal violation history, no education, no wonder it's my fault.
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