Texas Game Warden Field Notes - Hunting Violations

September 19, 2011

From BrownwoodNews.com

The following items are compiled from recent Texas Parks and Wildlife Department law enforcement reports.

• Nope, not normal agricultural practices: While on patrol near Alpine on Sept. 1, Brewster County game wardens discovered what appeared to be a baited dove hunting field. To get a clear definition of what would be considered normal agricultural planting practices in Brewster County, the wardens asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to assist with the investigation. A USFWS agent concluded that the agricultural planting practices used on this field were not normal for Brewster County and that the field was baited. The state game wardens, working with USFWS, began watching the field for possible dove hunting activity. On the evening of Sept. 2, the wardens noticed several vehicles parked near the field, and the wardens could also hear shots in the area. Entering the field, the wardens made contact with six hunters who had harvested 71 dove. The wardens seized the birds and issued citations for hunting dove over bait. Each case was referred to the USFWS for prosecution.
• On Sept. 3, Hardin County Game Warden Mike Boone received information that a Silsbee resident had killed a deer on the previous day. Warden Boone located the subject and after a short interview he confessed and gave the warden the deer.
• Warden hooks two for fishing with a net: On Sept. 4, Galveston County Game Warden Adam Clark filed on two individuals for using a gill net to take fish. The violators were in possession of numerous fish, including several speckled trout and red fish.
• While working a large group of dove hunters in Waller County on opening day, Harris County Game Warden Cullen Stakes noticed one individual leave the spot he was hunting and move into a thick, brushy area nearby. After a short search, Warden Stakes located the individual and determined that the hunter was using an unplugged shotgun. A criminal history check revealed that the violator, an Army National Guardsman, was wanted on an outstanding warrant for Military Desertion. Game Warden Stakes, aka Captain Cullen Stakes of the Army National Guard, arrested the individual and transported him to the Waller County Jail.
• Magistrate has busy weekend in Starr County: Wardens Baker and Norris had a very productive opening weekend for special whitewing season in Starr County. Through the weekend, the wardens located hunters hunting over bait, in closed area, with unplugged shotguns, no hunter safety, killing protected species, and one field with about 15 hunters and not a license among them.
• On Sept. 3, King/Knox County Game Warden Jim Daniels and Dickens/Kent County
  Game Warden Danny Kessel entered a camp in King County. The four
  out-of-state hunters were 114 dove over their possession limit.
• Just trying to give the kids a good hunt: On Sept. 3, Burnet County Game
  Wardens Ronnie Langford and Brent Whitus were checking dove hunters and
  checked a group of five young hunters. It was discovered that they were
  hunting over bait, one did not have a hunting license, they had an unplugged
  shotgun, no hunter education, and they had killed an Inca dove. The owner of
  the property admitted to putting out bait so the boys would have something
  to shoot at. Case pending.
• Bird dog turns stool pigeon: Llano County wardens Rick Snitkin and Kevin
  Webb filed on five dove hunters for hunting around a deer feeder baited with
  milo. The hunters’ retriever didn’t help their case when it parked itself
  directly under the tripod feeder each time it came back with a bird. One
  subject was arrested for Class B warrants.
• Killing six deer on the road nets indictments: Llano Game Warden Rick
  Snitkin presented three felony cases to a Llano County grand jury on two
  subjects who poached an eight-point buck and subsequently killed five other
  deer in one night on a county road. One other subject who allegedly stated
  he was going to do harm to Warden Snitkin and his family was true billed on
  a charge of retaliation.
• Spotlight case turns to felony: Red River County Wardens Benny Richards and
  Daniel Roraback were patrolling the east side of the Chapman Ranch in Bowie
  County on Sept. 3 when they began following a truck spotlighting. The
  wardens witnessed a subject in the vehicle shoot two times. The subject was
  determined to be a felon, so while Warden Richards was dealing with the
  arrested subject, Roraback found deer hair, blood, and feces in the back of
  the subject’s truck. After a short investigation, it was determined the
  subjects had shot a 5-point buck the previous night. The subject was
  transported to the Bowie County Jail. After leaving the jail, Wardens Hervey
  and Doug Williams teamed up with Roraback and Richards to locate the other
  occupant from incident who was the shooter of the deer. Upon arriving at the
  subject’s residence, it was determined he was also a felon and had
  outstanding felony warrants. Subjects were filed on for felon in possession
  of a firearm, hunting deer in closed season, taking an illegal buck, and no
  hunting license. Cases and civil restitution pending.
• Wrong way to mentor a new hunter: On Sept. 3 Game Wardens Deshanna Creager
  and Scott Kirkpatrick came across several dove hunters from the Metroplex.
  During the process of checking licenses and bag limits, they found bait in
  and around the area they were hunting. After a brief investigation, the
  father-in-law of one the hunters admitted to placing the bait to increase
  the likelihood his son-in-law would have a good hunt so he’d be more likely
  to take up the sport. Cases pending.
• Wardens seize three miles of gill net in Gulf: On Sept. 7, Game Warden Sgt.
  James Dunks along with TPWD mechanic Chris Heyse and two Coast Guard
  officials patrolled the Gulf of Mexico near the Mexico border aboard the
  patrol vessel Captain Williams. About 3 miles of gill net was removed just
  past the third sandbar near the mouth of the Rio Grande. The nets were
  running north to south, catching anything that attempted to get into shallow
  water. Hundreds of king mackerel and various species of sharks were tangled
  up in the nets.

Last Updated (Monday, 19 September 2011 16:12)

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