Phillip Nelson is retiring as a game warden after a 25-year career, the last 24 in Oglethorpe County. He said he’s most proud of the Outdoors Beyond Barriers program. (Submitted Photo)
If you asked Phillip Nelson to name his favorite moments from his career as a game warden, he wouldn’t go to big busts or poaching cases.
Instead, he talks about normalcy, specifically the state-led Outdoors Beyond Barriers program that he helped launch in 2024. The program removes physical barriers for mobility impaired hunters.
“That was probably one of the most satisfying, rewarding things I did in my career,” said Nelson, who served on the program’s founding committee. “It’s the fact that they're able to just get out there and have that sense of normalcy again of being able to hunt and just be out in the wild.”
Outdoors Beyond Barriers is one of the last milestones in Nelson’s multi-decade legacy of community service with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
After a 25-year career — 24 as Oglethorpe County’s game warden — Nelson said he’s retiring, stepping down not only as a law enforcement officer, but a neighbor.
“You come to know most of the people here, and you know they, they rely on you and call you for all kinds of stuff, not just DNR, but just because they know you know the area, they know you,” Nelson said.
His neighborly approach is complemented by a highly decorated field career.
Nelson is a State Hunter Education Instructor of the Year winner, and was honored as the region’s Turkey Award winner in 2006 and 2009.
Additionally, he helped launch Georgia's National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) in 2004, bringing competitive archery to schools and 4-H.
In 2024, Nelson won the State Rocky Wainwright Waterfowl Officer of the Year, given to the game warden who “excels in enforcing waterfowl and migratory bird hunting laws.”
Nelson earned the award through conservation work, building and installing duck houses across the county, banding ducks for tracking, speaking and working with students at the University of North Georgia and Oglethorpe County High School's FFA program.
He was also recognized for his law enforcement successes, arresting hunters for illegally hunting over bait and hunting under the influence.
“He wasn't so much a police, police, police, game warden writing tickets; he was a community member who happened to enforce the law,” Sgt. Tim Vickery said.
Vickery, Nelson’s supervisor from 2022-26, met him while working in the field in 2004. Vickery lived in Oglethorpe County at the time, and was immediately impressed by Nelson’s extensive knowledge and relationship with the community.
“I remember I was just hired and was working with Phillip, and I'm thinking, man, this guy knows the stuff,” Vickery said. “He’s just very dedicated and he’s just solid. I could always count on him for stuff.”
Vickery described Nelson as a “laid-back, easy going and friendly” officer on the job, even during arrests and busts.
“It's probably not what you think when you think of a law enforcement officer, but he really was,” Vickery said. “When it got into time to do business, he did business, but he was as good as you’d let him be. If a fella needed to go to jail, he’d go to jail, but at the same time, Phillip could do that and put a smile on his face, and you know, the other guy (would) be smiling, too.”
That balance represents a blueprint of what an old-school game warden looks like, Vickery said.
“Sometimes, it’s community involvement, and Phillip really reflected that,” he said. “It was with everything. It was with church, teaching ball. He was plugged into the community, and everybody knew him, and knew what he did and respected him.”
Brittni Bland will take Nelson’s place as the county’s game warden. Nelson said his biggest piece of advice for Bland is to immerse herself within the community.
“You not only just work here, but you live here, too,” Nelson said. “Some of these people that you may have to encounter, you may even have to write a citation to, but they’re still your neighbors. They may have just messed up, but they’re still good people.”