The Rewarding Life of a Wildlife Conservation Officer: Reflections from the Twentieth Class Graduates of the Ross Leffler School of Conservation

I’m currently in school working towards to being a game warden in the state of North Carolina. So this post is awesome and congrats on your long successful career!

@Jake thank you, Jake! Good luck to you! I spent 22 years in that uniform and 5 years in the Tennessee Wildlife Resoyrces Agency as a boating officer. I never worked a day in my life! I absolutely loved those jobs!

Thank you for your service! I was in the running for this last class that graduated. I dropped out of the process just after receiving a conditional job offer. I didn’t want to take the risk of having to uproot my family and move. I’m dealing with the fear of missing out by spending as much time in the woods as possible. I’m glad you not only had the opportunity to do it but you enjoyed it along the way. You got a follow from me. I’m hoping to hear more about your adventures.

My hat is off to you!! My wife’s grandfather was a game warden in S.C. In the 60,s. That was my dream but I drove a tractor trailer for 37 years!! I can just imagine the way myself and my family enjoy the outdoors!! Thanks for your service!! 👊 GoWild

Thanks for your service boss🥃. And…. Do you have a permit for that raccoon ?🦝 🤣👊

Thank you for all your years of service and devotion to the wildlife we enjoy!

Thank you for your service, need more gentlemen like you protecting the outdoors and us. 👊🏻

Thanks for your service.

Thank you for your service, some of my closest friends have been or currently are game wardens.

@Mike thanks, brother! That raccoon

@Mike thanks, brother! That raccoon was the victim of humans. I had to euthanize it and submit it for rabies testing. When I arrived at the home it was drinking milk from the same bowl a 6 year old was eating cereal from. The agency policy at that time was mandatory rabies testing whenever human contact with a rabies vector species. Not a very enjoyable part of my job. Don’t get me started on fawns...

@Christopher I understand your concern about uprooting your family. Thats honorable to consider themThat’s a heavy burden. I’m from Susquehanna County. I was blessed to receive an assignment to the northern Bradford County district. I knew from the time I was 8 or 9 that I wanted to be a game warden. I wasn’t going to let anything stop me.

@Christopher considering your family was an honorable thing to do. Realizing you may have to move is a heavy thing to weigh. I’m originally from Susquehanna County and was blessed to receive an assignment to the northern district in Bradford County. I had a wonderful career and miss it tremendously.

@Jim thanks! Man, the stories I bet he could tell! I was there from 1987 to 2009.

@Brian contrary to popular belief, we don’t know all the good spots! 😉

I guess I should explain the wrecked vehicle. I was return home with three deputy applicants after they took their entrance test. As we were traveling along that road, we discussed the exam and their answers to various questions. Without warning, I was t-boned on the driver’s side by some (insert multiple expletives here) SOB who ran a stop sign. Our injuries were severe. I’ve had three cervical fusions and suffer from lumbar issues that will never be fixed. The guy sitting behind me suffered a broken neck. He and I are lucky we weren’t killed. The driver of the other vehicle was uninjured and uninsured...

@David thank you, David!

@Ricky thank you, Ricky! We game wardens are pretty good guys and gals. 😉

@Gobbler I know, one warden I know was a scout when I was a scoutmaster, he still calls me mr. Long and tells me about all the things I taught him about the outdoors and how grateful he is for listening to me. I even taught him how to trap before he went off to school and tells me that was one of the best times of his life.

@Brian good stuff!

@Gobbler I hear ya bro. We’re lucky to have great relationships with our CO’s and work with them on some pretty frustrating situations. People……….

@Mike game wardens are an under-utilized resource. I’ve been point man on several manhunts for murder suspects who fled to the remote area of my patrol area. My district covered 400 square miles and I literally and intimately knew every square inch.

@Gobbler not my agency man, we’re worried about success, not credit. Egos screw up too many chances for good old fashioned collaborations and good police work. Here’s to ya👊🥃

@Mike you and I are going to have to get together for a few 🥃 and share some stories.

@Gobbler yessir, fact. I might be Turkey hunting Tennessee this spring, I’ll be in touch if I can swing it. 🥃🥃

@Mike you’d better! 😎

In 1973 I took the Required State exam for a wildlife officer position as well as probation officer for the adult and juvenile system here in Georgia, I ended up 32 years in the Juvenile Justice system, I often wondered how it would have been if I had chosen differently, it all worked out. Thank you for your service

@Craig having done a couple years as a probation officer in Tennessee, I assure you, game warden is a MUCH better profession! 😉

Love this! Thanks for serving, Rick! As I've said before, your life, career, and experiences are one to be so proud of. I am living vicariously through your fabulous book! I think every person here on GoWild should have a copy. Great respect & admiration, to you Rick. And I'm going to put a link to that book here: https://gobblerknoblongrifles.com/index.php/product/the-thin-green-line/

@Jamie it was my pleasure! Thank you for your support!

@Lisa awwww. Thank you, Lisa! I am truly blessed to have had the opportunity to work in God’s creation in Pennsylvania and Tennessee! I give thanks to him every day for that.

@Lisa by the way, I included that photo in the collage of me and my brothers standing amid the poaching carnage

@Lisa by the way, I included that photo in the collage of me and my brothers standing amid the poaching carnage I referenced in an earlier post. All of what you see was recovered during inestigations that year. Even the Indian arrowheads were taken unlawfully from a protected area.

@Gobbler I recognized some of the photos. The one photo ("poaching carnage," you mentioned) is insane. I remember seeing that pic for the first time and just shocked. It would have felt so dang satisfying to bust those that disrespected the law....you served wildlife & nature proud....and you still do.

@Lisa I will always bleed Green! 😎

Great job hope u have that many more

Thank for u sevries