Cartels, Gunfights & Poisoned Wildlife: The War Nobody Sees Episode 132 of The Wild Chaos Podcast is streaming NOW (AD FREE) for Wild Chaos members and launches TOMORROW at 10:30 AM on YouTube and all major podcast platforms! Retired California game warden Lieutenant John Nores spent nearly three decades protecting wildlife and public lands, but his career eventually pulled him into a fight he never expected. What began with traditional game-warden work led John into illegal marijuana grows hidden deep inside California's mountains. John describes sophisticated water diversions, armed growers, toxic chemicals, poisoned wildlife, hidden camps, cartel-linked operations and raids that eventually turned into gunfights. During one operation, John's young partner was struck by a rifle round that passed through both legs. With the mountainside still unsecured, John and his team fought to keep him alive for hours while waiting for an extraction. John says another armed grower was positioned only feet away and potentially seconds from shooting him before John's teammates engaged the threat. CHAPTERS: 03:27 Growing Up Outdoors 07:43 “The Woods Are My Church” 08:06 Building the Marijuana Enforcement Team 10:13 Hunters, Conservation & Animal Rights 13:33 The Brutality of Nature 18:47 Faith, Hunting & Stewardship 27:51 Why Hunting Should Be Earned 37:47 How John Became a Game Warden 50:31 The Dangerous Side of Wildlife Enforcement 55:12 Do Game Wardens Have More Authority Than Cops? 01:00:53 Hunting a Career Poacher 01:05:39 Hidden in a Surveillance Position 01:35:02 John's Career Takes a Dark Turn 01:39:23 Discovering the Hidden Grow 01:41:11 Toxic Chemicals in the Wilderness 01:42:28 The Bear and Cub That Were Poisoned 01:47:05 How Cartel Operations Get Supplies Into the Mountains 01:51:07 John Takes the Hidden War to Congress 01:53:18 The Shooting That Changed His Life 01:57:07 Shrines Hidden Inside Cartel Grows 02:00:47 Punji Pits on Public Trails 02:08:42 His Partner's First Cartel Raid 02:11:22 32,000 Plants Hidden 02:12:33 Grows Reaching 100,000 Plants 02:16:35 “I've Been Hit. I'm Shot.” 02:18:23 John Returns Fire 02:22:32 Fighting to Keep Mojo Alive 02:24:07 Waiting Hours for Rescue 02:35:48 Building a Better Tactical Team 02:52:25 Cartel Grows on Tribal Lands 03:03:58 “It Looked Like an Anthrax Outbreak” 03:07:02 Sneaking Into Cartel Camps 03:15:05 Operation Pristine 03:23:51 Why John Keeps Fighting 03:26:53 The Woods Are His Church 03:38:06 John's Final Mission John later helped build California Fish and Wildlife's Marijuana Enforcement Team, bringing together game wardens, tactical capabilities, K9s and other resources to target illegal grows while documenting their impact on wildlife, waterways and public lands. John also takes Bam inside the world of game wardens: how much authority they actually have, the Open Fields Doctrine, where that authority can be abused, poaching investigations, undercover surveillance, hunting ethics and why some of the best wildlife officers are hunters themselves. This conversation goes far beyond illegal marijuana. It's about the hidden dangers inside America's wilderness, the people protecting it and a war most Americans never realize is happening. To follow John and learn more about his mission, visit: https://www.johnnores.com/hidden-war.html or purchase his best selling book: Hidden War, 2nd edition: How Special Operations Game Wardens are Reclaiming America's Wildlands from the Drug Cartels here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1951115333/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1674147534&sr=1-2 🔔𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬. https://www.youtube.com/@wildchaospod/?sub_confirmation=1 🔗 Stay Connected With Us. Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/TheWildChaosPodcast Instagram (The Wild Chaos Podcast): https://www.instagram.com/wildchaospodcast/ Instagram (Bam): https://www.instagram.com/bambam0069/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wildchaospodcast Website: https://wildchaosshow.com/ 📩 For business inquiries: bam@sempersocial.com John Nores cartel game warden John Nores John Nores game warden John Nores Hidden War John Nores War in the Woods California game warden game warden podcast game warden stories cartel grow operations cartel public lands illegal marijuana grows cartel marijuana grow California cartel grows cartels in California public land cartel grows organized crime public lands game warden shooting game warden gunfight wildlife crime poaching enforcement California Fish and Wildlife Marijuana Enforcement Team MET game wardens illegal grow environmental damage cartel environmental damage public land crime Wild Chaos Podcast #JohnNores #GameWarden #Cartels #PublicLands #WildChaosPodcast #JohnNores #GameWarden #Cartels #PublicLands #WildChaosPodcast #CaliforniaGameWarden #HiddenWar #CartelGrows #LawEnforcement #WildlifeConservation #IllegalGrow #PublicLand #Conservation #Podcast