Like many growing up hunting, fishing and trapping, my memories of our North Dakota game wardens were my first exposure to natural resource law enforcement. In LaMoure, it was Harold Bellin. In Valley City, Delbert Tibke. Before becoming a game warden myself, I rode along with Ken Skuza – now a game warden in Riverdale – who took me under his wing and helped mentor me in my first post at Bottineau.
Here are a few of warden Skuza’s favorite stories in his own words:
How to Catch a Cat
Back in the ’90s, I was stationed in Kenmare when I received a call about a lynx in a garage just north of town. At that point and time in my career, I thought to myself, “right, a lynx.” I drove into the farmyard and staring out of a window in the garage was a lynx. I talked to the individual and agreed with her that it was a lynx.
She wanted it removed.
So, not the smartest thing I’ve ever done, I grabbed my fishing net out of the back of the truck and walked into the garage, closing the door behind me. Yep, that lynx was not a happy guy. He was staring at me, hissing and swatting one of his paws.
I walked up to the lynx, and he jumped at me. I swung the net and luckily caught the lynx in midair. It twisted around so fast in the net, the net acted like a straitjacket and the lynx was caught. I placed it into my dog kennel and took it to the vet in Minot.
Moose Down, But Not Out
A few years back, I received a call from the Game and Fish wildlife division in Riverdale. They requested my help with a sick moose south of Riverdale. I arrived a short time later and talked with the guys. They pointed out the moose to me and told me it was sick or hurt due to the way it was walking around.
Before I went into the field, I called the landowner and told him what was happening, and that I would be driving on his field. I drove within 100 yards of the moose and watched it with my binoculars. The moose was very thin. Every rib was showing, and his hind quarters were nothing but bone.
I decided the moose needed to be put down.
I drove up within 50 yards of the moose and shot and it went down. I put the shotgun into the backseat of the pickup and looked up. The moose was not only on his feet, but was charging me at full speed.
It happened so fast I did not have time to move the truck. The moose came right at the front of my truck and at the last minute turned and left a pack of hair on my hood. The moose went by my truck and fell over for the last time.
Upon examination of the moose, it was blind and would not have lived much longer.
Two Mistakes
More recently, I received a call about two bucks with locked antlers. I made two mistakes that day: One, I brought another warden, and two, I got out of my pickup.
It may not be widely known, but wardens like to poke each other when a mistake is made. I arrived on location with the two whitetail bucks. I drove out to the deer, and one was not alive.
The other one appeared to be exhausted. I told the other warden I was going to shoot the antlers off one of the deer. I got my shotgun out and walked up to the deer.
The deer that was alive looked to be at its wits end. I put the shotgun up to his antlers and pulled the trigger. Well, he wasn’t exhausted. He jumped up and raked me from my ankles to my chest with his one remaining antler. I still had one finger in the trigger mechanism of the shotgun. The antler caught that too. Breaking my finger and making a bloody mess.
To this day I get reminded of the deer locked together.
Everyone loves to hear stories from the field.
Read more warden stories at gf.nd.gov/enforcement/behind-the-badge.
