Hounds, Bear and Grouse: On the Road with a DNR Conservation OfficerFrom the Michigan DNROctober 22, 2009It's opening morning for bear hound hunting and the clock is just striking 4 a.m. when conservation officer Grant Emery climbs into his truck, ready for what will be a 17-hour shift in the field.
Emery's Gogebic County territory marks the epicenter for hound hunting in the Upper Peninsula and he is prepared for a busy morning of checking bear hunters -- evidenced by the bag of dog treats on his dashboard.
"Bear hounds, for the most part, are the friendliest dogs you'll ever meet," Emery said. "But when they have their head in the hunt, it doesn't hurt to have a treat to distract them, so I can quickly check their tags and their owner's hunting license."
Emery's game plan this morning is to head out into the woods before dawn to set up near some bait sites that he scouted and marked with his GPS in advance. All is quiet, as he listens for the sound of hunters who may be out running their dogs before official hunting hours have opened.
"Ninety percent of the interactions I have with hunters are positive, but it tends to be on opening days when we see more violations," Emery explained. "This isn't just the hound opener today, it's also the second of three bear openers for bait hunters and it's the small game season opener. That's why all of us officers will be working much longer shifts than normal and will be out in greater force than normal."
From his pickup truck, Emery can stay in contact with other conservation officers who are teaming up with him to work the opener. Although he is the only conservation officer assigned to Gogebic County, officers from Iron County and Ontonagon County are nearby, working the general area where the three counties border each other.
With specialized computer equipment installed in every conservation officer's vehicle, known as an Automated Vehicle Locator System or AVL, it is possible for Emery to view a map showing where the other officers are at any time, plus exchange text messages with them without creating additional radio traffic.
Shortly after hunting hours open, Emery is busy messaging the other officers, finding out who has seen hunters and where. By listening for the sound of hounds baying and watching the roads for hunting parties tracking their dogs with GPS and radios, the officers are able to get a good handle on where the action is taking place and where they should relocate to.
Once it is determined that a bear has likely been treed, the officers will coordinate to decide who will move in to check for licenses or possible violations, such as not wearing blaze orange or too many dogs running in a pack.
"I'm a big believer that to be the best conservation officer I can be, I need to also take part in these sports," Emery said. "I have bear hunted for years, and that makes me more prepared when I encounter hunters in the field, since I know immediately what to look for, what common mistakes hunters can innocently make and which parts of the law are maybe tempting to knowingly break."
Approaching hunters not only as a conservation officer, but also as a fellow hunter, gives Emery the ability to use his intuition and decide when a simple teaching moment may need to move to the next level, he explained.
As he drives a woods road, following a truck with bear hounds in the back kennel, Emery tells the story of how his lifelong dream to be a conservation officer was sparked by an encounter he had with a DNR officer while fishing as a teenager with his father. The duo was approached while on the water and Emery's dad couldn't find his fishing license in his wallet. Though the officer wrote a ticket, he included the stipulation that if the elder Emery could show proof before a certain date that he had been licensed to fish, the ticket would be waived.
"That showed me right then that being a CO is more than writing tickets," Emery said. "You need to be a people person and assess whether the situation would be better served by making it a teaching moment or if giving a violation is the best answer. There are some things I always will write a violation for -- not wearing blaze orange, not having enough life preservers in a boat, driving with a loaded gun, things that could be life-and-death situations.
"In other instances," he continued, "I use my own judgment on a case-by-case basis, and honestly, a lot of it comes down to the attitude of the person I have approached. I learned that from the CO who stopped my dad and me so many years ago."
As Emery pulls up to the bear hunters he has followed into the woods, he gets out of the truck and greets the group with a genuine smile, asking how the hunting has been. The party is made up of hunters from South Carolina who come to the Upper Peninsula each fall to hunt bear. Emery recognizes several members and proceeds to make small talk and scratch the kenneled hounds behind the ears before moving on to business.
Once it is time to check everyone's licenses and also check the hound registrations, most of the tension has melted and everyone is chatting and joking around. According to the hunters, they were tracking a bear that morning, but the dogs have lost the scent at the moment, a statement Emery is comfortable taking at face value, since he can't detect the sound of hounds baying in the distance and he doesn't hear any significant radio traffic between these hunters and the rest of their party.
Back on the road, Emery returns to where he saw another group of hunters earlier in the morning and proceeds to check their licenses. Noticeable is the use of Emery's technique of making simple small talk, using his knowledge of the sport to talk hunting details, before anyone is asked to produce a license. By the time wallets come out, the initial tension is once again diffused.
"There are some officers who have a different style and make it all business from the minute they make contact," Emery said. "But for me, this is the way to do my job while letting hunters enjoy their time in the woods. I've been doing this for 10 years and was a cop for four years prior, so I've developed the intuition to know when to take things to the next level -- and I do. I write more tickets than any other CO in this region. But when I do write them, I always want to be sure it is fair."
Once bear hunters have vacated the woods for the afternoon, Emery's attention turns to grouse hunters who are driving woods roads. Most checks are made on the road at the hunter's vehicle -- all of whom stop voluntarily once they see Emery is a CO. The stops are quick, with Emery asking to see licenses, counting birds in the game bag, cracking open shotguns to make sure they aren't loaded while in the vehicle, then wishing the hunters well and sending them on their way.
Later that evening, Emery returns to the bear hunting scene, ready to approach bait hunters to issue citations for illegal baits that were placed too early or for having more than the legal number of baits. Once again, the AVL system in his truck will guide him back to the bait locations he marked days ago on his GPS.
By the time he has finished around 9 p.m., Emery has been on the road for 17 hours. He'll be out again early the next morning, but, he admits, he'll hardly be able to sleep when at home anyway.
"Hunting season for me is like Christmas morning. Even when I'm on the clock, I just love to be in the outdoors and can't wait to get out there every day. And when I have a day off, I'll be up just as early to get out to my stand to try for a bear," Emery said. "When you are a CO, your life and your job are one in the same, and I'm lucky enough to have it that way."
http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10366_46403-225276--,00.html
