Interesting TV Show on Nat Geo
I’m not a huge fan of “reality TV” shows, but I have to admit that I occasionally enjoy watching Deadliest Catch… if only to wonder if I’d ever have had the gumption to take that job in my younger, wilder days. It’s the same reason I watch the Professional Bull Riders tour, I think.
Anyway, according to this article in the Sacramento Bee, the folks who produced the Deadliest Catch series are now planning a series called California Game Wardens.
I don’t know if any of you are familiar with the Game Warden books by Terry Hodges, but it sounds like the new show may take its inspiration from these great tales. Hodges is a reasonably good writer, but the content of his stories stands pretty much on its own. Some pretty cool stuff.
Of course, we all know the average day of a game warden isn’t anything to build a reality show on, but these men and women are in an inherently dangerous job and they’re doing it for relatively little pay. Things can get sketchy in a hurry, and unlike CHP or city cops, things often happen far away from any kind of help. It’s a heck of a job, and most of these folks do it well.
I’ve got the highest respect for anyone who’s willing to wake up every morning, pin a target (badge) on their chest and go out to face the scum of the earth, but game wardens hold a special place… if only because they’re out there trying to shut down the poachers and scofflaws who are trashing our natural resources (not to mention the reputations of law-abiding hunters and fishermen).
I expect the program will focus on the more sensational events, of course, but maybe it’ll help folks get a better perspective on the job of a game warden, especially in a state like CA, where the DFG is sadly understaffed and underfunded, even as the wardens are faced with policing one of the largest states in the US. At latest count, there are under 200 wardens enforcing fish and game laws across the entire state!
It looks like Chad Love, over at the Field and Stream blogs has posted about the show as well, and it’s spurred some interesting discussion. A handful of folks there are concerned that this show will give off a negative impression of hunters, since it’ll be focused on poachers and lawbreakers. They think people are going to see that activity, and get the idea that all hunters are involved in that kind of thing.
I can see how this may be a concern, but personally, I’d like to give the general public a little more credit than that. Anti-hunters are going to cast us in stereotypes anyway, but most non-hunters recognize the difference between the guys who slaughter a dozen deer and bears for the international market and those of us who hunt according to the laws and some general ethical standards. My guess is that the cases demonstrated in the program are not going to walk any tightlines between legal and illegal, or ethical and unethical. It’s gonna be pretty cut and dried.
If you’ve got a notion, head over and check out what the folks are saying.
Anyway, the show looks like interesting stuff… maybe even good stuff. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Well, isn’t that funny. When I was at Little Dry Creek on the 31st, the guy at the check station said a crew from Nat Geo was there working on a program about game wardens. Astonishing, given that, how many people still started shooting before legal shoot time. I’m thinking a warden with a camera on him would be of a mind to be pretty strict…
November 24th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
Interesting… wonder if they were working on the show?
Yeah, I’d love to see more of the early shooters get tapped. I know at Grizzly Island there were a couple of federal wardens who’ve been pretty good at popping out of the tules when they’re least expected.
Unfortunately, with less than 200 state wardens for the whole bloody state, early shooters are the least of their worries. Just gotta hope for the feds to be onsite that day, and maybe teach a few lessons.
As far as a warden being more strict with the cameras… remember that the DFG has a running reputation for being overly aggressive with citizens. I wouldn’t be completely surprised to see the televised warden going above and beyond to show that they have a “heart”.
Personally, by the way, I’ve had nothing but positive encounters with wildlife law enforcement, both federal and state. I’ve heard some horror stories, but haven’t experienced any of them myself.
November 24th, 2009 at 7:38 pm
I thought it was pretty ballsy for people to shoot early when they’d been informed a TV crew was filming wardens. Like, duh, it didn’t occur to them that a warden might be a little tougher with the lens pointed at him?
November 24th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Sounds like we have much the same taste in TV shows Phillip. I’ll definitely watch this program.
November 25th, 2009 at 2:26 am
Normally, I despise TV, except sports of course. But I think I might have to check this show out. I love Deadliest Catch, and if the producers of that are involved with this program, then count me in.
Hopefully I’m not disappointed. Sounds interesting, though.
November 25th, 2009 at 5:43 am
A chap I used to work with had spent a couple of years as a game warden (I forget which state) and said it was the best job he’d ever had in his life. Pay was rubbish but the ‘office’ was beautiful and you could help yourself to as many cartridges as you could shoot.
SBW
November 25th, 2009 at 9:31 am