Texas Hunting Leases

Dec. 19, 2007 - TP&W

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas game wardens this month concluded an investigation into an illegal deer hunting ring in Southeast Texas, filing 247 criminal charges against 20 offenders.  The case involves illegal activity spanning four counties. A total of 27 animals are known to have been killed, with 13 sets of antlers and one doe head seized as evidence. Game wardens uncovered 606 possible criminal charges ranging from Class C misdemeanors to felonies, although ultimately 247 criminal charges were filed in late November and early December.  A team of nine game wardens participated in the investigation, which eventually led to two search warrants and charges filed with six courts in four counties: Montgomery, Edwards, Liberty, and Houston. Two assistant district attorneys from Montgomery County assisted with most of the investigation. The suspects face paying approximately $15,000 in civil restitution, a process that compensates the people of Texas for each illegally taken wild animal. 

The suspects range in age from 16 to 25 years old. Most of the charges filed against them were for hunting deer at night, hunting from a public roadway, hunting during closed season, hunting from a motor vehicle and possession of illegally taken deer.

“We did consider the ages of those involved when preparing to file charges, and more charges could have been filed,” said Col. Pete Flores, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department law enforcement director. “We understand that young people occasionally make mistakes. But the scope and nature of this activity goes way beyond a youthful prank, and wildlife crimes cannot be tolerated in Texas. I would add that this illegal activity is not hunting, and it is not representative of youth hunters in our state.”

The case began three months ago, when a man who was aware of ongoing poaching activity by a group of young men in the Splendora area northeast of Houston was driving on Highway 59. He drove by a highway billboard advertising Operation Game Thief, the Texas wildlife “crime stoppers” program that offers rewards for tips that lead to convictions. The man later told game wardens he began thinking about the message on the billboard and the ongoing poaching activity, whereupon he turned around and drove back to get the telephone number off the billboard and called OGT.

Game Wardens Dean Fitzpatrick and Brannon Meinkowsky of Montgomery County then began leading what became a two and a half month investigation of illegal hunting dating back to fall 2006. Most of the illegal activity took place in Montgomery and Edwards Counties, with one episode each in Liberty and Houston counties. The primary targets of the illegal hunters were white-tailed buck deer. Secondary targets were exotic wildlife species such as axis deer and black buck antelope. Most of the incidents occurred at night, from a vehicle on a public roadway. The majority of the animals were retrieved by the suspects, but some were left behind because the animal’s antlers were not considered big enough or the poachers were scared off by oncoming vehicles. The illegal hunting took place in developed urban subdivisions as well as rural areas.

Participants were caught poaching by two different game wardens during the course of the investigation. Game wardens had been investigating the killing of a deer on the Splendora High School football field. A few days after that incident, Montgomery County Game Warden Alan Biggerstaff caught three suspects after they shot and killed a deer in a subdivision near Conroe. Edwards County Game Warden Cody Hatfield caught four of them hunting from the roadway near Rocksprings in Edwards County. These two incidents were instrumental, providing a big break in the investigation that yielded names of many of the suspects. The two incidents also show how Texas game wardens are able to communicate and share information across the state.

Quality deer management does not just occur by chance.  Good hunters know that preparation, scouting and patience are just the first ingredients before proper selection.  Recently, a LeaseHunter.com member took this buck out of his deer population in and was kind enough to tell the story which we have included here (with some liberties taken to condense it for our readers).

Recently, a hunter on my lease spotted this buck while doe hunting and told me about it.  The age of the deer and the picture of the jaw bone is kind of interesting.  The hunter watched the deer for about twenty minutes at twenty or so yards and, to occupy his time, figured a field score (gross) of 156.  I have not measured it completely yet but I am pretty sure the dry net score will be above the 125 minimum for Pope and Young.

After I heard about this buck, I went out to the same tripod and the buck showed up.  He arrived too late for a bow shot and he stopped about 75 yards short of the feeder and laid down.  I had to sit in the tripod until full dark and sneak away.  The next morning, I was in the tripod thirty minutes before light and he showed up ten minutes later.  Eventually, I could make out the big kicker on the left G2 and then had to wait a little longer so that I could see him in my sights and took the shot.  When I hit him, he trotted off about twenty yards, turned and looked at the arrow stuck in the ground for a few seconds and collapsed.

When I was gutting him, I noticed that he did not have a lot of body fat for the amount of age in his posture and he seemed to have a lot of guts.  He only weighed 112 lbs. dressed.  When I pulled his jaw, the fourth tooth was worn almost to the gum line.  Both jaws had equal wear and he looked to be around for a long time.

I took my aging tool that I use for deer up to 8 1/2 years old which I think this deer is.  It has a dual color scheme so that the dentin and the enamel are easy to distinguish on the actual deer’s jaw bone.  I also use a jaw spreader and removal tool as well as charts put out by the Quality Deer Management Association which are very good. 

The inside spread was 21 4/8, one main beam was 22 4/8, the other was 22 5/8.  I have not sat down and measured him completely yet - just what I needed for the harvest log.

Thanks for the story and congrats on a nice buck!

For more information on aging deer, see this guide from TP&W.

If you are not hunter and have some sort of image of “Bambi” when you think of a deer, think again when you see these pictures.  To establish dominance, a buck will fight to the death.  This deer may have won an exceptional battle but the outcome was most likely a horrible death for the loser and another soon to be horrible death for the winner.  Painful deaths are the norm for deer when their populations are not properly managed.  Too many bucks, not enough does, not enough food, not enough room; All of these contribute to the pressures brought on by a “let them be” mentality.  What a waste it would have been if not for a hunter who at least took this deer out of his misery and put food on the table.

Do you know the story behind these pictures or have some thoughts on the subject?  If so, let everyone know about them by posting a comment here in the blog.