The Leap
I don’t know how many times I’ve heard, “Man… I wouldn’t want to be a game warden. Everybody you check has a GUN.”
In response, I usually say something like, “Yeah, but we know that going in, and most of the people we check are lawful hunters and our contacts with them are quite cordial nine times out of ten, and even that tenth one ain’t looking to shoot anybody on purpose.
Indeed, I was more concerned about getting shot accidentally in an overcrowded field of dove hunters than I ever was of being shot intentionally by a bad guy. Still, you never know.
Also, some people are just better suited for some things than others. I wouldn’t have wanted to be a peace officer, like a DPS Trooper or a big-city traffic cop, who makes a lot of stops on busy highways.
To me, THAT is really scary, especially with all the texting and driving of today.
Anyway, for me “checking people with guns” wasn’t even the scariest, or most concerning, part of the game warden job; boarding shrimp boats out in the Gulf of Mexico was.
When I was stationed in Willacy County in the 1990s, the main boat we used to patrol the Gulf was a center console 22 ft. bay boat with a 175 hp motor.
It was a fine boat and could withstand the oftentimes- punishing conditions of the Gulf, but it sat very low in the water. Gulf shrimp boats sit much higher, which made going from one to the other in the wind and the waves interesting at times.
When setting about the task of boarding a Gulf shrimp boat, the first thing the patrol boat operator must do is to get close enough for a boarding attempt to be made without slamming into the shrimp boat or getting caught up in any lines, nets or trawls that might be out. While approaching, the boarder (or boarders) takes position on the bow and watches the waves to get his or her timing right to ready themselves to make “the leap”.
If you time it right, you utilize the crest of a rising wave to get the best grab at the gunwale (top edge of the hull) you can get.
Once you begin the leap, there’s no turning back. If you end up timing it in the trough of a wave, you have to cling and climb your way out of it. If you don’t make it, you’ll probably fall and get smashed between the boats, or if the trawls are out, you might get sucked back into one of them. Nothing good happens if you don’t make that first grab.
But there are other ways to board, especially if you’re in a bigger patrol boat. Many Gulf shrimp boats have tires mounted along the stern (back) of the boat that serve as a nice cushion for a boarding boat to push up against to drop people off.
A disconcerting myth/ rumor amongst game wardens (probably started by shrimpers) is that poop was sometimes placed along the tops of these tires to increase the entertainment value for the crew as they watch wardens climb aboard.
I have no firsthand knowledge of that ever happening, but it was nonetheless frightening to think of while making the leap onto the stern of a shrimp boat and climbing over the tires.
I guess any job is what you make of it and there is risk in everything we do. For me, all the things I saw and experienced being outside, in the elements and in tune with the world around me, made it all worthwhile. So, I guess what I’m saying is - when in doubt; take the leap.
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