Although the Cook County News- Herald knows that the majority of sportsmen and women are lawabiding 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) checked whitefish netters, grouse hunters and a few people out on ATVs. Calls were taken on baited deer stands. While on an arson investigation in northwest Minnesota COs Grundmeier and Fagerman backed up a Marshall County deputy on an assault call with a loaded rifle involved.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland) attended a follow-up meeting on the accidental shooting of a DNR employee by a grouse hunter; the hunter took a poor shot on a curvy county road looking up a rise where he could not know what was beyond his target. Manning assisted Cook County with a wetlands site visit and checked additional waters cases. The officer also responded to a call from a man whose dog found a dead buck in his yard; the deer was tracked back to a bow hunter who thought he lost a very nice deer. CO Manning also finished up a class on active shooter response, issued road kill deer permits and answered numerous questions and phone calls on the upcoming wolf season.
CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte) assisted with instructing Use of Force at the academy at Camp Ripley. The officer completed the last day of Active Shooter training held in Silver Bay that was put on by the Border Patrol. Additional time was spent working small game hunters and checking for bait.
CO Joe Stattelman (Detroit Lakes) spent time following up on several complaints regarding baiting, illegal lending and borrowing of deer tags, and an overlimit of deer. After investigating a complaint, with the assistance of CO Al Peterson, three individuals were issued five citations totaling $2,655 in fines and restitution. Two bows, a 10-point buck, and a 13-point buck were seized. Both deer were taken with the aid of bait.
CO Al Peterson (Osage) assisted CO Stattelman on a TIP regarding an individual that had been bragging on Facebook about killing multiple trophy bucks. He was charged with overlimit of deer, baiting, and borrowing a license (illegal party hunting).
CO Brad Johnson (Silver Bay) worked a deer shining detail with neighboring officers. He investigated a deer baiting complaint and a wetlands violation. CO Johnson checked grouse hunters and ATVs during the week. He picked up a road-killed bear cub on Highway 61.
CO Dan Malinowski (Fosston) documented bait sites, worked a fire complaint and answered multiple questions about deer and wolf hunting. Some anglers are still out and skunks are active, looking for food and ending up in towns, yards, sheds and window wells, etc., causing concern.
CO Chris Vinton (Perham) reports checking trappers and deer hunters preparing for the deer season. A TIP call regarding placing bait and illegal waterfowl hunters were also investigated. Two accidentally taken fishers were turned in by a young trapper. CO Vinton provided some suggestions how to avoid catching fishers in the future.
Leave a Reply