Backcountry Lawman
Backcountry Lawman
True Stories from a Florida Game Warden
First Place, Florida Outdoor Writers Association Excellence in Craft Award
“High speed chases, shootouts, monkey-fishing, and being urinated on: is Backcountry Lawman a thrilling non-fiction book or just a really good Saturday night?”—Florida Book Review
"If you enjoy outdoor adventure flavored with colorful characters and wry humor, this book is for you. Follow dedicated wildlife officers as they use their wits and skills in the pursuit of poachers and wildlife law violators."—Tom Mastin, forester and managing broker, Mossy Oak Properties Legacy Realty Services "Lee recounts his amazing and challenging career as a Florida game warden with wit, wisdom, and careful attention to detail. You will travel with him as he boats the St. Johns River, walk beside him as he wades past resting alligators, and listen for that gunshot on a cold Putnam County night."—Jeff Hahr, former patrol supervisor, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission In the underbelly of Florida, hardened poachers operate in the dark, out of sight and away from residents who sleep soundly through the night. But poachers are not the only midnight hunters. In the state’s public wilderness tracts, cattle ranches, and water courses, wildlife thieves are stealthily and silently tracked.
Most people have never imagined the often dicey, comical, and sometimes bizarre job of a Florida game warden. Backcountry Lawman tells what it’s like to catch an armed poacher in the act—alone, at night, without backup or a decent radio to call for help. These stories describe the cat-and-mouse games often played between game wardens and poachers of ducks, turkeys, hogs, deer, gators, and other species. Few people realize that "monkey fishing"—electrocution of catfish—had the same outlaw mystique in the rivers of Florida as moonshining once did in the hills of Georgia and Tennessee.
With thirty years of backcountry patrol experience in Florida, Bob Lee has lived through incidents of legend, including one of the biggest environmental busts in Florida history. His fascinating memoir reveals the danger and the humor in the unsung exploits of game wardens.
Lee . . . tells quite a story. As he relates his experiences you feel like you are sitting beside him in his 18-foot fiberglass ‘Old Timer’ patrol boat.’—Panama City News Herald
Entertaining, enlightening and occasionally hilarious.’—Outdoor Wire
Details the many cat and mouse games poachers and game wardens play, featuring interesting real-life characters on both sides of the law who are constantly changing their tactics to stay one step ahead of the other.’—Woods ‘n Water
Between the flat out laughs is a glimpse into what can be a deadly job.’—St. Augustine Record
A fast, fun read that anyone who has spent much time in the Florida outdoors will thoroughly enjoy.’—Fishing Wire
As thrilling as any Indiana Jones epic.’—Florida Times-Union
Pure joy to read. . . . Backcounty Lawman has something for everybody, including white-knuckle boat chases in the dark, surveillance on bird poachers, deer decoy operations, and even an entertaining, yet important, pollution case.’—International Game Warden
An inside look at the sometimes amusing and sometimes scary things game wardens must do to catch fish and wildlife law violators.’—Sun Sentinel
Bob H. Lee spent over three decades as a water patrol officer on the St. Johns River and a land patrol lieutenant in Putnam, St. Johns, and Flagler counties. Before retiring in 2007, he taught man-tracking classes through the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
