The following reports are from recent cases filed by Texas Parks and Wildlife game wardens.

Patrolling the vast and remote areas of a state the size of Texas is a daunting task for game wardens, and they can use you're the public's help. Rewards of up to $1,000 are available for information leading to the arrest and conviction of individuals who flagrantly violate the state's game and fish laws. Callers may remain anonymous. Citizens with knowledge of a flagrant game or fish violation may call Operation Game Thief at (800) 792-GAME (4263). The hotline is manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

For Sale: Ocean Front Property in West Texas
A Grapevine man has been sentenced to two years of state jail time, probated for five years, and fined nearly $8,200 for theft in a fraudulent scheme to sell deer leases. Paul Edward Smith pleaded guilty to theft charges Aug. 15 and was convicted of bilking $8,500 out of hunters for hunting rights on property he did not have access to.

According to San Angelo-based TPW Game Warden Doug Seamands, some of the victims set up hunting camps on private property, including deer feeders and all-terrain vehicles in the belief that they had purchased hunting rights, only to have disbelieving landowners set the record straight. "He had given one group keys to a locked gate where he had hunted a couple of years ago," said Seamands. "He had advertised these leases in the paper and convinced hunters by making up stories about connections and details about the properties."

Seamands urges hunters to meet with landowners personally to verify hunting access before turning over money or signing a deer lease.

You Look Like the Cat that Just Ate the Canary
While patrolling the Hubbard Creek Lake area in Stephens County in mid August, Game Warden Brian Huckabay came across a man with a shotgun getting into a sport-utility vehicle. The warden observed some blood and feathers on the man's hands. The man claimed to be looking over his hunting lease and shot a bird to test out his new shotgun, but he said it definitely was not a dove. Further investigation uncovered a freshly dressed dove under the back seat of the vehicle. The individual was cited for hunting migratory game birds out of season.

Hunting doves two weeks before the season is bad enough, but six weeks?
On July 22, Harris County Game Warden Derek Spitzer responded to an Operation Game Thief tip that someone had started dove season early. Upon his arrival at the location given, the warden met the landowner and asked if he'd heard any shots. The man replied that he was the one doing the shooting -- at some turtles in his pond behind his house. Asked if he'd shot any birds, the fellow replied, "Oh, no, the season doesn't start until September 1." The warden then drove down to the pond and found two empty boxes of shotgun shells and a handful of dove feathers. After confronting the man, feathers in hand, the warden got a confession. This man also was cited for hunting migratory game birds out of season.

During opening weekend of dove season in the North and Central Dove Zones, wardens made numerous cases against individuals for hunting over bait, but arguably none as flagrant as the one in Bosque County where 22 cases were filed. When confronted, the ranch owner couldn't comprehend what the fuss was about. "We've been hunting that way for 20 years," he told wardens.

According to state and federal law, baiting means the direct or indirect placing, exposing, depositing, distributing or scattering of salt, grain or other feed that could serve as a lure or attraction for migratory game birds to, on, or over any areas where hunters are attempting to take them.

Prohibited Exotic Fish, Oysters Taken Off the Market
Houston area game wardens raided several markets, pet stores and fish farms recently in what agency law enforcement officials called a major crackdown on illegal trade involving seafood on the state's prohibited species list. Of the two dozen cases filed by wardens, four were Class B misdemeanors filed on corporations for possession of prohibited fish with possible fines of up to $10,000 each.

It is illegal to import, possess, sell or place into water of this state exotic, harmful or potentially harmful fish, shellfish, or aquatic plants except as authorized by rule or permit issued by Texas Parks and Wildlife. A list of prohibited species can be found on the Internet (http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fish/infish/regulate/exotics.htm). "Some of these exotic species pose a major ecological threat if introduced into native waterways," warns Bob Howells, a TPW fisheries scientist at the Heart o' the Hills Research Center in Kerrville who helped wardens identify the prohibited species. "Fish such as Asian snakeheads look like a bowfin and are very aggressive fish. They can live practically anywhere and could devastate a native fishery. We also confiscated more than 150 pounds of Pacific giant oysters, which represent a disease threat to native oyster stocks."

Investigators learned that an importer has been bringing a variety of prohibited species into the country and distributing live specimens to various commercial fish farms and markets. Along with the illegal oysters, wardens seized from a pet store 45 live Asian snakeheads from a market, and 15 live South American pike tetras and several dozen channeled apple snails. The snails have caused serious damage to rice crops in other countries and have been discovered by TPW in at least 10 locations in Texas, including rice fields in nine areas near Houston. A fish farm near Houston that possessed a permit to raise prohibited Japanese eels was also cited for violating a requirement that the eels be processed before leaving the facility.

Sir, We Found Your Car, But You Can't Keep the Fish
Before the recent rains, some lake levels around the state had been dropping considerably. At a boat ramp at Choke Canyon Reservoir, a local fisherman reported what he thought to be a car antenna sticking up out of the water. After some probing by McMullen County Game Warden David Murray and the county sheriff, a vehicle was discovered and then removed from the water by a tow truck. After running a vehicle report, it was learned the car had been stolen nearly three years ago. Three dozen sunfish, 15 crawfish and a 27-inch yellow catfish had taken up residence in the vehicle and were released back into the lake to find new haunts.

Too Many Shrimp Cocktails Lead to Arrest
After watching a shrimper hit several markers on his way out of the harbor, Cameron County Game Warden James Dunks arrested the shrimper for boating while intoxicated. Four hours after the arrest, the suspect had a blood alcohol content of 0.22 percent -- almost three times the legal limit of 0.08 in Texas. A criminal background check revealed the suspect had 30 aliases and was wanted in four states. The suspect was turned over to U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service agents on outstanding federal warrants for alien smuggling.

While checking a Gulf shrimp boat on Aug. 26, Nueces County Game Wardens Jon Brauchle, Adolph Castillo and Gilbert Martinez apprehended a shrimper with no license. Wardens confiscated 3,630 pounds of shrimp and sold them for more than $10,000. Cases and restitution are pending.