Wood County game warden Lee Hall will long remember 2025. He was awakened by a phone call. “Load your gear, now, and get down to Kerrville,” was the message from the Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPW) swift-water rescue captain who had called him in the middle of the night on July 4.

Within hours, Hall along with fellow warden and swift-water team member, Zack Temple, were on-site at Camp Mystic. They assisted in the evacuation of campers and spent a couple days working a systematic grid search of the Guadalupe River. 

“The flood waters struck so quickly and also receded so quickly that it left debris 30 feet up in the trees,” Hall reported. It was an apocalyptic scene. “Every piece of debris had to be checked,” he said, “…it was soon clear that the operation went from search and rescue to recovery pretty quickly.”    

The disastrous flooding was a combination of many factors, which formed a ‘perfect storm’ with tragic results.  

For Hall it was an emergency sortie in the middle of a year which seemed, until that point, to be steady and predictable. A recent sit-down with Hall disclosed that the past year in Wood County saw average hunting and fishing numbers. 

Now in his sixth year in the county, Hall feels completely at home here.

“It is a great place to raise a family, and the local community is very supportive of all law enforcement,” he remarked.

Hall added that the support of law enforcement was never more evident than after the death of Wood County Deputy Melissa Pollard last spring.  

From a game warden perspective, it had been a good spring and summer. The five county lakes were evenly loaded with no major events. An increase in alligator calls was noted.

Hall explained, “We advise people to simply leave them be – they have been here a long time before we were. If an alligator does pose a nuisance, there are licensed alligator removal agents which can be contracted to have the animal removed.”

As a non-core county, the alligator season in Wood County is April 1-June 30, and the bag limit is one alligator per person per license year. 

Law enforcement presence on the area lakes is a big part of the warden kit-bag. Hall said that in addition to checking water safety and fishing limits, the wardens also participate in policing the major fishing tournaments at Lake Fork.

“With such large winnings, all aspects of the tournaments have to be policed,” Hall noted. 

The warden also reported that law enforcement has added a force multiplier in the area.  A new canine officer is on duty out of Tyler, under the charge of handler Tim Tocash.

“He is a tracking dog,” Hall explained, “and able to track people, find items such as weapons and locate cadavers.” The canine team recently assisted in the recapture of an escapee in Hawkins. 

Hall is looking forward to another safe and productive deer season. Having had a wet spring, the deer population is healthy. The recent absence of rain will likely push deer toward feeders earlier than normal, Hall explained. 

Residents may notice a few more tall fences around the county. Hall explained that may indicate the keeping of exotics or could simply be a way to try to quarantine deer from chronic wasting disease. 

Hall noted that the doe season in Wood County has been expanded this year – antlerless may be taken throughout November. 

The warden’s appeal to local outdoorsmen is straightforward: a) have a plan – including a float plan for those heading out on the water, b) educate oneself about conservation law, and c) take care to make the outdoors an enjoyable experience for everyone.

Hall recommended taking a copy of the TPW Outdoor Annual into the field.

“It’s a good read in the deer stand,” he suggested.

In addition to taking time, when the opportunity presents itself, to educate youngsters in conservation law, Hall pointed out that Fish and Wildlife classes are very popular.

Alba-Golden, Quitman and Yantis each offer Fish and Wildlife or Outdoor Experience classes. 

“Some of those programs actually include achieving a Hunter’s Education Certificate,” stated Hall.