Give Me a Sign
By SGW Larry D. Luman

As citizens, we look for and use signs as part of our everyday lives, such as street signs, billboard signs, and even signs for finding a restroom. We have become so adept at sign usage, that we recognize a stop sign or railroad crossing sign merely by shape.
As an Oklahoma Game Warden, I look for signs that point toward game violations when I encounter hunters or fishermen in the field or on the water. To become a good warden, one must learn to look for, and interpret signs that he comes across. Blood on the clothing or footwear of an individual, however small, should alert the observant warden to possible illegal activity. Bird feathers of various types noticed in a vehicle or hunting gear should raise the eyebrow for deeper delving. Large fish scales and long handled dip nets in boats should cause the observant warden to look deeper, for possible shocking activity. Most poachers leave some kind of sign behind, even the well-intentioned ones. It does a warden good to hone his observation or sign interpretation skills.

Last October, Jay Harvey and I were on routine patrol in the vast Honobia Creek Wildlife Management Area near the Lindley Fish Camp Crossing on Little River, when we came across a Chevy pickup parked beside a power line right-of-way that crossed one of the hundreds of roads in the WMA. We approached the Chevy on foot and I looked through the passenger window into the cab, to try and determine by signs left behind, what the former occupants were now doing on the Area. Muzzleloader deer season was in full swing at this time. Immediately, my eyes were drawn to a box of .270 cartridges lying on the pickup seat. I turned to Jay and advised him that based upon the sign left behind, that I thought that these individuals were illegally deer hunting with a high power rifle. Jay and I took opposite sides of the road, and looked for the hunters. In a few minutes Jay located the two hunters on his side of the road. The hunters had hidden their high power .270 rifle and claimed that they had no gun. With a little coaxing on Jay's part, the hunters retrieved the weapon and Jay brought them back to the pickup where I was waiting. Upon interrogation, the two hunters admitted trying to kill a deer with the rifle. The hunter who was caring the rifle had no license or land access permit that is required to utilize the Area.

While Jay was starting to write out the tickets, I began once again to survey the vehicle for any other clues that I had missed. Bingo! I saw what appeared to be blood on a wooden box in the bed of the pickup. I then searched further, based upon this probable cause, and found blood and deer hair in the empty pickup toolbox. The poachers then had a lot of explaining to do. After much questioning from me, the two finally admitted the taking of an illegal doe the day before from this same area. Jay and I followed the two young men to a residence outside of Millerton and retrieved a quartered deer carcass from an ice chest that was hidden in the shop building on the property We issued citations for all the violations and left with a feeling of accomplishment in curtailing a couple of poachers, all initiated by "reading the sign".