Benny G Richards - TALES OF a TEXAS GAME WARDEN

Tales of A TEXAS GAME WARDEN

What My Eyes Have Seen

2021 Benny Richards

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the author.

ISBN: 978-0-578-90380-4 (Paperback)

ISBN: 978-0-578-90381-1 (ePub)

Book design and layout: Lighthouse24

Cover photos: Kaitlin Richards

The stories in this book are true firsthand accounts of events that occurred during my career. The people and places are real. However, in order to protect them and their families from further persecution and embarrassment, the names of suspects and violators have been changed.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Benny Richards was born and raised in Hunt County, Texas. He spent his youth hunting, fishing, and picking up arrowheads in the fields and rivers in Northeast Texas. These experiences would serve him well as a Texas State Game Warden years later.

A graduate of East Texas State University in Commerce, Texas, Benny used his education to launch a career in law enforcement. He became a police officer in Richardson, Texas, in October 1993.

After a short but successful tour of duty there, he entered the Texas Game Warden Training Center in Austin, Texas, on January 1, 1996. His first duty assignment after graduation was in Delta County. During his game warden career, Benny was stationed in numerous counties, mostly in Northeast Texas, but he served all across Texas on different assign-ments.

Benny received various awards and commendations throughout his carreer, including being named the Shikar Safari Wildlife Officer of the Year in 2015. His love of storytelling led Benny to publish a weekly column called Furry Tales in his local newspaper.

In addition to his reputation of being one of Texass finest game wardens, Benny is probably best known for his role in the popular TV show Lone Star Law that aired on Animal Planet. Benny makes his home now near the small community of Campbell, Texas.

This book is dedicated to
the three loves of my life.

My wife Kristi and our
children Kaitlin and Erik

Late, oh so late,

the country folk on their pillows

safely sleep

because he rides.

Under the moonless, star-filled sky,

the does and their fawns

peacefully graze the green meadows

because he rides.

In the shadows,

the evildoers ponder the fate that might befall them

as they nervously stare out into the night

because he rides.

Through the misty twilight,

accompanied by the lonely howl of the coyote,

traveling along muddy roads all alone,

the game warden

he rides.

Contents

Preface

I was once invited to be a guest speaker in a senior government class at the high school in Cooper, Texas. A few minutes into my speech, as I looked across the classroom at some bored faces looking back at me, I asked a question. Does anyone know what a game warden does?

A girl on the back row quickly threw up her hand. You protect the animals from being killed.

Then a young man raised his hand. You check hunting and fishing licenses.

The girl was wrong. As a game warden, I worked for a state agency that promotes hunting and fishing. For the most part, I was there to help facilitate the harvesting of birds, fish, and game animals as long as it was done ethically and by the rules. My job wasnt to protect animals; it was to manage people through laws.

The young man was right, but just barely. I did check hunting and fishing licenses as a part of my duties, but that was only a small part of my day-to-day responsibilities.

The fact is the duties and responsibilities of a Texas State Game Warden are perhaps the most diverse in all of law enforcement. This is much of the reason why Texas game wardens carry a certain mystique. To begin with, Texas is a large chunk of land. Wardens must patrol the forests of deep East Texas, across blacklands of the farm country, out to the shortgrass prairies of the Panhandle, and over the desert mountains of the West. Wardens also must navigate thousands of miles of freshwater rivers and lakes, as well as the saltwaters of the Gulf of Mexico. Each different environment carries its own challenges, and an officer must be able to adapt. Texas game wardens patrol in four-wheel-drive trucks, but also boats of all shapes and sizes. They patrol from helicopters; off of ATVs, horses, and bicycles; and on foot.

A lot can happen in a state as large and diverse as Texas. Wardens there are routinely sent into danger to rescue survivors of hurricanes and stand guard in the aftermath of terrible tornadoes. They are sent to patrol the border with Mexico to enforce immigration laws. They stand ready to assist other agencies during riots and mass shootings, like the one that occurred in Dallas in 2016, where five police officers were killed. And yes, there are those hunting and fishing regulations that must be enforced lots of them. Texas State Game Wardens are state peace officers. They enforce a multitude of laws: wildlife laws, environmental laws, illegal drug laws, and alcoholic beverage laws. They enforce laws concerning family violence, the Texas Penal Code, and on and on. Texas game wardens have always been on the front lines of law enforcement in Texas. Danger is an inherent part of their job. Many game wardens have made the ultimate sacrifice in completing their mission.

Most Texas game wardens work alone much of the time in very rural, out-of-the-way, and unnamed places. It is not uncommon for wardens to find themselves in situations where they are enforcing the law on uncooperative subjects who are armed. They are alone, with no other officers in sight for miles. And, at a hidden deer camp on some ranch at midnight, no one could find them, even if backup was available. This is when training, skill, experience, and luck come in. The skills and knowledge they possess, the conditions that they sometimes work under, and the uniqueness of the state they serve make Texas State Game Wardens an elite group of law enforcement officers.

For a quarter century, I was proud to be one of those game wardens. These are my stories.

Chris Has Been Shot

It was about five oclock in the afternoon when I walked through the back door of our house near Caddo Mills, Texas. I had been out checking hunters since early that morning. Kristi had dinner sitting on the table and I was more than ready to dig in. As I took my jacket off and sat down at the dinner table, my cell phone rang. I answered to find Bryan Callihan. What he said floored me.

Hey man, have you heard about Chris?

No what about Chris?

Chris has been shot.

At the sound of these words, I jumped to my feet and reached for my coat. I pulled the phone down long enough to tell Kristi that I had to go and that I would explain later. I was running to my patrol truck as Bryan gave me all the info he could, which was very little. Basically, all he could tell me was that Chris was injured badly somewhere on the Cooper Lake public hunting area and people were looking for him.

I hit the interstate wide open with lights and siren blaring. I had a thousand things going through my mind. Who shot Chris? What was he shot with? Was he able to call for help, or was someone with him? The biggest concern I had was where he was exactly. Bryan was unable to give me any location at all. However, I was confident that if I could get any information at all, I would find him. I knew those woods better than anyone on planet Earth. I didnt know what the situation was, but trying to anticipate any scenario, I started making phone calls to game wardens.