Texas game wardens rescue missing hunter as temperatures drop

ANGELINA COUNTY, Texas (KWTX) - Angelina County game wardens rescued a missing hunter who was in a pre-hypothermic state as a cold front moved in and temperatures fell. Initially two Angelina County game wardens responded to a call about a lost hunter in Angelina National Forest then once on the scene they learned the man was a diabetic and had been missing for several hours.

Temperatures were dropping so the wardens requested drone operators from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Wildlife Division and a K-9 handler to join them and U.S. Forest Service rangers in the search.

A Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter and fire department volunteers also joined the effort.

After several hours of searching the wardens received a GPS coordinate for the man and with that were able to quickly locate him in the wooded area, a TPWD release says. “He was in a pre-hypothermic state when he was found and was treated by EMS,” the release says.

Hunter’s wife leads warden to hidden cleaning rack

And deer season brings along many challenges, like in Lavaca County where a game warden on patrol heard a rifle shot come from an area where he had previously seen deer hunting violations. When the warden, joined by another, went to investigate, they warden saw a man drive out of the brush, head home, pick up his wife and then return to the woods, a TPWD release says. “An hour later, the wife returned to the house with the head and meat of a white-tailed buck. “The warden approached the wife, who then led the warden to where she was meeting her husband in the woods,” the release says. Wardens said the man was surprised when his wife showed up with the game warden to their hidden cleaning rack, where citation was issued for taking a white-tailed deer in closed season and civil restitution was filed.

Hunter admits to bow hunting from his vehicle

A Trinity County deputy contacted wardens about a man who’d been seen shooting a buck in another person’s yard without the landowner’s permission. The person who reported the incident said he believed a rifle had been used to shoot the animal and he was able to write down the license plate number and get a good description of the vehicle, according to a TPWD news release. A local constable quickly found the vehicle while the wardens traveled to the scene. “After a brief interview upon their arrival, the hunter admitted to shooting the buck out of his vehicle with a crossbow from the public roadway,” the warden said. Wardens filed multiple charges for hunting from the public roadway and hunting during closed season.

Hog hunter admits he was intoxicated And a Cass County game warden was on patrol when he saw a vehicle stop twice near a large pasture and stick what they thought was a rifle out of the window “The warden followed the vehicle and during that time the subject was driving erratically on the county road,” a TPWD news release said. When the vehicle stopped a second time, the warden stopped, as well, and when he approached the vehicle, he saw an AR-15 rifle in the passenger’s seat. The warden immediately secured the weapon and ran the driver for warrants. “The warden noticed the thermal scope (on the weapon) was still on, so they asked the driver about hunting and told him that they had seen him stick the rifle out of the window,” the release said. “The driver then admitted to hunting the field for hog and admitted to being intoxicated,” after which he was arrested and charged with hunting without landowner consent and hunting non-game from a motor vehicle.

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