They Used to Call Us Game Wardens

Having lived in one of the last areas that Bill Callies served as Game Warden made this book extremely interesting for me. I know several of the people mentioned here. I believe I also know some of the people in at least one incident where names are not mentioned, because arests were not made. Names, dates, and places are recorded. Nothing is left to the Imagination. Each chapter is a short story in itself, so this book makes great reading when you have only short times to indulge in it. If you are a lover of the outdoors, hunting, or fishing, you can appreciate how a Conservation has the ability to instill fear in the hearts of game law transgressors. Bill was a master in this regard. Grown men shuddered when they knew Bill was on their trail. I highly recommend this book to the outdoorsmen. It'll keep you honest.

If you've spent much time in a rural community or spent much time in outdoor pursuits such as hunting, fishing or camping you'll probably enjoy this book. Bill Callies was a wonderful storyteller (and seemed to be a man of absolute integrity) and the short stories he relates are told in a style that you might expect from a Minnesota Game warden from the 60's and 70's. While the tales he relates aren't something out of a Die Hard movie or anything, even with his modest retelling it's obvious he did some pretty amazing stuff - i don't know that i'd be able to confront a group of well-armed poachers with just a summons book in hand. In addition to being just plain fun to read, i also learned a lot about the nature of the black market in fish and game, which he explains very well.