A Different Kind of Game Warden
I thought it’d be easy. How could any newspaper editor of sound mind turn down my new column idea, The Possum Cop Chronicles? I mean everybody likes game warden stories, right?
It was April 2023. Three local newspapers in Texas were carrying my possum cop column, and I was looking for more. One day towards the end of that month, I was taking my seven-year-old son Miles to a dentist whose office was in a neighboring county about 35 miles away. On the way in, I noticed the local county newspaper office not three blocks from the dentist and figured I’d stop by after the appointment and give whoever was there my possum cop pitch.
When done with the dentist, Miles and I drove to the newspaper office. The editor of the paper was there and agreed to see us. She listened to everything I had to say and treated Miles and me like we were guests in her home.
She was great, but when it came to her response to my pitch, she said, “We have John Jefferson” in a way I interpreted as me being like plain yellow mustard to Jefferson’s Grey Poupon Dijon.
She followed with, “You know John, don’t you? He worked for Texas Parks and Wildlife …” I responded with a not too convincing, “Uhhh, yeah, sure… I’ll probably see him at the Texas Outdoor Writers Association Conference next month.” We small talked a bit longer, and she wished me well as we said goodbye.
I started Googling in the parking lot, and it didn’t take long to figure out that this Jefferson guy was an accomplished dude. I could probably learn a thing or two from a guy like him. Good thing I made my reservations for that conference. Surely, he was going to be there, and maybe I could get some pointers on this whole writing business.
Jefferson was a no-show that year. I laid in wait for him in 2024, but still, no John. By the time 2025 rolled around, I was beginning to think John Jefferson was one of those “riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma” kind of people. But then, at the end of the 2025 opening night conference shindig, I turned around, and he was there.
We hit it off right away. He had indeed worked for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), and we knew many of the same folks and found it hard to believe we hadn’t run into each other before. At the afterparty to the banquet the following night, I found out he had plenty to share on writing, and life in general, and he was humble and gracious in doing so.
We talked for quite a while. Mind you, Jefferson is 89 years old. I am 58. Around midnight, I was getting tired and considered turning in for the night, but upon further review, I decidedit would be disrespectful, and maybe somewhat embarrassing, to quit before someone 29 years my senior. He let me off the hook around 1:30 a.m.
John Jefferson has published articles and provided photographs for Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine, Texas Monthly, Texas Wildlife Association, Texas Fish and Game, Texas Outdoor Journal, and has credits from Outdoor Life, the New York Times and others.
In 2017 he started a syndicated outdoor newspaper column and has written over 400 columns to date. He is a writer and photographer of the highest order, and there’s not enough space here to address all his accomplishments and all he has done for the State of Texas and wildlife conservation and education. Heck, he’s even a TPWD-certified Honorary Texas Game Warden. I’m just glad to call him friend.
For more on John Jefferson, check out his webpage, johnjefferson.com.
