Behind the Badge - Finding the Good
Finding the Good
District Game Warden Jerad Bluem
Often throughout the year in our professional contacts with the public, game wardens hear some variation of “I was going to be a game warden but” or “I always wanted to be a game warden but.”
Most of the time individuals reference the length of schooling it takes, having to work weekends in the summer or having to work opening weekends of various hunting seasons throughout the fall.
While all of these are certainly part of life as a game warden, I feel they are relatively a small group of negatives.
Please allow me to explain five positives I’ve found working as a North Dakota game warden that far outweigh the negatives.
I enjoy interacting with the recreational public of North Dakota. Having worked in three districts across the state, I’ve had the opportunity to meet people from east to west.
Often, it’s a short five-minute chat, a check of a license and any game they may have or a quick check of their boat safety equipment.
Working in the same area you bump into the same people. A couple five-minute chats build into a greater conversation and most of the time the public can recite where your last conversation took place.
Over time, what may start as a conversation about an injured animal in a pasture, or a general regulation question at an advisory board meeting, leads to a working relationship with landowners.
I still maintain contacts from all my previous districts and enjoy catching up whenever possible.
I enjoy having a flexible schedule.
Yes, nights, weekends and holidays are a reality of working as a game warden.
What I’ve really learned to enjoy is simply not having to be dressed and in an office chair by 9 a.m. Monday morning.
I have a flexible schedule that allows me to pick and choose what days I work within a rotating 28 day pay period. I can also choose what time I work within that given day.
Most of the time a supervisor isn’t telling me when and where I need to be.
I know I’ll be at work on opening pheasant and deer season. But that random Wednesday when conditions are perfect and everyone else is working, I’ll likely have a slice of public land to myself.
I enjoy the changing of the seasons.
In my 14 years of working for the department, no two days have been the same.
Although winter was exceptionally long this year, we are transitioning into open water fishing and boating.
Just when you think you can’t check another boat, summer gives way to fall, and you transition into checking fall hunters.
As temperature drops and ice begins to form, you’re back to checking ice fisherman before you know it.
With each season comes different duties adding variability to the job and keeping each day different.
I enjoy having a take home vehicle.
It may sound simple, but my workday starts when I start my vehicle. That is my office for the most part.
No morning commutes.
No morning traffic.
No finding a place to park.
Last but not least I enjoy having a uniform provided to me.
I know I will be wearing black boots, black pants, a grey uniform shirt and other various duty gear.
My only decision to make is short or long sleeves. I don’t have to wake up and find something that matches or keep up with modern fashion.
While this isn’t a complete list, it’s a look into a few things that make the schooling, nights, weekends and holidays worth it for me.
I look forward to having a five-minute conversation with you somewhere in the great North Dakota outdoors.