Making waves
Shortly after sunset one Saturday in June while patrolling Lake Granbury, game wardens came upon a boat adrift on the water without the required navigation lights on and no occupants visible.
As the wardens got closer, they observed two naked occupants onboard engaged in intimate activities. Recognizing they’d been spotted, the male occupant started the boat and began driving away despite numerous commands to stop. Once contact was made, both occupants were found to be highly intoxicated.
Field sobriety tests were administered to the driver, who was subsequently arrested for boating while intoxicated.
Take a bath again
A Henderson County game warden received a call recently with information about a man who had posted a video of a small alligator in his bathtub on Snap-chat.
The individual was also a suspect in a local illegal hunting incident that took place in January involving a large fallow deer rumored to have been shot from the road. The warden made contact with the individual, who admitted to possessing the alligator and agreed to a meeting where he would hand it over.
The warden recovered the three-foot-long alligator, which was later released back into the wild. The suspect also admitted to shooting the fallow deer from the road and told the warden where he had stashed the antlers. The antlers were recovered, and citations were issued for the offenses.
Back-tracked, busted
A Tyler County game warden got a call from a hunting lease operator stating he had confronted several subjects trespassing on his lease. The warden responded and began cold trailing sets of ATV tracks leading off the property.
After following the tracks through several adjacent properties the warden came upon some individuals in a wooded property who were working on an ATV. After waiting for backup from the county sheriff’s office, the warden made contact and initiated arrests for criminal trespass.
During an inventory search, the warden discovered various narcotics and paraphernalia and additional charges were added. Cases are pending.
Running from the law
In late May, a Hill County game warden received a call from a complainant who stated he had observed someone shooting from the roadway near Hubbard. The warden responded to the area and soon after received a call from man admitting that he had shot a feral hog from the public roadway.
He then stated that he went on to the private property to retrieve the hog, but after seeing a vehicle he fled the area. The subject stated that he knew his actions were wrong, and he called to confess because he believed a game warden would come knocking on his door since he’d seen the TV show Lone Star Law.
The landowner of the property was contacted, and he elected not to file hunting without landowner consent charges. The subject was issued citations for hunting from a public roadway.
Boat karaoke fail
Over the July 4th holiday weekend, Angelina County game wardens were on patrol for water safety violations at Sam Rayburn Reservoir when they got a call from a concerned fisherman about a large center console boat occupied by several intoxicated people singing at the top of their lungs, and a child not wearing a life jacket. The wardens made the long run up the lake, found the boat underway and made contact with the operator. After failing field sobriety tests, the operator was arrested for boating while intoxicated, the child was placed in a life jacket, and the merry occupants were escorted ashore. Case is pending.
Deer, did you see that?
While driving down I-35 near Belton, a caller reached out to let game wardens know he observed two live white-tailed deer fawns in the backseat of a Toyota Prius. The warden got the vehicle information and contacted its owner, who resided in Limestone County, and instructed him to meet at the sheriff’s office and turn over the two deer.
Upon arrival, the warden seized the two fawns and noticed one had a hole in its ear due to a missing ear tag. The driver admitted that he worked at a deer breeder facility/ranch in Dimmit County, and that he took both fawns (one from within the breeder facility without a valid permit and the other from outside the facility) without permission from the ranch manager.
The warden took the driver into custody for Triple T Violation (Trap/Transport/Transplant Game Animal without permit-Class B Misdemeanor) and Possession of a Live Game Animal. The driver was booked into the Limestone County Jail. Cases are pending.
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