The following items are compiled from recent Texas Parks and Wildlife Department law enforcement reports.
Dog fetched them
Dogs are known for bringing home undesirable objects. When a Texarkana man told game wardens the mallard ducks they discovered hanging in his warehouse came from a retrieving dog field trials competition in Arkansas, eyebrows raised.
The wardens verified there had been such a contest that uses farm-raised ducks, but the mallards showed no evidence of having been shot. The wardens then explained to the man that a wildlife resource document is still required in order to possess the birds. They issued the appropriate citations and warnings, and the cases are pending.
Sacking up bull reds
Just before dark Sept. 28, a Matagorda County game warden was notified by a fisherman there were four individuals at the Matagorda jetties catching bull red-fish and transporting them in trash bags to their SUV. The warden made contact with the occupants of the SUV as they were pulling off the beach.
Upon inspection of the cooler in the back of the vehicle, seven oversized red drum were found, with the smallest measuring 35 inches and the longest measuring 44 inches. None of the fish were tagged. After a brief interview, all four individuals admitted to fishing and catching the red drum. Only three individuals had a fishing license. Citations for possession of oversized untagged red drum and no fishing license were issued, and civil restitution was filed.
Free fishing doesn’t mean illegal fishing
Pedernales Falls State Park police officers contacted five male subjects near the river recently that matched the description of potential violators reported to have been fishing illegally inside the state park.
The subjects were identified and interviewed by park police officers. The officers found non-game and game fish in a trash bag in the trunk of the subjects’ car. Nets and other fishing equipment were also discovered. The subjects admitted to catching the fish illegally with cast nets. The officers filed multiple cases along with civil restitution.
Double dipping
A La Salle County game warden discovered a group hunting a large field with lots of doves on Sept. 26. The warden waited to check the group later that evening.
That evening at camp, the warden heard hunters say they did not hunt in the morning. Knowing the camp was empty that morning, the warden began searching for extra birds. Six hunters had double limits, but argued they had hunted the previous day at other ranches and were within their possession limits.
The warden asked each individual for hunt details from the previous day, which included a hunt at a Uvalde County ranch. The warden reached out to his game warden colleagues in Uvalde County familiar with the area, and they reported back that hunting activity was low, casting doubt on the hunters’ claims.
After sharing the details of the investigation, the hunters confessed to killing a limit of doves in both the morning and the evening on the same day. Over the limit citations were issued to each hunter.
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