Time for the Game Warden Exam

January 30, 2009 by admin

By Doug Leier

Deer hunters get checked

“The North Dakota Game and Fish Department has scheduled an examination to select candidates for the position of district game warden.”

I read the lead sentence to this news release recently and couldn’t help but recall a decade-plus ago when I read the same announcement. The exam was scheduled for mid-December 1994, I was finishing up my last semester at North Dakota State University and was on schedule to graduate.

The job requirements back then were similar to what they are now. Applicants must be 21 years of age, posses a four-year college degree – preferably in biological science or law enforcement disciplines – and be eligible to be licensed, or already have a license as a North Dakota peace officer.

I read the news in the Sunday paper and shrugged if off. I was about three weeks away from completing my degree and figured I wasn’t eligible. Luckily, my dad encouraged me to at least make a call out to Bismarck and inquire. A quick note from my NDSU zoology department dean, stating he had good reason to believe I’d graduate by the end of December, and I was typing a letter of intent to take the exam, which for this upcoming warden test is Nov. 24.

Wardens are active at all times during the year

I traveled to Bismarck not knowing what to expect. Other college classmates were there. In all, I’d guess around 100 people or so took the test for this one job. During the weeks before the test I asked others about the experience and was appraised it wasn’t like any other test you’d take. Studying all the game laws would be a good start, but those types of questions were just part of the procedure. Questions ranged from current events to North Dakota geography, and from multiple choice to essay and even some true and false.

As I took my seat in the auditorium it was explained the first testing process would pare down the pool of candidates. For those who advanced to the second phase after lunch, a more extensive exam awaited. From there, the Game and Fish Department selected a few people for interviews.

Believe it or not, as I worked my way through the first test I smiled, and for the first time since 10th grade geography I enjoyed a test, and was fairly confident that my score would at least satisfy my personal goal of doing the best I could.

I’d guess that like many of the people in the room, I placed my odds a little low, considering the number of applicants and competition for just one open slot as a game warden. In reality, with a small state and limited warden force I’d really thought specifically about becoming a game warden. More broadly, I was just hoping for any full-time job with either the state Game and Fish Department or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

After lunch, I remember walking into the auditorium and feeling a mixed emotion of surprise and affirmation when I learned I’d advanced onto the next phase.

All told, it was a day of testing and weeks of waiting to find out that I’d made the interview list. In the end, I wasn’t hired for that current slot, but similar to other job scenarios, another opening occurred about a year after I took the exam, and I was hired as a North Dakota game warden.

While the number of warden slots is limited, I encourage anyone who has an interest to send in a letter of intent and take the exam. If you love North Dakota’s outdoors and have an inclination, check out the game and fish website at gf.nd.gov, or call a local warden and ask them about their job.

You just never know what might happen. While I’m no longer a game warden, I’m sure glad I took the test.