WEBVTT - Ep. 59: Bear Grease [Render] - The Game Warden’s Here 0:00:14.640 --> 0:00:17.200 My name is Clay Nukeleman. This is a production of 0:00:17.200 --> 0:00:21.400 the Bear Grease podcast called The Bear Grease Render where 0:00:21.400 --> 0:00:25.680 we render down, dive deeper, and look behind the scenes 0:00:26.040 --> 0:00:31.240 of the actual bear Grease podcast, presented by f HF Gear, 0:00:31.760 --> 0:00:36.480 American made purpose built hunting and fishing gear that's designed 0:00:36.520 --> 0:00:43.519 to be as rugged as the places we explore. So 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:46.920 I have a I have a philosophy, have a theory. Okay. 0:00:46.960 --> 0:00:51.360 So I'm still not convinced that Brent Reeves isn't working 0:00:51.640 --> 0:00:59.160 double undercover. What's that name for that where you're to 0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:01.680 be triple under cover if you lied to him about it. 0:01:01.840 --> 0:01:04.320 So Brent used to do undercover work for the for 0:01:05.160 --> 0:01:08.120 multiple long a couple long well State Police. What was it? 0:01:08.560 --> 0:01:11.120 I liber to discuss that with you, sir. Okay, So 0:01:11.160 --> 0:01:14.280 Brent used to We'll talk later. So Brent used to 0:01:14.280 --> 0:01:18.400 do undercover work. When Brent met me years and years ago, 0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:22.200 he called me and it was kind of suspicious, and 0:01:22.360 --> 0:01:25.400 he was like, hey, I really like what you're doing. 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:29.080 He did what Russ Arthur did too, you know, the 0:01:29.080 --> 0:01:32.520 guy he was after played to his ego. It was like, 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:35.720 say that that was suspicious or maybe he has a 0:01:35.800 --> 0:01:40.200 guilty conscience. Well, I think everything Brent does, stay with me, 0:01:40.480 --> 0:01:43.560 Stay with me, stay with me. So he calls me 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:46.160 and I'm like, who is this guy? YadA ya, and 0:01:46.200 --> 0:01:49.920 finally I'm meet up with him. We become friends. To 0:01:50.000 --> 0:01:53.279 this day, I still think he's probably a double undercover agent, 0:01:53.520 --> 0:01:57.120 but his plan is finally coming to real fruition because 0:01:57.200 --> 0:02:02.400 he finally helped me gain you know, a position in 0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:06.080 the outdoor space where I have a podcast, and then 0:02:06.600 --> 0:02:09.880 he helped me become comfortable enough that on a podcast 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:15.600 I told every illegal thing I've ever done. He orchestrates. 0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:17.120 He's like, hey, Claire, you ought to you want to 0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:22.320 buy a game now? And then here we have the 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:24.400 game and fish. So I'm waiting for a raid at 0:02:24.440 --> 0:02:26.239 any moment. And this thing, it would be cool that'll 0:02:26.280 --> 0:02:31.600 be on live podcast. Also, what you're gonna do? Tim 0:02:31.639 --> 0:02:36.760 has been working for us as well. Okay, we do 0:02:36.840 --> 0:02:40.480 have a special guest guest with US, Lieutenant FP Fletcher 0:02:41.160 --> 0:02:44.320 from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. Welcome man. Yeah, 0:02:44.360 --> 0:02:46.880 thanks for having me. Super stoked to be here today. 0:02:47.520 --> 0:02:57.639 That you're gonna sing a special his face, So yeah, 0:02:57.919 --> 0:02:59.519 I said they needed to sing a game ward and 0:02:59.600 --> 0:03:02.800 that could uh sing and play music. They didn't tell 0:03:02.800 --> 0:03:07.040 you that can you clog dance too? Because we're looking 0:03:07.080 --> 0:03:11.280 for some We brought you here to entertain, right to 0:03:11.320 --> 0:03:14.680 have you. So we're gonna we're gonna talk with Lieutenant 0:03:14.720 --> 0:03:18.200 Fletcher about some game warden stuff, which is gonna be 0:03:18.280 --> 0:03:22.799 really cool. Introductions. Brent Reeves, he is right, good, good 0:03:22.840 --> 0:03:26.040 to see Brent beards looking good summertime beard. Absolutely, But 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:29.240 these overalls looked like they washed about four or five times. 0:03:29.280 --> 0:03:32.519 Pretty good for you, which is direct correlation how many 0:03:32.560 --> 0:03:36.120 times I've worn them? Anybody keeping up or keeping score? 0:03:36.480 --> 0:03:39.400 How many pairs are you up to now? Actually about man, 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:41.200 we had a store opened up just down the street 0:03:41.280 --> 0:03:45.280 yesterday and at Woods like unmoss y'all got them everywhere, 0:03:45.360 --> 0:03:49.040 but like a farm store like a tractor's supply, and 0:03:49.080 --> 0:03:52.640 they had overalls and they had overalls on sale in there. 0:03:54.320 --> 0:03:58.560 Are you a red house overall? Guy, brown house, roundhouse? 0:03:59.280 --> 0:04:01.320 That Woods? Yeah, that's what they sail there. And they're 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:04.560 made in America. And you had liberties on last weekend. 0:04:05.320 --> 0:04:07.760 We all have to we all have to, Okay, we 0:04:07.840 --> 0:04:14.119 work our way up to the top. Remember key, Yeah, 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:16.680 some of those I got me a pair and my 0:04:16.720 --> 0:04:21.680 grandson a pair. Looking good. And you're wearing real shoes today. Yeah, um, 0:04:21.920 --> 0:04:24.560 do your left. Josh Spilmmaker fresh off the boat, Yeah, 0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:27.480 fresh off the boat. Josh has been in Hawaii. Did 0:04:27.520 --> 0:04:31.640 some fly fishing in Hawaii. Smallmouth smallmouth bas like we 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:36.400 have here. They were released back in the twenties. I 0:04:36.480 --> 0:04:38.320 tell you what. It was crazy. Surprised they let them 0:04:38.320 --> 0:04:41.240 carry that on a plane, having a little ziplock and 0:04:41.600 --> 0:04:45.680 it's illegal, and Lieutenant Fletcher could be something there. It's 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:50.120 wild walking through Hawaii in waste deep water where there's 0:04:50.240 --> 0:04:53.960 no predators and nothing dangerous. You don't have to worry 0:04:53.960 --> 0:04:58.520 about snakes and ticks. It was. It was a weird thing. 0:04:58.960 --> 0:05:01.200 Ticks and tigers over there. I don't know there are 0:05:01.200 --> 0:05:03.400 places in this world that don't have ticks and jiggers. 0:05:03.440 --> 0:05:06.039 I mean because I've always seen movies where they're like 0:05:06.080 --> 0:05:10.560 having having picnics in the grass, and I'm always like, oh, gosh, Hollywood. 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:12.400 And I said that one time and someone's like, no, 0:05:12.440 --> 0:05:17.599 we don't have ticks up north. The worst hunt I've 0:05:17.640 --> 0:05:20.680 been on in terms of ticks was in Montana, and 0:05:20.800 --> 0:05:23.080 it was with you and it was the worst. I mean, 0:05:23.120 --> 0:05:25.200 I've never seen something ticks, but they don't have jiggers there, 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:28.080 So I like what you're saying though, So just you 0:05:28.240 --> 0:05:31.480 just go walking through the jungle and lots of chickens. 0:05:31.120 --> 0:05:35.520 There's there's feral chickens everywhere because there's no predators and hogs. 0:05:35.560 --> 0:05:38.160 There's no no, no predators. There's feral chickens in the 0:05:38.200 --> 0:05:41.360 Walmart parking lot. They're everywhere. It's a wild thing. It 0:05:41.440 --> 0:05:44.760 was a wild place to go to. They probably would 0:05:44.800 --> 0:05:47.120 And I kept asking people, I said, now do people 0:05:47.120 --> 0:05:52.320 just snatch these chickens up and eat them like they're chickens? Yeah, 0:05:52.320 --> 0:05:56.760 that that chicken's probably been eating cigarette butts like okay. 0:05:56.960 --> 0:06:01.080 But there's just wild chickens everywhere in hog sign all 0:06:01.160 --> 0:06:05.479 over the jungles. You didn't see any how, didn't hunting 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:07.719 that goes on? And while you know, Runella did a 0:06:08.080 --> 0:06:10.520 episode of Meat Eater and I saw it was really good. 0:06:11.080 --> 0:06:13.480 They have they have blacktail and access to the or 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:17.680 there too. They got turkeys and they didn't. I think 0:06:17.839 --> 0:06:21.600 uh Rio's really I think so or Miriam's. That's one 0:06:21.600 --> 0:06:24.400 of the one of the two transplanted. That's pretty cool. 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:27.880 You can hunt the fly fishing under a hundred foot waterfalls. 0:06:27.880 --> 0:06:31.080 Pretty cool, that's pretty cool. The pictures are cool. Do 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:35.240 you left Gary newcom Good to be here and then 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:39.240 to my dad's left, Misty, Hey, my wife, Y're good 0:06:39.240 --> 0:06:41.120 to have you to see good to be here. Hey, 0:06:41.279 --> 0:06:43.920 I gotta I gotta tell you. I actually when I 0:06:44.240 --> 0:06:47.120 didn't tell Dad what I was gonna do on this podcast, 0:06:47.720 --> 0:06:51.320 and uh, and I called him after I thought maybe 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:53.720 he'd listen to it, and I said, you probably didn't 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:55.720 like that one very much, did you? I thought I 0:06:55.760 --> 0:06:58.240 thought he might be like, uh, why did you go 0:06:58.680 --> 0:07:01.560 tell all this stuff? But what do you say, Dad? 0:07:02.000 --> 0:07:03.760 I said, I loved it. I mean I do the 0:07:03.800 --> 0:07:07.480 same thing. But when I do something really stupid, which 0:07:07.560 --> 0:07:11.680 I have a propensity to do that, it's game laws No, 0:07:12.360 --> 0:07:15.200 but anything. I mean, I just don't go to all 0:07:15.280 --> 0:07:19.120 my buddies and go something really low. I Q I did. 0:07:19.200 --> 0:07:21.440 I mean that's between me and me. Some things you 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:24.560 just don't. Yeah. Yeah, And I've heard you tell stories 0:07:24.920 --> 0:07:29.600 like looking down the barrel of that what kind of 0:07:29.640 --> 0:07:34.000 talking about two different things? Dad thinks I overdisclose about 0:07:34.240 --> 0:07:37.720 stuff that makes me look stupid, not like the other 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:41.200 makes you look honest. It's so when I came out 0:07:41.240 --> 0:07:44.160 about you know, two or three things that happened, so 0:07:44.200 --> 0:07:46.040 I was I was actually kind of surprised about that. 0:07:46.200 --> 0:07:50.760 Thanks Dad, it's your mother coming out. Yeah. We may 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:53.560 we may bring Juju in here later and I may 0:07:53.800 --> 0:07:59.560 do a formal apology to Juju. Bad things I've done. Um, okay, 0:07:59.760 --> 0:08:02.360 move and right along. I kind of regretted all of 0:08:02.400 --> 0:08:05.720 the you know, the end of the last very surrender, 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:07.600 I said a lot of real nice things about you 0:08:07.680 --> 0:08:13.040 being up right good. Honestly, when when you listen to 0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:14.600 this podcast where you're like, I don't know who you 0:08:14.960 --> 0:08:24.280 exactly into our front drive, I was like, well do 0:08:24.320 --> 0:08:27.400 you so, Lieutenant Letcher, do you when you pull up 0:08:27.400 --> 0:08:30.480 in your truck, do you do you sense people's nervousness 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:33.640 around you? I mean, like, what's it like being a 0:08:33.679 --> 0:08:37.960 game warden? Yeah, I mean I think anytime that you, uh, 0:08:38.120 --> 0:08:40.440 you come in contact with people, you know, you either 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:43.839 get one of just a handful of responses would be 0:08:44.880 --> 0:08:47.160 you know, I've been doing this for twenty years and 0:08:47.160 --> 0:08:48.560 this is the first time I've ever been checked by 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:51.240 game warden, right, and I think you you pick up 0:08:51.240 --> 0:08:53.560 on some honesty and people when they make those type 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:58.480 of comments. You also think you do get the surprises like, hey, man, 0:08:58.520 --> 0:09:02.240 where'd you come from? You know, they're like, this guy's 0:09:02.280 --> 0:09:04.520 a ghost? How did he show up in my domain? 0:09:04.960 --> 0:09:08.360 You know, are this this officer is a ghost? And uh? 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:13.400 I think those are probably the two more popular responses 0:09:14.200 --> 0:09:17.200 um a lot of times just by rolling up in 0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:21.160 that game and fish truck, that law enforcement conservation law 0:09:21.200 --> 0:09:24.360 enforcement truck, people sit there and they're like, man, is 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:26.400 this officer ever gonna get out of that truck? Their 0:09:26.400 --> 0:09:28.240 windows are tended, I don't know what's going on in there. 0:09:28.880 --> 0:09:31.400 What are they working on? You know that that usually 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:34.600 you get you encounter You encounter that type of contact 0:09:35.000 --> 0:09:38.200 in the field when you're responding to a call to 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:42.400 service from an adjacent landowner or someone that witness something 0:09:42.440 --> 0:09:44.160 off the side of the road and you're sitting there 0:09:44.200 --> 0:09:47.040 in the truck and you're doing the business of the day, 0:09:47.080 --> 0:09:49.440 which is trying to find as much information and start 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:52.240 an investigation on a case or whatever. And sometimes you 0:09:52.280 --> 0:09:56.160 know people, you know, they're just like, man, when why 0:09:56.160 --> 0:09:57.599 didnt take you so long ago? That truck? You know, 0:09:57.640 --> 0:09:59.280 there their nerves are killing them. They can't. What do 0:09:59.360 --> 0:10:02.480 you do? Uck, Yeah, that's it. Yeah, that's what you're doing, 0:10:02.559 --> 0:10:04.720 is you're sitting there on your radio and you're you know, 0:10:04.840 --> 0:10:07.480 running your cell phone and and you're trying to gather 0:10:07.559 --> 0:10:10.520 all the information that you've got so far on something 0:10:10.600 --> 0:10:13.240 just as simple as you know, a neighbor shot a 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:15.439 deer on the other side of the fence and they 0:10:15.480 --> 0:10:18.120 forgot to call their buddy who's the landowner, And all 0:10:18.120 --> 0:10:20.599 of a sudden, the landowners driving by their property and 0:10:20.640 --> 0:10:22.960 they see somebody out there and a piece of hunter 0:10:23.000 --> 0:10:25.280 orange on their property, and they're like, I've got somebody 0:10:25.280 --> 0:10:27.319 out here hunting on my land. And you know, a 0:10:27.400 --> 0:10:30.800 lot of those things you're you're putting those those pieces 0:10:30.800 --> 0:10:34.600 limited pieces of information together. Um, it's funny. Just that 0:10:34.640 --> 0:10:39.600 type of instance alone, you'll see, uh, you'll see a 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:42.160 lot of those situations resolve themselves by the time you 0:10:42.200 --> 0:10:45.120 actually show up. Usually they realize, hey, I do know 0:10:45.160 --> 0:10:47.840 so and so you know, they're two houses over and 0:10:48.400 --> 0:10:49.840 you know, they just forgot to make the call. That's 0:10:49.840 --> 0:10:52.439 just you want to several type of things, but those 0:10:52.480 --> 0:10:54.880 are probably some of the more common you know, first 0:10:54.960 --> 0:10:57.720 encounters with the public is that's kind of what you see. 0:10:57.920 --> 0:11:00.400 So are you in the field, like, is that is 0:11:00.480 --> 0:11:06.000 that your primary? Yes? So, so I have as a lieutenant, 0:11:07.240 --> 0:11:11.880 I have field responsibilities, you know. I have enforcement duties 0:11:11.880 --> 0:11:14.360 assigned to me in a county that I'm assigned to 0:11:14.600 --> 0:11:18.200 and the further part furthest part of northwest Arkansas and um. 0:11:18.240 --> 0:11:21.280 But I also have administrative roles, which is more of 0:11:21.280 --> 0:11:24.079 my day to day stuff where I'm an assistant supervisor 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:27.000 of a district of fifteen officers and six counties in 0:11:27.040 --> 0:11:29.960 the northern part of Arkansas. You know. So, so it's 0:11:30.000 --> 0:11:32.520 a it's a balance for sure, you know. I would 0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:37.120 say probably about sixty forty administrative and I get out 0:11:37.120 --> 0:11:39.000 in the field and be with our folks and be 0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:42.200 with the public. That's a that's a huge part of 0:11:42.240 --> 0:11:45.560 our success for our enforcement division. The game fisher in 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:48.440 Arkansas is a contact that the wildlife officers make out 0:11:48.480 --> 0:11:50.400 in the field with the public. There's no debat. Yeah, 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:53.760 what would you say, I asked this to Austin, What 0:11:53.840 --> 0:11:59.280 would you say is the philosophy of law enforcement? It 0:11:59.360 --> 0:12:01.480 just in general terms, I get, you know, because I 0:12:01.520 --> 0:12:03.520 don't I don't really even know what question I'm asking 0:12:03.960 --> 0:12:06.840 but I know that you guys have a mission. You 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:10.320 guys have a philosophy for how you enforce the law 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:12.280 and how you interact with people. I don't just talk 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:14.800 to me about that, So, you know, I think I 0:12:14.800 --> 0:12:18.600 think in the podcast, you know, the director was spot 0:12:18.640 --> 0:12:21.400 on when he said, you know, we really focus on 0:12:21.520 --> 0:12:26.199 and drilled down on those major violations. And and that's 0:12:26.240 --> 0:12:29.760 true to who we are as an agency and as 0:12:29.760 --> 0:12:31.640 a division when I came to work twelve years ago, 0:12:32.400 --> 0:12:34.280 just like it is today, and it will be the 0:12:34.320 --> 0:12:40.200 same twenty years after I've retired. You know, the compliance stuff, 0:12:40.600 --> 0:12:44.360 you know, I think that gives us as a group 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:47.840 of officers, conservation law enforcement officers, wildlife officers, game wardens, 0:12:47.880 --> 0:12:50.720 whatever affiliation you're you fall under, in what state you 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:54.520 fall under, you know that we are regulatory agencies, right 0:12:54.840 --> 0:12:57.440 and so our our primary job is to go out 0:12:57.480 --> 0:13:02.000 there and ensure that general public, the hunting and fishing public, 0:13:02.679 --> 0:13:06.560 are complying with what those regulations are. And so, you know, 0:13:06.679 --> 0:13:11.800 I don't know that the philosophy is as fluid as 0:13:11.880 --> 0:13:15.000 some of the strategies that we might have as an 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:20.439 enforcement division or as an agency in response to progress 0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:24.720 with technology are population growth, or as you like to 0:13:24.760 --> 0:13:28.560 call it, maybe this crossover in these urban to rural 0:13:28.600 --> 0:13:32.000 areas where you've got a lot of the traditional rural 0:13:32.679 --> 0:13:38.480 type approaches to hunting and sportsman type outdoors activities are 0:13:38.520 --> 0:13:42.400 now getting squeezed out a little bit with more urban 0:13:42.679 --> 0:13:45.200 urban settings, and so we had we adapt and we 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:49.840 adjust with the times, just like everybody does in any 0:13:49.880 --> 0:13:53.320 kind of segment of law enforcement or or any industry 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:56.760 that you're affiliated with. Conservation law enforcements, no different. What's 0:13:56.800 --> 0:14:00.560 a what's a big violation? Like serious viola? Give us 0:14:00.600 --> 0:14:04.280 an example. So, uh, you know, I look at it. 0:14:04.880 --> 0:14:08.440 I'm a I'm a community driven guy, and so you know, 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:12.400 I take ownership of what happens in my community. I 0:14:12.400 --> 0:14:15.120 want to be present in my community. And so I 0:14:15.160 --> 0:14:18.280 think if you look at it through my lens, what 0:14:18.440 --> 0:14:20.760 I consider to be a big violation or a major 0:14:20.880 --> 0:14:24.720 violation would be something that draws in towards public safety, 0:14:25.080 --> 0:14:27.960 a threat to public safety, and that gives you the 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:32.480 road hunting situations, the night hunting situations, what Rinella called it, 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:35.320 what jack lighting, which is which I mean, I'm an 0:14:35.400 --> 0:14:41.840 Arkansas guy. That's a term that's new to me. But spots. 0:14:43.160 --> 0:14:47.840 So you know, anything that as a guy or a 0:14:47.880 --> 0:14:50.920 gal that's a whilife officer in their county or in 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:55.120 their community that is a genuine threat to the safety 0:14:55.120 --> 0:14:58.360 of the people that they share the space with, those 0:14:58.400 --> 0:15:05.240 things take priority. The over harvesting wildlife, um, you know, 0:15:05.360 --> 0:15:09.080 those those kind of things with intent on the violator. 0:15:09.640 --> 0:15:12.760 You know, those things are egregious and there's no place 0:15:12.800 --> 0:15:17.960 for that, and so we try to establish major investigations, 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:23.160 undercover operations, special offers still going on right now. I mean, 0:15:23.200 --> 0:15:26.560 like so the individuals and that we talked about in 0:15:26.560 --> 0:15:29.840 this past podcast. I mean, we're people that were killing 0:15:30.520 --> 0:15:33.160 you know, twenty let's just say, twenty plus turkeys a year. 0:15:33.200 --> 0:15:34.840 You know, back we had a lot of turkeys. Like, 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:38.400 are people still doing that? So I'm gonna answer that, yes, 0:15:38.440 --> 0:15:42.200 they are still doing that. I've had some conversations with 0:15:42.280 --> 0:15:45.400 some other supervisors across the state this last week and 0:15:45.800 --> 0:15:48.760 a different setting, and and we've all kind of come 0:15:48.800 --> 0:15:51.120 to the consensus. And I'm not speaking for everyone, but 0:15:51.200 --> 0:15:53.360 just some of the conversations I've had is we've all 0:15:53.440 --> 0:15:56.120 kind of come to this this consensus of you know, 0:15:56.240 --> 0:15:59.480 maybe there is a little bit of a decline in that, 0:16:00.280 --> 0:16:04.840 you know, just super egregious type of negligence in over 0:16:04.880 --> 0:16:07.960 harvesting a game within ten of like hunting out a 0:16:08.000 --> 0:16:11.040 season or just doing it because you want to cut 0:16:11.040 --> 0:16:14.200 the horns off of a deer and leave the meat, 0:16:14.440 --> 0:16:17.840 you know, that kind of thing. It still is occurring, 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:19.760 but I don't know the prevalency rate is as high 0:16:19.760 --> 0:16:22.760 as what it once was with the exception one thing 0:16:22.800 --> 0:16:26.080 that I have seen over the last ten years, and 0:16:26.080 --> 0:16:27.400 and I think a lot of it has to do 0:16:27.520 --> 0:16:31.640 with probably location, because throughout my career I've been based 0:16:31.640 --> 0:16:35.640 along this western northwestern border of Arkansas, so we share 0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:40.320 territory with other states, Missouri and Oklahoma, and we do 0:16:40.400 --> 0:16:45.240 a lot of work with other state conservation agencies where 0:16:45.280 --> 0:16:51.280 these more major, more serious violations have occurred across state lines. 0:16:52.040 --> 0:16:55.520 But it's our Kansans that are doing them, yes, and 0:16:55.560 --> 0:17:00.640 so they'll ask us to assist with investigations. Um, you know, 0:17:01.040 --> 0:17:05.439 getting a getting a deer tag in Kansas is a 0:17:05.480 --> 0:17:08.840 big deal. It's a very big deal. It's a very 0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:13.480 calculated system, and it's a fair system. But just to 0:17:13.600 --> 0:17:18.200 investigate some of my own countrymen and women, if you will, 0:17:18.359 --> 0:17:23.520 here in Arkansas, on violations for nothing more than what 0:17:23.800 --> 0:17:27.800 extent they would go to to try to manipulate a 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:30.760 system in Kansas so they can kill a Kansas buck 0:17:30.880 --> 0:17:36.600 deer legally, which is not legal. You know, those are 0:17:36.640 --> 0:17:39.960 the kind of things that we're kind of seeing. Show 0:17:39.960 --> 0:17:42.680 it's head Um and I and I can tell you 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:46.280 it would be how would they do that? Sure? And 0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:53.160 and I'll explain, you know, with leaving names and faces something. 0:17:53.200 --> 0:17:56.640 I mean like, yeah, give me just a simple example 0:17:56.640 --> 0:18:02.600 of so, UM had an investigation, uh with a subject 0:18:02.640 --> 0:18:08.000 that lived in a small rural town in central Arkansas. 0:18:08.680 --> 0:18:12.280 I get contacted by Kansas Parks and Waldlife about an 0:18:12.320 --> 0:18:16.120 individual that they had been investigating for the better part 0:18:16.119 --> 0:18:17.840 of a year and a half almost two full dear 0:18:17.920 --> 0:18:22.320 seasons now. And what started out as something of a 0:18:22.520 --> 0:18:27.679 simple check of their current licensed status, meaning are they 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:30.760 a resident in Arkansas and they have licensed privileges as 0:18:30.800 --> 0:18:35.600 a resident of Arkansas or are they a resident of 0:18:35.720 --> 0:18:40.840 Kansas therefore they're entitled to correct resident license and the 0:18:40.880 --> 0:18:44.639 privileges that thereof in the state of Kansas. Well, what 0:18:44.800 --> 0:18:47.439 started out is just that simple check to see and 0:18:47.480 --> 0:18:49.600 we do that with other states. They'll they'll call us 0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:52.880 in Oklahoma or Missouri and and try to check and say, well, hey, 0:18:53.240 --> 0:18:57.240 we don't recognize dual citizenship. To my knowledge, nobody does, 0:18:57.600 --> 0:19:00.240 no state does. But for us, it's the same thing. 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:02.919 We just want to make sure that your primary residence 0:19:02.920 --> 0:19:05.919 in Arkansas arts in Kansas in this case. So what 0:19:06.040 --> 0:19:11.320 started out is that evolved into this timeline and building 0:19:11.320 --> 0:19:15.680 this investigation against an individual that had for almost greater 0:19:15.760 --> 0:19:20.040 than a decade cheated the State of Kansas out of 0:19:20.200 --> 0:19:27.040 licenses of landowners that had turned their tags, their landowner 0:19:27.119 --> 0:19:30.080 tags privilege given to them as a citizen of the 0:19:30.119 --> 0:19:34.760 State of Kansas back into a regional office or licensing 0:19:34.840 --> 0:19:39.120 center or check station. And this individual from no name 0:19:39.240 --> 0:19:46.479 Arkansas was paying under the table too, a certified agent 0:19:47.000 --> 0:19:50.160 of the State of Kansas, not a law enforcement agent, 0:19:50.560 --> 0:19:53.359 but someone who was a an employee of the State 0:19:53.359 --> 0:19:58.600 of Kansas under the table to take those tags that 0:19:58.640 --> 0:20:00.760 are issued in someone else that turned him in and 0:20:00.880 --> 0:20:02.760 use him in his own name. And to make it 0:20:02.800 --> 0:20:04.919 even furthermore, he was passing him out to his buddies. 0:20:05.880 --> 0:20:08.920 And so this these are the kind of yeah, that's 0:20:09.119 --> 0:20:12.120 that's pretty that's pretty wild of conservation crimes that that 0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:16.199 I'm seeing that we're seeing across the state Arkansas and 0:20:16.240 --> 0:20:19.160 throughout the southern United States because it's I would imagine 0:20:19.640 --> 0:20:22.360 the state of Kansas and state of Colorado and Missouri 0:20:22.400 --> 0:20:28.760 and New Mexico. They're seeing there citizens, the people from 0:20:28.760 --> 0:20:32.399 their states violate things in Arkansas. And we've got a 0:20:32.440 --> 0:20:36.800 special investigatives unit of our Enforcement Division that does the 0:20:36.840 --> 0:20:40.520 exact same thing when these things happen out of state. Interesting, 0:20:41.080 --> 0:20:43.199 do you haven't do you have another example of an 0:20:43.240 --> 0:20:51.160 egregious wildlife violation? Man egregious? The one Austin talked about 0:20:51.160 --> 0:20:55.000 was someone just shot well, yeah, that was yeah. I 0:20:55.040 --> 0:20:57.000 just I don't know people still do that. I mean, 0:20:57.040 --> 0:21:00.639 what where he shot the shot? It's deer from the 0:21:00.680 --> 0:21:05.280 highway left. So you know, I'll share with you one 0:21:05.359 --> 0:21:08.560 that's uh kind of still hot off the press, if 0:21:08.560 --> 0:21:12.679 you will. But it's all been adjudicated, gone through courts, 0:21:12.720 --> 0:21:15.159 so I feel comfortable sharing it with you. But we 0:21:15.200 --> 0:21:19.439 had we had a recent investigation that was held by 0:21:19.480 --> 0:21:23.680 some of our officers here locally here in um in 0:21:23.720 --> 0:21:27.399 the northern part of state, and they started investigating this 0:21:27.480 --> 0:21:32.439 gentleman greater than three years ago. Now for what started 0:21:32.440 --> 0:21:34.560 out was just what I would call just a simple 0:21:34.600 --> 0:21:37.720 call to service where a complainant calls in and says, hey, 0:21:37.720 --> 0:21:41.560 shots were fired after dark. I got a vehicle description, 0:21:41.640 --> 0:21:44.000 they didn't get a license plate, but they got us 0:21:44.200 --> 0:21:48.359 enough information to where the officers could document on paper, 0:21:49.000 --> 0:21:51.840 do a good incident report and say, Okay, we've got 0:21:51.880 --> 0:21:53.720 something here and we'll keep an eye out on it. 0:21:53.760 --> 0:21:55.640 You know, that's always key for our officers to let 0:21:56.119 --> 0:21:58.439 those those people know, the individuals know that call in 0:21:58.440 --> 0:22:01.159 from their communities, Hey, we're we're gonna start working this 0:22:01.280 --> 0:22:03.679 and if you see or hear anything that suspicious, give 0:22:03.760 --> 0:22:07.480 us a call back. This was no different. Well, within 0:22:07.520 --> 0:22:11.280 a matter of weeks to a month, you know, another 0:22:11.400 --> 0:22:15.560 call in that same general facility by another private landowner 0:22:16.040 --> 0:22:18.960 saw this same type of activity almost with the same 0:22:19.000 --> 0:22:23.720 time of day, same location, same vehicle description, And so 0:22:23.760 --> 0:22:26.000 that was really enough for officers to start working in 0:22:25.920 --> 0:22:28.360 a full investigation. And we really had to drill down 0:22:28.400 --> 0:22:30.520 on this and start giving us some attention through the 0:22:30.640 --> 0:22:34.720 use of a decoy set or working non traditional hours 0:22:34.760 --> 0:22:37.240 and you know, in an area that we would have 0:22:37.280 --> 0:22:39.800 to conceal vehicles and try to see if there's anything 0:22:39.840 --> 0:22:43.640 that we could physically see. Nothing materialized that year. Well, 0:22:43.640 --> 0:22:45.760 the next year, as soon as the phone started ringing, 0:22:45.800 --> 0:22:48.240 if you will, for those officers in this same location, 0:22:48.280 --> 0:22:49.800 they're like, Okay, we're gonna get out in front of this. 0:22:50.800 --> 0:22:53.919 And so about that same time that this all started 0:22:53.960 --> 0:22:58.240 to occur, an officer in northwest Arkansas gets another call 0:22:59.200 --> 0:23:03.560 from someone who wants to be an anonymous on this 0:23:03.680 --> 0:23:08.240 particular activity, which correlates with the same chain of events 0:23:08.240 --> 0:23:10.320 that it happened to year prior and everything. Does that 0:23:10.359 --> 0:23:12.560 tip you off to anything that somebody wants to be anonymous? 0:23:12.600 --> 0:23:16.200 I mean, it's somebody that maybe has a personal relationship 0:23:16.240 --> 0:23:19.880 with this person, or yeah, I'll say, I mean it's 0:23:19.960 --> 0:23:23.440 no secret. You know, a lot of times it's it's friends, 0:23:23.520 --> 0:23:27.400 it's it's Monday morning quarterback talk. It's around the water 0:23:27.480 --> 0:23:30.520 cooler showing a picture of a big deer or a 0:23:30.520 --> 0:23:33.720 turkey that was harvested a couple of days before season. 0:23:34.160 --> 0:23:38.560 You know, sometimes your closest friends and family members, you know, 0:23:39.000 --> 0:23:42.040 whether it's an ethical standard or it's just something that 0:23:42.080 --> 0:23:44.880 they feel like is is just wrong, or they're sick 0:23:44.920 --> 0:23:48.520 of you showing them those pictures are describing that event. 0:23:48.880 --> 0:23:51.480 And they just had enough. So that's the legal right 0:23:51.600 --> 0:23:54.479 that is afforded by the game and Fish that you 0:23:54.480 --> 0:23:58.760 can call anonymously and no questions will be asked. Absolutely, absolutely, yeah, 0:23:58.800 --> 0:24:01.080 we we've got to We've got a database and it's 0:24:01.280 --> 0:24:04.399 a couple of times on Brent say maybe Josh and 0:24:04.400 --> 0:24:09.119 I will do that every Monday morning. I've told you, 0:24:10.720 --> 0:24:13.000 I mean, it doesn't have to be factual. You know, 0:24:13.080 --> 0:24:19.520