Highlights from our interview with Lieutenant Game Warden Aaron Sims, Public Information Officer for the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. 

Lone Star Standard reports: What do Texas game wardens do?

Sims: Our core mission is the protection of the cultural natural resources of Texas. We are sworn peace officers, state peace officers. So, in the rural areas, although I might be looking for sandhill crane hunters or mule deer hunters, if it’s that time of year, if I’m out rolling and I hear a 9-1-1 call and dispatch, say, the local sheriff’s office, I am expected to also assist in that. I may be first on a domestic dispute. I may be first on a fatality accident on a highway. We always say that our job is predictably unpredictable. We’ll go out to go check on some crane hunters, then we will hear that call on the radio and that’s our duty as well, to protect the people and private property rights. Although our focus is conservation and law enforcement, we do act as a force multiplier in these urban areas and rural areas and on the coast. It really varies obviously. If I have mule deer up here, I’m going to be expected to check mule deer hunters for a very short three week season. If we don’t have many whitetail in a specific location, then they’re going to send me elsewhere in my area where there might be more whitetail hunters. And, I'll work with our partners to move assets around the state depending on what season it is. We’ll do things like saturation patrols. If we have something unique, say, that we have a pronghorn season and we’ll have wardens from across the state that might not have a busy October in their area. They’ll come assist us. And then, when it’s white wings dove season in South Texas, they’ll send us down south because it’s a large areas with hundreds of hunters and lots of folks to chec[k].

Lone Star Standard reports: Is hunting part of your conservation plans?

Sims: That is the quintessential North American conservation model across every state in the U.S., every state agency set up to manage and regulate the wildlife in their state. Obviously, the federal government plays their role in, say, migratory game birds that traverse state lines. But that’s what makes our model the most successful ever in the world. And other countries have tried to copy what we have, but it’s an American model and it supports all conservation. When you buy those licenses, when you purchase that ammunition, those taxes go back to managing the program, which that is something we are looking at as well, the decline of people that are hunting and fishing, and there’s been a lot of folks that have talked about this recently asking what we should do. And it’s something that we’re not putting our heads in the sand on. We’re trying to actively visit with, say, these non-consumptive users that might not want to hurt wildlife. They want to love them. Well, they’re on our team too. And we need to be talking with those individuals and let them know that the hunters are actually on your side and we’re on your side.

Lone Star Standard reports: Do you deal with poaching and how big of a problem is it?

Sims: Yes. And there’s a variety of what we call “poaching,” illegal taking of wildlife. And that could be something as simple as somebody going on a property, harvesting a deer without permission versus transnational trafficking of animals from Africa into our area or taking prohibited species here in Texas, harvesting them and then selling them overseas. It’s a wide variety of what we define as poaching nowadays. People do ask me, ‘it’s 2024, who poaches nowadays?’ It’s getting very technological as well. They use flares, they use night vision goggles by individuals that are taking resources the wrong way and that’s increasing. So, we have to adapt as well on our side, and we have to make sure we have equipment that we can see in the dark. We’re obviously out a lot at night. There are a lot of times that we’ll watch hunters and we might not check them because it looks like everything’s good. But, I’ll get a tip and we’re going to go back out that way and it’s kind of an arms race, if you will. Maybe, they have flares. Now, we have to get the flares, now we have the night vision goggles. It sounds like it’s fun. Yes it is, it’s fun. But obviously when you’re pulling up to a truck full of five individuals with high powered rifles and it’s 2 a.m., you’re on the state line road with your backup 25 minutes away and they just shot off the road, you’re going to make that stop.

Lone Star Standard reports: What kind of education, hunter safety programs do you offer?

Sims: If you do see a target, which may be a deer, a turkey or whatever, knowing your target and what lies beyond it. So, is that a safe shot? You might get very excited and you’re like, ‘there it is! That’s my dream buck. I’m going to get it.’ But you can get so focused on that you miss what’s beyond the target. Maybe it’s a house, maybe it’s a shed, maybe it’s a tree. That’s not a good shot because the last thing you want to do is wound the animal and then have to go track the animal and lose that animal. That’s something that we don’t want happening. So, when we talk about safe shots, safe zones, a fire dove season is coming up. If you’re walking for a pheasant, if you’re walking in a line or if you’re setting with other individuals spread out evenly, you’re following that dove, you got to know when to stop because your friend might be on your left and you don’t want to take that shot. So you have to hold up in anticipation of harvesting that dove. And, that’s called the safe zone of fire. And we go over that in education class as well. I will add one more thing too. We have a hunter mentorship program. So, if you’re interested in getting into hunting, maybe you are not a teenager, maybe you’re in your late 30s, mid 40s, or 50s. There is still time. And we have these Hunter mentorship programs too, where you get teamed up with a hunter in your area to enjoy the resources.

Lieutenant Game Warden Aaron Sims is a public information officer for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. He joins the show to discuss hunting and boat safety, poaching, wildlife conservancy, and more. 

This interview transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Listen to the full discussion: https://texas-talks.simplecast.com/episodes/ep-34-aaron-sims