Citizens Journal - Section B/FolkWays - Sunday, October 19, 1986

GAME WARDEN: Protector of nature's wildlife
By Barbara Carroll, Journal Lifestyle Editor

When Gene Bruce travels the county's back roads, he's doing more than just enjoying a country drive and admiring the scenery - he's on the job.

As Cass County's game warden, Bruce spends much of his time behind the wheel of his vehicle driving through the more remote regions of the area, looking and listening.

With the advent of fall weather and the opening of various hunting seasons, some of which will continue off and on over the next several months, Bruce and others in his line of law enforcement are experiencing a busy time.

"Cass County is a good hunting area, one of the best in East Texas," Bruce said. "It's good for ducks as well as deer, but not too good for dove and quail. It's hard to hunt quail in the woods, shooting through the trees."

Bruce is the county's only game warden, but if he needs help during deer season, he will be assisted by others who work counties without deer.

When he moves over the back roads, his trained eye sees more than the scenery, certainly more than the average person notices.
A set of tire tracks which weave back and forth on a dirt road, a soda or beer can setting upright on the shoulder or an empty "hull" (shell casing) in the middle of the road - all these things may be more than they seem and often tell Bruce a story which would pass unnoticed by the casual observer.

"When I see a set of weaving tracks, it could mean that a drunk has been on that road. It could also mean that someone has been driving and trying to use a spotlight at the same time. It's hard to drive and shine the light for very long without weaving back and forth."

An upright can by the side of the road catches Bruce's attention because it is rare for someone to throw a can from a moving vehicle and have it land right side up.

"I usually figure the can has been set down by someone so I check for drag marks or blood, any kind of evidence that an animal has been taken out of the woods."

An empty shell casing in the road usually elicits the same suspicion.

"That's kind of an unlikely place for someone to just casually drop a hull."

Often when Bruce finds clues such as these, he will stake out the area, which can take hours of patient waiting and watching.

"One of the most interesting parts of this job is 'making a case,' putting all the clues together and finding the person. Sometimes we get part of a license number, maybe somebody sees the vehicle, but isn't close enough to get the whole number.

"It can take a couple of months to put it all together and make a case - track down the license number, check the tire prints and the rest. But that's a really rewarding part of the job, "he said.

"It's funny, but basically lawabiding citizens who normally wouldn't dream of breaking the law think nothing of violating game laws. They'll hunt or fish out of season or without a license and not give it a second thought."

He related one story in which he stopped a couple suspected of illegal deer hunting. The woman in the truck had on a full skirt and tried to hide the deer under the skirt, draping the material over the carcass.

"Another time, the hunter was chased home and hid in bed with all his clothes on, the deer under the covers, trying to pretend he was in bed asleep," he laughed.

There are those, Bruce says, who hunt deer with large tracks simply for the antlers because of their worth to would-be hunters who would "rather not and say they did."

"Good-sized antlers are worth big money. The deer are killed down here and the rack sold to someone up North or in the East to hang on the wall. Some people pay a lot of money for a big rack."

Because of his experience with the back roads of the county, Bruce is more familiar than most with back country areas which many county residents have never seen.

Due to this aspect of their job, game wardens are often called in to help find lost people and conduct search and rescue operations. They know the country and have the necessary equipment.

Although most people think of the fall and winter hunting seasons as the busiest for game wardens in this area, it becomes obvious on talking with Bruce that his job is a continuous round of work which is magnified rather than restricted by the seasons.

When he's not checking hunting licenses, he's making sure boaters and others observe water safety rules. Each season has a sport which falls under a game warden's jurisdiction.

Fishing is a popular sport in this region with all the available water. It is not, however, just a leisure activity but a business which is pursued year-round, both legally and illegally.

Bruce describes illegal commercial fishing in this area as "big business," using both nets and traps. When he checks such fishermen, he looks for net marks on the fish or the absense of hook damage as clues that the fish are being illegally caught.

"I know of one warden around Rockwall (Dallas County) who was offered $50,000 or a percentage of the lake to look the other way," he said.

There is, Bruce says, not much turnover with game wardens, "probably because they have so much time invested in it."

Game wardens have their own academy where they study, among other subjects, wildlife science, public speaking, law, water safety and rescue, defensive driving, survival and riot control.

The academy lasts about six months, after which the officer spends another six months to a year on probation.

While some of the subjects covered may seem a little far removed from a game warden's duties, he feels they are all interrelated and tied in with his job.

"We're the second largest law enforcement agency in the state, so we get called in to help out with almost anything, from a manhunt to crowd control."

Also, according to Bruce, because they cover the 'back woods,' game wardens are often the first person to come on a crime scene and have to deal with the situation as they find it.

While he says he has never been in a situation where he was actually in fear of his life, Bruce feels that his department is one of the most dangerous in law enforcement and admits that he has known men who were shot and killed in the line of duty.

"We work alone, usually in remote areas. Even if we call for back up help, it would be hard to tell someone where we are most of the time. There is big money involved in some of these illegal activities and that makes it dangerous sometimes."

Although he has to work holidays when most people are off and says he can't remember the last time he was off on Thanksgiving or the Fourth of July, Bruce has enjoyed his nearly 20 years at the job because, he says, he has a certain personal freedom which is often lacking in more structured occupations.

Before coming to Cass County, he worked the Big Thicket area and Rockwall.

Atlanta's Gene Bruce and other game wardens like him can literally be described as "men for all seasons."

Gene Bruce
November 1, 1942 - Texarkana
September 30, 1993 - Atlanta, Cass County, Texas