NIGHT STALKERS

By Sr. Agent Cliff Ortis

Some of my neighbors never fail to ask me during mid-hunting season if I'm off or on vacation because they see my unit parked in the driveway during most of the daylight hours. The question always comes up and my standard answer is, while you were getting your second dose of sand from the sandman, I was out patrolling all night.

I had a gentleman tell me once that he had some night activity around his particular hunting area, but he cautioned me that if I ever worked there at night to be careful because a man that lived in the area prided himself on stopping any suspicious vehicles or potential night hunters. To his surprise, I told him that I knew his "range-rider" and on many occasions watched his kitchen light go off in his house without him having a clue that I was positioned only 200 yards behind his residence.

Most people don't realize that when the sun disappears behind the horizon during hunting season, the enforcement agent slithers out and becomes virtually invisible traveling the waters and field roads with specially altered units that keep them and their position concealed in the shadows. The agents call it "black-out" when the lights are shut off on their units, and they then use the darkness to hide their movements.