Page 12
May 11, 2012
Lone✯Star Outdoor News
LSONews.com
GAME WARDEN BLOTTER A SCARY MOMENT FOR WARDEN While checking fisherman along the Rio Grande River, El Paso Game Warden Kenneth Zuber heard shots coming from an area where a roadway bridge crosses the river. Zuber found a pickup occupied by two men. Upon command, the driver of the pickup got out of the truck, but he had a rifle in his hands and it was pointed in Zuber’s direction. The driver and his partner (a convicted felon) had been shooting, drinking and hanging out near the river. Cases pending. CLAIM OF PERMISSION TO FISH DIDN’T WORK A man was fishing on private property in a creek off Eagle Mountain Lake. When approached be Tarrant County Game Warden Clint Borchardt and Tarrant Regional Water District Officer Chris Akers, the man claimed he had permission to be on the property. But he soon became noncompliant and failed to provide his identify. However, the Tarrant Regional Water District owned the property. The two officers were able to arrest the individual and were eventually able to identify the man, learning that he had an outstanding warrant out of Parker County. Multiple cases pending. BAIT FOR EASTERN TURKEY HUNT LASTED TOO LONG Red River County Game Warden Daniel Roraback noticed bait placed in an area where eastern turkeys were present (no baiting is allowed for hunting eastern turkeys). A few weeks later, he cited a man for hunting eastern turkeys over bait and no upland game bird stamp. The subject said that he didn’t think the 50 pounds of corn and birdseed would still be there. Cases pending.
WARDENS ASSIST IN MANHUNT Menard County Game Warden Clint Graham and Mason County Game Warden Cody Hatfield were dispatched to an ongoing manhunt. When the wardens arrived, they were told that a Menard deputy was involved in a pursuit and that two subjects fled when they drove down a dead-end road. One subject fled south and the other fled north. The subjects left behind a large sum of money, about a dozen meth pipes and several hundred small bags used to store meth. After several hours of searching by horseback, airplane and on foot, a tip came in on the whereabouts
SHOOTER OF CHICKEN-KILLING OWLS PLUCKED A landowner notified Titus County Game Warden Jerry Ash that his neighbor had two dead raptors hanging from a tree. Ash went to the area and discovered two dead great horned owls strung up by their feet. The owner of the property was contacted and admitted to shooting both birds. His excuse was that the owls were killing his free-range chickens and guinea fowl. Ash informed him that the owls were protected and suggested putting the chickens in a pen. Citation and civil restitution pending. HOG CHASERS COULDN’T RESIST DOE Walker County Game Warden Stephen Ingram received information about a deer that was shot around midnight a few days earlier. At the location, he located the remains of a deer carcass hidden in the woods near a residence. The investigation revealed that two men shot the doe deer while hunting feral hogs. The two men confessed. Multiple citations were issued to each individual
of the northbound subject. The deputy who was involved in the chase contacted Graham and gave him the location. The two wardens drove to the location and found two landowners speaking to the subject, who fit the description of the one that fled north. Shortly after taking that subject into custody, the deputy who was involved in the pursuit arrived and positively identified the subject as the one who fled. The subject was taken to the sheriff's office for further questioning and booked in for money laundering and evading. The other subject was still at large.
along with civil restitution, and the deer meat was seized.
and transported to the Guadalupe County Jail.
CHECK THE ATV WINCH CABLE Runnels County Game Warden Lane Pinckney assisted EMS and deputies with an ATV accident on a ranch. Apparently, the ATV was being operated with the winch cable hanging out of the winch about three feet. The cable became wrapped around the left front tire causing the ATV to roll several times. The operator was airlifted to a San Angelo hospital.
KEEPER OF BIG BLACK DRUM CAUGHT Nueces County Game Warden Nichole Spatz apprehended an individual at Red Dot Pier with one oversized black drum measuring 36 inches. Citations were issued.
TRESPASSING TO FISH LANDS MAN IN JAIL Guadalupe County Game Warden Kevin Frazier was preparing to launch his boat at a private boat ramp owned by Texas Lutheran University on Lake McQueeney. Frazier noticed a man whom he had caught trespassing several times on the property. The man provided false information about his name and driver license number. Also, the subject had two warrants, one for burglary and one for failure to appear. He was placed under arrest
A LOUSY EXCUSE FOR BOATING WITHOUT LIGHTS While checking fishermen at Lake Livingston about an hour after sunset, Trinity County Game Warden Randy Watts observed a boat running across Lake Livingston without any lights. The boat was heading across the lake to a boat ramp. Watts drove to the boat ramp and observed the boat come across the lake and into the boat ramp area. Once the operator secured his vessel to the boat ramp, the operator told Watts, “I just unplugged them after I reached the boat ramp.” After the man was informed the warden had been watching him for a while, he admitted to having no running lights. A citation for no running lights was issued.
WARDENS RESCUE MAN AFTER FALL OUT OF BOAT Aransas County Game Warden Richard “Marty” Martin and Captain Henry Balderamas responded to a 911 call of a subject who had fallen out of his boat and could not get back into the watercraft. The wardens launched a boat and found the subject clinging to his boat in Aransas Bay. Martin and Balderamas were able to pull the subject onto their patrol boat and safely transfer him back to his boat. TRESPASSING CATFISHERS CAUGHT Near Martin Creek Lake, Rusk County Game Wardens Kirk Permenter and Chad Gartman observed two vehicles parked on the side of the road. As the wardens pulled up, a man appeared from the brush on the roadside with a fivegallon bucket full of catfish. The man was talking to another individual, who ran back into the brush as the wardens approached. The wardens gave chase to the individual, who had run back to warn others who were involved. Five people were caught trespassing on private land to fish. Citations were issued. EXPENSIVE STOLEN TRAILER RECOVERED Polk County Game Warden Ryan Hall received a tip regarding the possible location of a stolen fifthwheel style camper trailer located on a hunting lease in Polk County. Hall recognized the name of one of the suspects and went to his hunting camp and recovered the stolen camper valued at more than $50,000. Cases are pending in Orange County against the hunter who had been using the camper trailer.