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 deer hunters, trapping activity and grouse hunters during the week. A few people decided to put away the deer gun and either take out the grouse gun or get their fishing gear ready for early ice. Road hunters were dealt with and their disregard for what was beyond their target was discussed and enforcement action was taken. Herring and whitefish nets were also checked. CO Mary Manning (Hovland) checked deer hunters and patrolled for illegal shining activity. The officer followed up on a TIP complaint of a hunter in the highway right of way, hunting deer over bait and a hunter in the state game refuge. Manning also followed up on a dog chasing deer complaint and assisted Cook County with a call. CO Mitch Lawler (Alexandria) issued a citation to an individual who dumped his deer carcasses in a box in a local WMA. The box had some identifying information on it that helped in leading Lawler to the suspect’s house where he admitted to the dumping. CO Paul Parthun (Lake George) checked on some local anglers who reported the ice “sagging” when they stood too close to the hole. CO Larry Francis (Remer) assisted Cass County with a call regarding a potentially dumped “body.” The body turned out to be a deer carcass, wrapped in a tarp and thrown in a river. CO Dan Starr (Tower) heard an unbelievable fish tale: while talking with some outdoorsmen at a local tire shop, one of them started bragging about how well the walleyes were biting a month ago. Eager to show the CO pictures on his phone, it was found that the boisterous fisherman and his two buddies were over limit when the CO counted the walleyes in the picture. Enforcement action is pending. CO Don Bozovsky (Hibbing) received a call of an advertisement on Craig’s List wanting to trade a deer license for deer meat. The officer conducted a successful undercover trade, followed by a citation. CO Jim Tischler (Cuyuna Country) handled a complaint that a neighboring hunter was using dirty tricks and hanging dirty diapers to deter deer from coming to another hunter’s stand. The officer found the diaper to be a plastic bag tied to a tree to mark a trail to a stand.
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