Game Warden cases

On Nov. 5, the day before opening of deer season, Lamar County Game Warden Bryan Callihan and Hopkins County Game Warden Jarrod Bryant caught three groups of spotlighters in two hours while working Delta County.

One of the men apprehended for illegally hunting deer at night with a light told wardens his wife had warned him about road hunting before he left the house.
After being cited, the man went home and told his son to watch out for game wardens.
The son did not take his father's advice.
Wardens apprehended him illegally hunting along the same road where his father had been caught an hour earlier.
• On Nov. 6, Sabine County Game Warden Sam Smith and Capt. Tom Jenkins checked a hunter coming out of a wildlife management area.
The subject did not have an annual public hunting permit, and as Warden Smith wrote the citation, the subject complained that he was mad at the store that sold him the license for not informing him that he needed a permit to hunt there, and that he would be having the store pay his fine.
Capt. Jenkins, who had walked out into the woods, called for the suspect to come into the woods where a permanent stand, corn, and a freshly killed white-tailed doe had been found by the captain.
Faced with the evidence, the subject admitted to the several additional violations and stated that he was not mad at the store that sold him the license anymore.
Cases pending.
• On Nov. 5th, Uvalde County Game Wardens Henry Lutz, Rachel Kellner, Javier Fuentes, Deputy Game Warden Larry Milstead and Zavala County Game Warden Chris Stautzenberger displayed the Region 5 Operation Game Thief trailer at the Uvalde County Hunters' Roundup.
More than 1,100 people of all ages viewed the display, and the wardens answered a wide variety of questions about the animals and other items on display and about hunting and fishing regulations.
Approximately five hours later and 35 miles away, about 2 a.m. on Nov. 6th, Uvalde County Game Warden Henry Lutz apprehended two young men from Uvalde who had just shot a 7-point buck from the roadway north of Sabinal.
The pair said they were bored and had been shooting at rabbits and raccoons as they drove down the road until they came to the deer.
One of the young men asked Warden Lutz if he was at the Hunters' Roundup earlier.
Warden Lutz replied that he was there with the Operation Game Thief trailer.
The man replied that he too was at the Hunters' Roundup and had stopped to look at the items displayed in the trailer (items seized from poachers) and remarked that he paid particular attention to the rifle that was displayed.
His .22-cal. rifle, one of two used to shoot the deer, was seized for evidence.
Charges have been filed on the two men.
• Leon County Game Warden Oscar Henson, Henderson County Game Warden Shawn Smith, Navarro County Game Warden Jimmy Woolley, and Limestone County Game Warden Randy Harper all worked Leon County for the opening weekend of deer season.
They seized 11 bucks, filing criminal charges and civil restitution for violating the 13-inch antler restrictions along with other numerous citations and warnings.
• On Nov. 6, Morris County Game Warden Michael Serbanic cited a hunter for no hunting license, untagged deer, and then arrested him for unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.
• On Nov. 6, Marion County Game Warden Rob Furlow and Morris County Game Warden Michael Serbanic filed several citations for various hunting violations including harvest logs, improperly tagged deer, no hunting license, no hunter education, possess deer without valid permit, several antler restriction violations, untagged deer, and Warden Furlow issued one for possession of deer meat without wildlife resource document or proof of sex.
• On Nov. 6, Bowie County Game Warden Shawn Hervey and Titus County Game Warden Jerry Ash caught a man who had already killed four deer - three in Texas and one in Arkansas.
The man was reported for road hunting on a wildlife management area and was found in possession of two deer he killed that morning.
Confession obtained and charges filed.
• On Nov. 6, Fayette County Game Warden Erik Nygren received a call from a landowner about several shots being fired.
Warden Nygren responded to the property and found two individuals who had been hunting.
After talking with the hunters, Warden Nygren did not believe their story about having not shot any deer.
He called his partner Calvin Harbaugh, who also responded to the scene.
After rounding up all six hunters and after some extensive questioning by both wardens, a total of seven illegal deer were found and seized.
Cases pending.
• On Nov. 7, Washington County Game Warden Eddie Hines investigated a tip from a landowner who said that his neighbor was possibly killing does without permits.
Hines pulled into the camp and saw several individuals skinning a small 10-point buck. The inside spread was well under the 13-inch minimum.
When Hines asked if they had any other deer, they vigorously denied having any.
However, Hines located an ice chest holding a quartered deer with no head.
After further investigation, another ice chest was located with another quartered deer and no head. A mule deer tag was lying on top of the meat.
Citations issued for illegal buck, untagged deer, improperly tagged deer, no proof of sex, and no hunter education.
Civil restitution also filed for the three deer.
• About 1 a.m. on Nov. 12, Refugio County Game Wardens Pinky Gonzales and Danny Kelso received a call from a Refugio County deputy concerning a vehicle he had stopped. A dead white-tailed buck deer was in the back of the vehicle.
The two subjects in the vehicle stated to the wardens that they had hit the deer with their vehicle.
Wardens found receipts from Wal-Mart that showed the subjects had purchased a box of bullets about an hour earlier
Wardens found two bullet holes in the deer.
Confession, confiscation, impoundment, citations, and a trip to jail followed.
Cases pending.
• Nov. 7, Walker County Game Warden Stephen Ingram was patrolling a road along which several deer camps were located.
Warden Ingram checked a camp and made contact with several individuals who had already changed out of their hunting attire.
The individuals denied having shot anything and were being deceptive in their answers.
Ingram suspected the individuals were hiding an illegal buck.
After leaving the camp, Warden Ingram parked by the gate leading to the camp and waited for the hunters to leave.
Two hours later, Ingram stopped the individuals as they left the camp and found an illegal buck (a six-point with a 9-inch spread) in the back of their truck.
Cases pending.
• On Nov. 13, while patrolling the Sam Houston National Forest, Montgomery County Game Warden Brannon Meinkowsky and Grimes County Game Warden Jonny Heaton responded to a call about a possible illegal deer that had been shot.
When the wardens arrived, they found an untagged deer in a cooler. When asked where the head was, one of the subjects pointed to a disturbed patch of ground.
The subject was told that the head needed to be seen, and he began to dig it out of the ground.
While waiting for the subject to dig the head up, the wardens noticed several other patches of disturbed ground.
When all the digging was done, one buck and two does were uncovered.
None of the deer had been tagged.
Cases pending.
• On Nov. 10, Deputy Game Warden JD Beeson and McMullen County Game Warden John Palacios teamed to work an area in the county known for illegal hunting.
At approximately 9:30 p.m., Wardens Palacios and Beeson observed a vehicle slow down, pull over, and discharge a firearm from the public roadway.
They stopped the vehicle, which had a freshly killed 9-point buck in its bed, and the two subjects admitted to shooting at a deer.
When asked why they shot the deer, one of the violators explained, "We have run into a buck on the road before, and rather than someone run into this one, we took upon ourselves to remove it."
Cases pending.
• About 3 p.m., Nov. 14, Menard County Game Warden Clint Graham was called by a Menard County deputy asking for backup.
The deputy stated he had three individuals pulled over who had two deer in the pickup and that one individual was considered armed and dangerous.
Warden Graham arrived on scene and checked for game violations but none was found.
The individuals gave consent to search the truck, where three rifles and four pistols were found.
The firearms were checked through Menard dispatch and all came back stolen. All three suspects were arrested and transported to the Menard County Jail.