Once a Gme Warden, Always a Game Warden
Man – last week, was like déjà vu all over again for me. It’s been four years or so since I retired from Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPW). And for those of you who don’t know, about a year ago I took a job as a deputy fire marshal in Atascosa County to help support my writing habit. I don’t have much to do with fires, but I handle code enforcement/environmental issues, similar to what I did as an environmental crime investigator for TPW some years ago.
Anyway, while on patrol early one morning last week, I had a truck pull over near where I was stopped along a county road. Thinking that the driver might be wanting to talk to me, I drove over to him and asked if I could help with anything. He said, “You see that deer?” I said, “What deer?” He pointed. Not 25 yards from where we were parked was a young spike buck with its head caught in a net wire fence. I had driven by it at least twice without seeing it.
The man said, “I hate to see them suffer.” I agreed, and immediately kicked into game warden mode. I walked back to my county patrol vehicle. I still carry a roping-rope and a catch pole with me, mostly out of habit, but for whatever reason, I had taken them both out.
I went back to the guy. He was a cowboy-type who had grown up on a big ranch and he was ready to go. I told him my background and said that, in the interest of neither one of us getting our @$$es kicked by that deer, we needed to come up with a game plan. To start, we’d need a short piece of rope and something to put over the deer’s eyes.
Mind you, I’ve have hog-tied and hauled off many a deer in my game warden career and more than a couple times I’ve taken a whoopin. Even the “tame ones” are a problem. They might look cute and cuddly as they nibble on your pants leg and all, but once you try to catch them, they go rogue. Nei ther of us had the right equipment, so he left for his nearby home to gather supplies. He was back in no time, and as a bonus, he had another dude along too. I laid out the plan. The original dude was gonna “heel” the deer with the little rope and pull the hind legs out. I would jump on the deer’s back, and the other guy would cover the deer’s eyes with a shirt and maneuver it’s head out of the net wire.
Everything worked perfectly at first, and we ended up with the deer’s head out with me still on its back. I got to looking at those spiked antlers and noticed that they were spaced apart about even with my eyes. For a moment, I pictured the deer’s head rearing up upon release and poking both my eyes out.
“Okay – on three, I jump off and we all let go. One, two, THREE!” We all cleared just fine, but that deer wasn’t having it. He rammed his head right back into the fence. Time for take two.
I guess the practice helped. On the second run, we pointed the deer’s head to the side before we let go. “One, two, THREE!” We were all clear, and the deer jumped to his feet. Who knows how long that deer had been in the fence, but it was clearly disoriented upon regaining his freedom. He pranced awkwardly around in a circle on the county road just as two trucks approached from opposite directions. It didn’t appear that it was going to end well.
Thankfully, the deer scrambled out of there none the worse for the wear. I thanked the two gentlemen for their help and went on my way. When I got home, the roping rope and the catchpole were put back in my truck. Yep… once a game warden, always a game warden. Proudly so.
