Our Mission Statement is as follows.

This is a free and voluntary organization, dedicated to the preservation and protection of the bountiful natural fish and wildlife resources of the State of Oklahoma. The goals of the association will be to encourage a stronger camaraderie among the Oklahoma State Game Wardens; to encourage and developed high standards and practices of professional wildlife law enforcement; to promote and increased public awareness of the activities performed by the Oklahoma State Game Wardens; to encourage public support and participation in natural resource protection; and to accomplish these purposes without disrupting the normal duties of the Oklahoma State Game Wardens.

Attended OSU-Stillwater, OSU-OKC, and Oklahoma City Community College.

Immediately prior to working for ODWC, I was employed at the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office; and before that, I worked for and eventually managed my family’s meat processing company, Cornett Packing Company, which employed up to 55 employees.

Married to Laura, children are Kayla-20, Josh-18, Justin-16, Allie-16.

Went to work August 22, 1994, first assigned to Caddo County for 7 years, Lincoln County for 1 year, and currently assigned in Woodward County since 2002.

Special Projects-

Worked with Lt Tracy Daniel in establishing the Department’s Youth Camp, which started out as the Law Enforcement Youth Camp. Assisted Lt Daniel with the operation of the camp while he was the coordinator, and I eventually became the camp coordinator for several years. Camp remains a very popular Department program.

Worked with several other wardens, and headquarters to establish the Game Warden Honor Guard, currently serving as a member.

Volunteered to become one of the initial STEP Program volunteers and instructors; as well as one of the initial Archery in the School instructors.

Worked with Wildlife Division and State Parks to organize and conduct a youth controlled deer hunt on Ft Cobb State Park, hunt had been opposed by State Parks management in OKC, but through all working together, we were able to show need of the hunt and convinced State Park to let hunt proceed, hunt is still part of the controlled hunts, and is very successful.

Attended Wildlife Professional School, conducted by the Department.

Write news articles for five local newspapers on a bi-weekly basis, talking about various issues and topics related to hunting, fishing, and the outdoors in NW Oklahoma.

Memorable Work Experience-As with other game wardens, when you try to think of memorable events that come to mind, there is certainly not enough space on this page to go over all of them. I tell people that I can honestly say I have never had a bad day at work, naturally some are better than others, but I certainly feel blessed to be able to call myself an Oklahoma Game Warden, it is a great job.

Although we spend a majority of our patrol time alone, it didn’t take me long doing this job to realize the bond that develops between you and your fellow officers, your “partners” as we like to call them. Those guys and girls who are not only some of your best friends, but who you potentially place your life in their hands when you are working together, you have to trust them completely.

I hadn’t worked very long when I heard one of my partners say something that really hit home explaining the closeness you develop with each other, and that trust and confidence you place in your fellow game wardens. I was out patrolling and heard game warden Gene Pester calling the Grady County Sheriff’s Office on the radio, giving his location, and checking drivers license and warrant status on several persons, I think there were six subjects. I wasn’t very far from Gene’s location so I headed his way to provide back up to him, but before I could get to him, he decided to follow the persons back into Chickasha to write them their tickets for fishing without a license. As he came to the corner where he turned to go to Chickasha, I was sitting there at the intersection, he not knowing I was in the area, when his headlights shined on my truck, and the game warden emblem on the side. He told me later that there is nothing like knowing that one of your fellow game wardens are there to back you up and provide assistance, that the sight of that game warden truck just brings a relief and you know everything is going to be alright.

We as game wardens like most all things of our job, doing programs, hunter education, visiting with the public, etc., but I would bet most feel like I when I say that there is nothing like catching that violator who you know has been at their illegal activity for years, them thinking that they were never going to get caught. That look upon their face when you step out of the bushes, way off that beaten path, and they know that their good luck has all been used up, those moments are the ones that you will never forget.

One of my memorable experiences include the day in Caddo County when several state and federal game wardens were working a special enforcement detail during duck season. One of the state wardens working the detail called me and said he had found a group hunting a flood control lake and they had been shooting a lot all morning. We all met at the location and as we were walking into the area a SUV came driving away from the pond toward the hunters camp. We stopped the vehicle which had one person in it and asked him how the hunt was going, the whole time we were talking to him, an almost continuous roar of gun fire continued from the lake. One of us asked the driver if he minded if we took a look in the back of the vehicle, which the driver gave his approval. Just as we were about to open the back of the SUV, the driver said “you all need to know that I have way to many ducks in the back of my truck”, and as we opened it up, we found mallards stacked in the truck, with barely room for the door to shut. Every time a blast of gunfire would erupt from the pond, the man we were talking with in the truck would just lower and shake his head, knowing that his buddies were just putting them further and further over the limit with ever shot. When it was all over, the group had well over a hundred ducks in their possession, needless to say, way over their limit.

During the last several years there has been a certain group of hunters who were deer hunting on public hunting land in Woodward and Harper County. Over the last few years several members of the group had received citations from area game wardens for various violations. This all came to a head during the fall of 2006 when several members of the group had been approached by Biologist Eddie Wilson, Eddie being on routine bag limit checks and driving around the area talking to hunters in their camps. This group accused Eddie Wilson of harassing them and accusing them of being violators of hunting laws, and they decided to get together and file a written complaint against Eddie. This complaint letter, which was written to Director Greg Duffy basically accused Eddie of harassing them and saying that Eddie was accusing them of all kind of crimes, etc., etc., and that this particular hunting group were made up of outstanding sportsmen and they were not law breakers, and that they were offended that Eddie would think they were violators. The letter was signed by members of the hunting group, approximately 10-15 signatures, with the top signer being basically the head or the spokesman of the group, he was also the writer of the letter. Eddie Wilson is an outstanding employee, and was doing the job he was suppose to do, and we all felt strongly he was being treated wrongly by the hunting group. Well, sometimes all the stars line up just right for game wardens and things just go our way. During the 2007 deer gun season, GW Mark Reichenberger and I were working the deer decoy on private land near the public hunting area when a vehicle stopped and a man got out and stood in the center of the road and fired a shot at the decoy, something that all us game wardens have seen before. But, this was not just any man, it was the man who had written the letter to the office, and the man who had signed it first, saying how much of a law abiding person he as well as his hunting group were, and that they didn’t appreciate Eddie accusing them of being a violator. As I had the man in my truck writing him citations, he looked at me and said “well, I bet Greg Duffy is proud of me now”.

Both in Caddo and Woodward Counties I have had one or more of the ODWC Public Hunting/Wildlife Management Areas to patrol. As most of you know, these areas require a lot of patrol time due to the high use of these areas. One of the things I have worked hard on while patrolling these areas is the enforcement of littering or illegal dumping on these areas. The public comes to these areas expecting a great experience, and looking at someone else’s trash is not something they care to do. By the wardens working with the court system, many of these persons who are caught littering on our public areas are made to come back out and do community service picking up trash for several hours, and it has indeed proven effective. Although you will never stop all the littering, I have definitely seen a decrease in the amount of persons observed throwing down their trash. Several times this summer OGW Reichenberger and I have seen persons finish their beer or other drink, and instead of throwing it down or into the water, they smashed the can and put it in their pocket and carried it to the shoreline to be thrown away. When you talk to them later, they say that they heard about or had a friend who was caught, and they didn’t want to have to be out there picking up trash. Times like that you can think that hopefully you have made a difference.

I have been very fortunate in my career to have worked with many outstanding wardens, and I appreciate them all. There are many wardens who also are deserving of this award, and I am humbled that I was picked to be this year’s Warden of the Year. Thank you.

Past Oklahoma Game Warden of the Year