Although the Cook County News-Herald knows that the majority of sportsmen and women are law-abiding folks, there are a few that run afoul of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Conservation Officers. Periodically, the DNR provides a report of some of the miscreants the Conservation Officers (CO) have encountered. The News-Herald shares these stories as a reminder to all to be safe and to follow the rules!
CO Darin Fagerman (Grand Marais) reports coming across a man with a camera standing outside his car on a slippery road corner. The CO asked the man if everything was all right. He stated that he was just taking pictures of all the owls on the electrical poles. The CO then told the man that the owls were plastic and not real. The CO explained that they are put there to keep woodpeckers off the poles to prevent damage. The man looked at the CO and with a southern accent said a swear word and got back into his car. The CO had a good chuckle and both drove off their separate ways.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland) checked anglers and fish houses. The officer also patrolled snowmobile trails and state parks and checked cross country ski passes. Reports of wolves killing dogs have come in recently and one dead wolf was salvaged for study.
CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte) spent the week working off the patrol snowmobile checking backcountry trout lakes. Anglers were having decent luck with rainbows and splake. Shelter identification was a common violation on every lake the officer worked. Wahlstrom also checked snowmobile trails with few sleds venturing on them and followed up on past investigations.
CO Tom Hemker (Winona) discovered carcasses from illegally taken walleye that were hidden in holes the fishermen had drilled in the ice and had covered with snow.
CO Greg Oldakowski (Wadena) received a call of a large muskie being angled from a lake. He found the fish at a local taxidermist, who reported the angler thought he had a large pike. Oldakowski seized the fish and took enforcement action.
CO Don Bozovsky (Hibbing) checked a call of shots being fired at night and discovered four alcohol-consuming people shooting near a hunting shack. One was cited for possessing drug paraphernalia.
CO Matt Frericks (Virginia) returned a mounted lynx to its owner when it was determined the pelt was legally purchased. A case where an individual had been receiving free angling and deer hunting licenses when he was not entitled to them is being investigated.
CO Jim Guida (Brainerd) responded when a trapper was threatened while standing on ice by an adjacent landowner. The trapper was helping out another landowner on the pond by removing the beaver that were damaging the trees on their property. A trapper harassment case is being investigated.
CO Tim Collette (Pequot Lakes) assisted with a truck that fell through the ice while pulling a large fish house. The occupants were able to get out and had a cold, wet walk to shore in sub-zero temps, but the truck and fish house remain in the lake.
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