A&M-Victoria alumnus joins ranks of Texas Game Wardens
When Austin Thompson left Victoria for a remote training ground tucked into the hills outside Hamilton, Texas, he stepped away from a life of spreadsheets and office walls, and into a life of open sky, rugged terrain and the responsibility of safeguarding Texas wildlife.
On May 29, the Texas A&M University-Victoria accounting graduate completed that transformation at the Texas State Capital, receiving his badge as a Texas Game Warden to formally join the ranks of one of the state’s most selective law enforcement agencies.
“Austin has always been a determined individual,” said his father, Johnny Thompson. “Always setting the bar high. He is a true inspiration to all of us.”
Thompson’s early plans were shaped by his father, who also earned an accounting degree from A&M-Victoria and built a stable career in the field. Following that example, Thompson dove into accounting while he was a student, took on office jobs and worked for a local attorney while in school. The job was ideal on paper with its flexible hours, a supportive employer and hands-on exposure to business and accounting concepts, he said.
“The attorney I worked for was very accommodating with my hours because I was a student, and he would bring me into his office and teach me a lot of general accounting and business concepts,” Thompson said. “I am very thankful to him for all of that.”
But the deeper he went into office work, it became clear that wasn’t where he wanted to spend his career, Thompson said. The outdoors had always been his real home.
Thompson’s love for the outdoors is rooted in his family and his childhood. Both sides of his family embraced hunting, fishing, farming and ranching, and those experiences shaped how he saw the world. At a young age, his father would take him fishing in Port O’Connor, as well as taught him how to duck hunt and be comfortable with the water. On his mother’s side, family land provided another kind of classroom.
“They’re farmers and ranchers, so we’ll go out there and hunt deer, hogs and duck,” Thompson said. “Between the two sides of the family, I get a lot of hunting and fishing in.”
Additionally, family trips across the country to hike and explore different landscapes only deepened his appreciation for being outdoors.
When Thompson later did ride-along sessions with the Victoria County Sheriff’s Office, he found a way to connect that love of the outdoors with public service and law enforcement. That combination pointed him toward a singular point, Thompson said. He was going to set out to become a Texas Game Warden.
He applied in fall 2024 and began the long, intensive process that included an initial application, a physical readiness test, interviews and an extensive background check. The moment he found out he had been accepted to the academy came in the form of a phone call from the Game Warden Training Center.
The acceptance brought both excitement and relief, Thompson said, especially since it came during his final semester at A&M-Victoria when he was already thinking about what would come after graduation.
Thompson entered the academy in October of last year for what would be an eight-month, in-person training experience near Hamilton. A typical day at the academy started with an early morning physical training session, followed by breakfast and a morning flag ceremony, where cadets raised the U.S. and Texas flags in front of the administration building, he said. The rest of the day blended classroom instruction with intensive hands-on training.
“All the training we received from the academy was top-notch,” Thompson said. “They really do prepare us very well to set us up to succeed once we get out.”
Trainings would include mock scenarios in hunting, fishing license checks, hunting camp inspections, use-of-force and other real-world situations led by experienced field wardens brought in for their expertise.
In the classroom, cadets studied the basic peace officer course, including penal, transportation, health and safety codes alongside the Parks and Wildlife Code, which governs hunting and fishing regulations in Texas. The academy was demanding physically, mentally and emotionally, especially with Thompson living about four hours from home. It also tested each cadet’s commitment. They began with 40 cadets, and in the end, only 28 made it to graduation.
“It’s definitely been a humbling experience,” Thompson said. “You go into the academy and realize really quick that you don’t know as much as you thought you know. Even though I’ve been hunting and fishing my entire life, there’s a lot more to it than I ever thought.”
After he was sworn in as a Texas Game Warden, Thompson and the others were given a list of open counties and asked to rank their top four preferences. Today, he serves as a game warden based in El Paso.
“It’s a completely different environment than back home,” Thompson said. “Even the animals are different. Out here, we’ve got mountains and desert, whereas back home it’s flat and has a lot more trees.”
Even though he has left accounting for law enforcement and conservation, he still relies on skills he developed as a business student at A&M-Victoria, especially attention to detail. From reports to court cases, small errors can have huge consequences, he said.
Looking ahead, Thompson hopes to build trust and familiarity in the community he serves. He also wants residents to know they can call him for more than just hunting and fishing questions. As a state law enforcement officer, he assists with traffic stops and other criminal matters alongside local and state agencies. At the same time, he sees education as a central part of the job.
“It doesn’t have to be about just writing citations. For some people, it’s their first time fishing, and maybe they don’t quite understand the bag limits or length limits, so it’s important to educate and be understanding with them,” Thompson said. “The main thing is to have good relationships with the landowners and the people here, so they can see I’m not just somebody with a badge and gun.”
Texas A&M University-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 50 academic programs in the colleges of Business, Education & Health Professions, Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, and Natural & Applied Science. A&M-Victoria provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as online classes that students can take from anywhere. The university supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.