January-February 2022 • Nebraskaland 47
and don't come home until 3 or 4 a.m.
And as soon as you get home you get a
call — somebody needs something or
somebody needs help. Then you go back
out for a little bit longer to help. It's a
sacrifi ce, but it has a lot of benefi ts and
those pros outweigh the cons 10-fold.
JNW: Are people usually cooperative?
CK: It depends on how you approach
them and how you talk to them. And I'm
not here to preach or to lecture anyone.
They know they are in the wrong.
They're adults, the majority of them are.
They know the consequences. So it's a
citation, and we go on about life.
I had a guy, a couple years ago, in
Stanton County. He shot a deer off the
road, landowners caught him, and he
tried hiding the deer. He lied to me for
15 minutes, that he never shot the deer,
but I had already found the deer that he
tried to hide. I just looked at him and
said, "Stop and think about this. You're
a grown man. You're trying to lie and my
little kids can lie better than you. What
is the deal? Why did you feel compelled
to shoot this deer off the road? I know
you did it, and I'm not going away."
And then he just stopped and said, "I
did it."
And I said, "I know you did."
I saw that guy a year later at the
boat and sports travel show in Omaha,
and he came up to me and introduced
his son. He said, "This offi cer wrote me
that ticket for shooting that deer. He
treated me with respect, and I was in the
wrong." He thanked me for it. What are
the odds of being thanked for writing
somebody a ticket? Not very often. But
it's kind of nice when it does happen.
Unfortunately, I met a nice guy at the
wrong time.
JNW: What's exciting about this job
for you?
CK: Everything. There's never a dull
moment — except writing reports.
Having people come up and say, "Hey,
we appreciate what you do. We need
more offi cers in this state. We don't see
enough of you guys." And being able to
have a good working relationship with
the state patrol and some of the deputies
is a big help. I know they'll always be
there. They will come running. It's a
friendship as well as a professional
working relationship.
I also enjoy going to the elementary
schools and library here in town. I'll go
and give a program on wildlife, and I can
sit there with a group of kids and keep
their complete attention for an hour.
Many of us COs also teach fi shing clinics
and boating safety classes.
Like I said, there's more to the job than
writing a ticket and making arrests.
N
Conservation Offi cer Cory Krause running background checks on fi shing violators on the Elkhorn River near West Point.
JENNY NGUYEN-WHEATLEY, NEBRASKALAND
