Bryant Named Shikar-Safari Wildlife Officer of the Year

Tom Harvey, 512-389-4453, tom.harvey@tpwd.texas.gov

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AUSTIN, Texas — Game Warden Jarrod E. Bryant of Marshall has been named “Texas Wildlife Officer of the Year” for 2007 by the wildlife conservation and hunting organization Shikar-Safari Club International.

Bryant continues his game warden career where he began it in Harrison County, a busy rural area south of Caddo Lake along the Texas-Louisiana state line. Bryant’s responsibilities include all areas of game, fish, water safety and public safety enforcement, accomplished through public education, high-profile patrols and criminal apprehensions.

Bryant’s career has emphasized youth outreach and community involvement. He has mentored local college students interested in wildlife law enforcement and cultivated positive attitudes about wildlife conservation enforcement through community policing.

He is considered a leader in his district by working closely with local landowners to apprehend those who disregard private property rights. As a certified Hunter Education instructor, Bryant assists other local Hunter Education instructors and presents programs to many schools, civic groups and agricultural meetings.

One of Jarrod’s most notable achievements was apprehending a number of suspected illegal deer hunters. For years these suspects hunted deer without landowner consent in a coal producing part of Harrison County, a private property dubbed by some locals as the “Run like Hell Hunting Club.” This private land has long been the scene of state jail felonies involving deer hunted without consent, deer hunted at night, conspiracy, death threats to witnesses and illegal drug sales and drug abuse. For 12 months, with some occasional assistance, Jarrod investigated suspected deer poachers. His work yielded 10 criminal cases, including eight for felony hunting without landowner consent. The largest mounted deer seized from this illegal operation was a 32-point whitetail buck, which under the Boone and Crockett scoring totaled 208 5/8 inches.

Additionally, Jarrod made a criminal trespass case this fall that led to a confession for a 2001 state jail felony case where the hunter killed a 130-inch buck without landowner permission. As part of a plea agreement on the criminal trespass case between the court, the defendant and the mining company, the violator will release the trophy deer to the state.

Each year Shikar-Safari Club International honors the officer whose efforts during the previous year show outstanding performance and achievement in the area of state wildlife law enforcement. The conservation organization presents annual awards to wildlife law enforcement officers in all 50 states, 10 Canadian provinces and the territories of both nations. Founded in 1952 as a way to advance the knowledge of wildlife worldwide, the club works to enhance and preserve wildlife and has placed particular emphasis on endangered and threatened species through the promotion of enforcement of conservation laws and regulations.