No Fun and Games, but This Warden Makes the Most of His Job

As vulnerable as other law enforcement officers, game wardens sometimes need a light touch to keep a tense situation cool.

Rick Coelho, a California Department of Fish and Game warden based in Big Bear Lake, recalled a recent encounter with three deer hunters who had a dead doe--a no-no, except in special either-sex hunts. Peeking through shrubbery off a backwoods road, Coelho watched them load the deer into a Ford Bronco, but he wasn’t sure of the sex so he ran up the road to block the way with his own truck, then acted casual.

“I walked up to the (driver’s side) window and said, ‘How’s the deer hunting, guys?’

“ ‘Oh, haven’t seen anything.’ Well, right then I knew. If they had a legal deer they’d be telling me they had a deer back there (in the truck).”

Coelho then asked to make a routine check of their licenses, deer tags and weapons. These were armed men and he was alone, with no backup or witnesses.

“They had the weapons in the back, on top of the blanket where the deer was. They turned around to grab the weapons and I said, ‘Just roll down the (rear) window. I’ll check them back there.’

“ ‘Oh, no, doesn’t work, doesn’t work.’

“So I let them hand the weapons out so I could get the guns away from them. One of them was loaded, which is a violation on the passenger and a violation on the driver for allowing him to have a loaded gun (in a vehicle). There also was one handgun in a pouch behind the passenger seat and another handgun concealed behind the driver’s seat.

“Then I asked him to roll down the (rear) window (again). ‘Doesn’t work. Doesn’t work.’

“I said, ‘Step out with your key. Now put your key in (the outside lock) and roll down the window.’

“He puts in the key, flipping it back and forth--’Doesn’t work, doesn’t work’--and he happened to flip it too hard where it went down about four inches.

“Look at that,” Coelho said sarcastically, “it works. Now roll it the rest of the way down.”

Then Coelho opened the tailgate and said, “Look at this, deer hair all over your backpack. Thought you said you didn’t see a deer.”

No comment. Then he lifted the blanket.

“Well, look at this, you killed Bambi’s mother!”

Later, Coelho said: “On the way to the jail the one guy that claimed he shot the deer said, ‘You’re not going to believe me, but there was a buck and a doe and I shot and hit the doe.’ I said, ‘Yeah, you’re right. I’m not going to believe you.’ ”

The suspects are scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 15 on what Coelho characterized as “high-grade” misdemeanors, with a maximum of $10,800 in fines and two years in jail for each of the three suspects.

They will probably get off lighter. It may not be the crime of the century, but it made a warden’s day worthwhile.

Briefly

HUNTING--Guy R. Bennallack of Las Vegas drew the privilege of hunting bighorn sheep in Nevada and bagged one that was 168.875 pounds. The only problem was that he shot it in Arizona, on the wrong side of the Colorado River. The Arizona Game and Fish Commission fined him $3,500. His guide, Mark Lynn Condo, was fined $2,500. According to the Arizona Game and Fish Dept., several other hunters watched Bennallack and Condo take the sheep across the river by boat and deposit the gut pile a half-mile into Nevada. Bennallack was quoted as saying, “I’m real upset that I shot a ram like this and don’t have the ram.”

SALTWATER FISHING--The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in its latest El Nino Watch advisory says the sea off Southern California cooled to two to three degrees above normal in September and could dip below normal but should rise early next year, following the pattern of the last two years. . . . The second batch of 3,000 3 1/2-inch white seabass fingerlings has been received at the Newport Beach grow-out pen by volunteers of the Balboa Angling Club and United Anglers. Like the first batch in the restoration program, these will be released at about 7 1/2 inches in five or six months.

MEXICAN FISHING--Cabo San Lucas: Dorado 15-25 pounds abundant, with daily limits the norm. Tuna fewer in number but big, topped by a 250-pounder by Mike Hajeck, Laguna Niguel, and a 220-pounder by Sandy Babson, Leucadia. San Jose del Cabo: Boats taking 1-7 wahoo averaging 25-50 pounds regularly. Tim Mater, Anaheim, seven wahoo 23-41 pounds. Peter Lang, Irvine, a 47-pound wahoo and eight dorado, plus many small tuna, released. Rich Hawley, Huntington Beach, 110-pound sailfish.

FRESHWATER FISHING--Noted striped bass angler Greg Silks will give a free seminar at Silverwood Lake on Saturday, 11 a.m., on the swim beach by the launch ramp.

CONSERVATION--The threat of the proposed Moreno Highlands housing development to the San Jacinto Wildlife Area--a major refuge for waterfowl and other birds--is in limbo. Developers decided not to build 7,763 homes but said they changed their minds not because of the lawsuit by conservationists but because of the depressed economy. However, Kate Neiswender, attorney for the plaintiffs, said the developers pulled out after receiving a report on soil stability from a private laboratory. Those findings have not been disclosed, but it’s known that three fault lines run through the property. . . . A photographic exhibit titled “Water and the West” to benefit Friends of the River continues through Sunday at the Wilshire Courtyard Gallery. Details: (310) 838-0484.