More Poachers Caught!: Further Adventures of a Northwoods Game Warden

by Tom Chapin

Overview

More stories, more action, more foolhardy hunting and fishing poachers!

Tom Chapin served as a Minnesota Game Warden for 29 years, a job that was far more perilous and thrilling than most people would ever expect. He was cussed at, chased, shot at, and nearly run over. More Poachers Caught! is the follow-up to Tom’s wildly popular first book. It collects 30 new stories from throughout Tom’s career and from a few of Tom’s friends. Dangerous, spontaneous, and sometimes comedic, these true adventures bring readers face to face with the problem of poaching. They are tales of greed, selfishness, and hope. The short stories tell of some of the most memorable poachers who were ever caught by a Northwoods Game Warden—and some who got away. Hunters, anglers, and outdoors enthusiasts of all ages will enjoy this fascinating book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781647555276
Publisher:	Adventure Publications, Incorporated
Publication date:	05/20/2025
Series:	Poachers Caught!
Edition description:	2nd Revised ed.
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Tom Chapin is a native of Hibbing, Minnesota. He earned his bachelor’s degree in zoology in 1972 from the University of Minnesota, Duluth, after a two-year tour in the U.S. Army. Most of his 29-year career as a natural resource conservation officer has been spent in the Grand Rapids, Minnesota, district where he also served as area supervisor for seven years. Chief among the honors he has received include the 1978 “Itasca County Law Enforcement Officer of the Year” and the 1985 “Minnesota Conservation Officer of the Year. Chapin has also served as adjunct faculty, teaching law enforcement courses at Itasca and Hibbing Community Colleges. Recently the author’s campaigning and testimony prompted the Minnesota State Legislature to enact a gross over-limit law. Known as the “Chapin Bill,” this law became effective March 1, 2003. It increases penalties, including the loss of hunting and fishing privileges, for violators who take large quantities of game and fish. Throughout his career as a game warden, Chapin took hundreds of photographs documenting illegal activities. These photos, many of which are included here, were an integral part of Chapin’s group presentations which have both educated and entertained audiences interested in natural resources issues. Tom and his wife Sandy raised daughters Colleen, Anita, and Beth in Grand Rapids where he has recently retired from public service.

Read an Excerpt

Discovering large over-limits of fish is a very difficult job for enforcement personnel; in fact, the number of cases made every year are relatively small in comparison to the sum total of all types of fishing infractions. This does not suggest that there aren’t significant numbers of fish being possessed and transported illegally, but it does mean that folks who intend to violate the fishing rules can do so with little fear of being exposed.

The rules by which all peace officers are bound do not allow, and rightly so, the indiscriminate searching of homes, vehicles, cabins or other buildings or locations, where a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy. “Probable cause” to search these private places is compulsory for all law enforcement in this country—just check out the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution—game wardens being no exception.

The three basic means by which an officer can legally search vehicles and property are the detection of probable cause for an immediate search, the possession of a search warrant based on probable cause, and consent. In addition, there are many other restrictions that may be specific to each case and of which an officer must be aware before executing a search.

Although recreational vehicles like boats are less bound by the rules of search (a game warden can check live-wells, coolers and compartments where fish could be stored as well as hunters’ game bags), a dark house or fish shelter may not be entered without permission.

All these restrictions to guarantee the public’s right to privacy provide the motivation for game wardens to make great efforts to obtain direct evidence—that is, when a violation is witnessed in full view of the officer. The majority of arrests by game wardens are made this way. However, many of the bigger over-limit fish and wildlife cases are prosecuted due to an accumulation of circumstantial evidence which eventually leads to the implementation of a search warrant. Following are two cases in point.

Like many of the bigger cases, this one started with a call from a concerned citizen. Most calls from the public provide us with bits and pieces of information and must be enhanced and investigated before enforcement action can be taken, particularly if the witness is unwilling to testify as to what he or she saw.

He was providing only enough clues to steer me toward an individual whom he had suspected of accumulating walleyes. I knew the informer as a resort owner with a somewhat shaky past, but this didn’t deter me from expending some hours investigating this complaint, especially when the person in question was a nonresident who was fishing a very productive lake.

My first act was to approach the area in question and monitor the person’s movements. This involved hiding my vehicle and making a couple of “walk-throughs” around the property while attempting to identify the boat, the motor home and the individual himself. All this prework would contribute to the mound of evidence I would eventually need to obtain a search warrant, if it ever came to that. My chief aim was to become familiar with the person and his fishing behavior—how often did he fish, what time of the day, where did he clean the fish and was anyone else involved? I also chatted on a regular basis with the informant in order to elicit more assistance since he was able, but not always willing, to keep an eye on the person every day. These get-togethers bettered our relationship, and in time, proved essential to the case.

My choices on how to proceed came down to two: I would have to watch the person fish, and I would have to keep track of the fish remains in the fish-cleaning shelter. The latter was simpler than observing his fishing activity. Surveillance of a fisherman, particularly one who is violating the law, is difficult at best. Struggling to avoid detection, and my attempts to position myself properly—every day—was a time-consuming affair.

At mid-morning on the third day, I figured he had caught and kept over three limits of walleyes. This was verified by inspection of the “gut bucket” that evening. Doing the math and allowing for another person in his party, he had already violated the limit laws and appeared now, to be stocking up.

Convinced that my time investment was worthwhile, I chose to continue my close watch and gather more evidence that would, in due course, prompt me to draft a search warrant on the man’s 20-foot motor home.

My fish-hog suspect continued his wayward conduct the next two days. Recognizing that he was booked for two weeks and tomorrow would be his sixth day, I made the decision to hit the courthouse the next morning and apply for a “looking paper.” I felt that data collected the last five days would be more than sufficient to support the probable cause prerequisite for obtaining a search warrant.

On the afternoon of the sixth day, my partner Ken and I arrived at the resort with a signed search warrant for the trailer and specific surrounding property. Our knock at the door was met by a gentleman of late middle age who was taken aback by our appearance and subsequent search request. “Yeah, I have a few fish in the freezer, but I think I’m OK. My wife is here with me.”

“Then you sure won’t mind if we take a look. We want you to know that we do have a search warrant which also includes your vehicle and boat.”

“Go ahead. Only freezer we have is the top of the refrigerator.”

As soon as Ken and I peered in the freezer, our gut feelings about this guy proved out. The entire freezer section was chock-full with packages of fillets, each neatly wrapped in aluminum foil. Further search of the boat and vehicle uncovered nothing of interest.

Then it was time to count the individual fillets in the broiling July heat. With a temperature of 90 degrees inside, the tally continued to rise. Soon it was clear that a major over-limit of fish was about to be uncovered—50, 60, 70, and finally, 87 walleyes—174 fillets were lying on the kitchen table. Our prior intelligence also pointed out that our fish poacher had given fish to neighboring tenants. All these fish and he still had eight more days of vacation! We theorized what the final damage to the resource would have been by then.

It took a little time for our defendant to calm down and begin opening up about his past. He certainly was his own person and expressed this with great stories of his younger days, including submarine assignments during World War II. Our drive to the bank to post bail was pleasant enough. His remark on why he didn’t buy his wife a fishing license: “I didn’t want to spend the money!”

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

The Snow Mole

The Shining Fields

The Open Door Policy

The Eager Beavers

The Gross Overlimiters

The Hidden Threat

The Serendipitous Live-Well

The Swan Song

The Search for Trout

The Fearless Lady

The Kitchen Capers

The Creepy Ambush

The Chevy Chase

The Faulty Success

The Lesson Not Learned

The Bear Facts

The Shady Deal

The Beep-Beep Blunder

The Perch Pursuit

The Porch Light Poachers

The Fishy Takes

The Webbed Tales

The Case for Melvin

The Deer Camp

The Dam Sneakers

The Hijacking

The Dam Walleyes

The Curtailed Pike

The Moosecapades

The Roundabout Approaches