[Hot4huntin]

Game wardens help with Hunt for Heroes: The "Show of Support Military Hunt-Hunt for Heroes" began Nov. 29 in Midland for 26 men wounded in the war that were brought in from many states for an all-expense-paid military hunt. The soldiers from all branches of service were first honored at a reception at the Midland Hilton on Wednesday night when the group and their wives arrived in town. Thursday, the group was again honored with a dinner to thank our heroes who put their lives on the line. Each soldier was issued a rifle and enjoyed good company and good food. Game wardens assisted the soldiers on their hunt.

Only one casualty as shot is fired: Nov. 28, McMullen and Starr County game wardens were working land patrol as participants in Border Star 4. The road that they were working is known to all law enforcement in the area as a hot spot for illegal hunting activity. They spotted a vehicle coming out of Hidalgo County onto their road and proceeding about 200 yards north of their location. There was activity around the vehicle at that location and flashlights were seen. The wardens decided to go have a look and talk to the people involved and left their set. The occupants of the vehicle apparently saw their headlights and sped up. The road they were on is extremely rough and full of pot holes. The wardens followed as fast as was safely possible, and it appeared the vehicle’s driver had turned the lights off about 2 miles before he came to the pavement. This portion of the chase was about 5 miles in length. Upon reaching the hardtop, the wardens were able to draw up on the vehicle and affected a traffic stop. As they left their patrol vehicle, they were on high alert due to the circumstances involved in catching the Ford pickup. As the wardens came to the front of their vehicle, but staying behind the lights, they heard a gunshot come from within the vehicle. Weapons were drawn and the driver was made to vacate his vehicle. A search of the pickup revealed a Llama .380 semi-automatic handgun lying on the passenger seat. Also found was a hole in the dashboard just above the radio and ricocheting back into the air conditioner. The man stated that he had wanted to hide the weapon and it had gone off. After a thorough search of the vehicle, and the man’s history, and several lectures on the handling of weapons, the man was released with a dead air-conditioner. The main thing is that everyone came out of it safe; the wardens did not overreact and start shooting back; and all went home in one piece.

We’ve been looking for you: While patrolling Espiritu Santo Bay at approximately 11:30 p.m. on Nov. 26th, a Victoria County game warden and a Wharton County game warden boarded a commercial vessel to check for compliance. A Seadrift native well-known by coastal game wardens was arrested after wardens confirmed 10 outstanding warrants from TPWD involving cases of six different game wardens from two regions. Wardens escorted the vessel to Port O’Connor where it was towed by a wrecker service after it was secured by Calhoun County game wardens. After obtaining bids, the subject’s catch of flounder were sold to the highest bidder. The subject was transported to the Calhoun County Jail where he will remain until he pays over $4,000 in fines or time served in custody.

Group hug, anyone? Nov. 24, at approximately 6:30 p.m., a Houston County game warden and an Angelina County game warden came upon a camp with two untagged buck deer on the ground. After visiting with the lady of the camp, it was determined that the two men were in the woods looking for a third buck they had taken a shot at. While waiting, the wardens looked around and found another buck head. The wardens followed the blood trail into the shed and located a walk-in cooler with six more deer inside. One was untagged, one was an illegal buck, and the others were not tagged properly. A check of the coolers revealed duck breasts with no identification as well. There was another camp close by and a quick look at their deer revealed an untagged doe and an improperly tagged buck. The wardens issued seven citations, fifteen warnings and seized two deer. Charges filed for over the bag limit of buck deer, untagged deer, improperly tagged deer, fail to complete harvest log, and possess illegal buck less than 13 inches. As the wardens prepared to leave, the hunters not only shook the wardens’ hands, they gave them hugs for not putting them in jail. Cases pending.

Helping out a neighbor: Nov. 25, a Gray County game warden Logan Hudson received a phone call at his residence where the caller stated his name and that he needed help before the call was terminated. The game warden recognized the name as being that of a gentleman who hunts the property north of the game warden’s home. The game warden patrolled up to the property and located the man’s pickup. As he approached, he could see the man slumped over the steering wheel. Believing the man may have had a heart attack; the game warden approached the truck and called out to the man. Getting no response, the warden reached through the window and touched the man’s shoulder. The man sat up with license and pen in hand and said: "I’ve just killed the biggest deer I’ve ever seen and my phone had gone dead and I think I’m going to need help to load it." Warden Hudson asked him where the deer was and he said, "It’s out there about 75 yards and I haven’t had the guts to go look at him but you can see his rack from here." The man and Hudson were able to load the 14-point whitetail, which weighed in at 305 pounds on the hoof.

It’s a small state after all: A Travis County game warden was in West Texas for the Border operation during mule deer season, and on the first day he got to check hunters standing in the snow. Ironically, the first hunter the game warden checked on opening day had a mule deer not properly tagged and he was from Austin. The hunter’s name seemed familiar to the game warden, so he ran his name for warrants and sure enough he had an outstanding warrant from the same game warden. The game warden gave him a citation for the tagging violation and advised him to contact him about the warrant when he returned. When the game warden returned to Austin, the hunter took care of his warrant.

Good detective work leads to felony charges: Nov. 22, a Wise County game warden observed an area known for Thanksgiving Day trespassing. At about 8:45 a.m., two suspects were observed scoping a large grassy pasture with their rifles. The game warden was able to get behind the suspects and detain them. Neither suspect had a valid hunting license. The leader of the two identified himself as a well-known poacher, who has a lengthy criminal record with TPWD. The lead poacher was also found to be in possession of narcotics. He stated that he was only hog hunting and did not need a license. The game warden explained that a grunt call was not required to hog hunt. The game warden requested assistance from a Wise County colleague. While the second game warden was securing the gate, she observed a small blue extended pickup being driven by a female. The game warden believed that this was possibly the vehicle that had dropped off the trespassers. The second game warden was able to locate a container that had methamphetamine in it. When the first game warden returned to photograph the scene, he observed a vulture leaving a wooded area, which he found to be unusual because the area had been observed for several days. The warden later located a cleaning site in the wooded area and a rear half of a white-tailed deer carcass. Believing that this deer had something to do with the blood that was found in the rear of the pickup, a search warrant was requested and granted. One nine-point deer was located at the suspect’s residence. Two days later, a second nine-point deer was found in the next pasture. DNA evidence was collected from the suspects, the vehicle and the scene to determine if the suspects were involved. Bullets were removed from the carcasses to determine if they matched the guns of the suspects. Felonies are pending

Stolen honor ends in charges: A special operations game warden received information concerning three subjects discussing their ability to obtain free active military super combo licenses, even though they were not active military. The three discussed their misdeeds on an internet chat room on a hunting based Web site. They told other hunters how easy it was to obtain the free license and that they had been checked many times by game wardens and never caught. Information was gathered on the ringleader regarding where he worked, lived, hunted, and what he killed. The information obtained was passed on to another game warden who was more than willing to visit with the talkative Web chatter. She caught the subject while hunting and filed on him for hunting with an invalid license. Additionally, the game warden was able to seize last year’s buck from the subject and file restitution charges because he had bragged about shooting the deer on public land and getting checked but not caught. Investigation continues into additional subjects.