Conservation officers, also known as fish and game officers, face a daily ordeal that few other law enforcement officers must endure. Often called fish cops, trout troopers, or even game wardens, those who enter the woods each day in pursuit of offenders who violate the laws that regulate the killing of wild animals face armed suspects every time they encounter a hunter. Many hunters employ high-powered weaponry that is capable of bringing down the biggest animals in the woods, and therefore are highly deadly when used against a human being. Conservation officers must face this threat constantly.

Not unlike the plight of the fire marshal investigating the remains of a devastating fire, conservation officers often face similar problems with respect to the collection of physical evidence. Their area of operation is outdoors, where crime scenes are subject to the various elements that can obscure or completely destroy evidence of a crime. Weather is the single-most devastating factor in efforts to search and collect evidence from the scene of a crime. For this reason, conservation officers must be able to read the signs that define a situation that is not normal in nature. Acute powers of observation and the ability to record such observations are the tools that serve fish and game officers the best. It is not sufficient to love nature and the woods, hunting, and fishing; conservation officers must first and foremost be law enforcement officers.