Game warden begins duties

Jacob Mort, an eight year veteran of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, is Shackelford County’s new game warden.

Although Mort grew up hunting and fishing, and always knew he wanted to be in the same profession as his father, a Nebraska game warden for over 40 years, he said that he “blames” Johnnie Hudman for his move to Texas.

“I fell in love with the country around Albany after my dad and I went on a hunt at the Stasney Ranch with Johnnie as our guide,” Mort said. “I also got to know Shea (Guinn). I finally got enough time in as a Texas game warden to be able to get my preferred location.”

Mort worked as a game warden in Palo Pinto County for the last five years, and was in Zapata County for three and a half years before that.

The former third baseman on the University of Nebraska baseball team that went to the College World Series in 2005, applied for a job with the Texas Parks and Wildlife, and was sent to Zapata for his first duty assignment.

““My college degree was in Spanish,” said Mort, “and I think that was part of the reason they sent me to the border area.”

Drug smugglers have become a part of life in the Mexican border area, and game wardens in Zapata County never know who they may run into as they do their job, according to the TPWD. 

Pictures of Mort, armed with an M-16 rifle while patrolling Falcon Lake on a TPWD boat, were published in Newsday in 2010, and in several other magazines.

Shackelford County’s new game warden may not be carrying a semiautomatic rifle here, but he is one of four TPWD precision marksmen, and one of 20 tactical team members called out when law enforcement needs assistance.

However, two of the main reasons he become a game warden are because he likes visiting with people, and enjoys being outdoors.

Mort officially started working in Shackelford County on May 1.

“Landowners need to know if they have a problem that I can help them with, they can rely on me,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if it is to catch a poacher, help out with deer or quail surveys, or to answer questions that they may have about their land and wildlife habitat.”

Mort’s wife Erica is from South Dakota. The two met while attending the University of Nebraska. They were married in Texas, and have a young son, Brax.