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 Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte) checked trout anglers and snowmobiles. Fishing remains slow overall while a few anglers found the hot spots and ended up with their limit. The officer worked a snowmobile detail with area officers along the North Shore State Trail.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland) attended training in St Paul for female law enforcement officers. Manning also checked snowmobilers on the North Shore State Trail and handled paperwork.
CO Brad Johnson (Silver Bay) recovered a bobcat that was found dead in a local woodshed. The bobcat apparently died of starvation.
CO Don Bozovsky (Hibbing) was on his snowmobile a mere eight feet away from a stop sign when a snowmobiler with expired registration blew the stop sign and sped off at 85 mph. The officer got the driver stopped after two miles of following him. The driver had various excuses, but the officer was not impressed as he had racked up six violations while the officer was following him during his dangerous operation of a snowmobile.
CO Eugene Wynn (Pine City) received a call of a bear “stuck” in a culvert. After checking on the animal, it appeared to have made a culvert at a road intersection its winter hibernation spot.
CO Nikki Shoutz (Pine River) tracked down an owner of a fish shelter still on a Pine River lake (unoccupied) since the March 4 deadline. It appeared to be a miscommunication with a friend who was to remove it. When asked why there was no license on it, he said that when he put it out three months ago, it was just going to be an “overnight fishing trip.” Enforcement action was taken.
CO Tim Collette (Pequot Lakes) responded to a call of a small owl sitting on a garbage can at a rural residence. The property owner thought the bird was hurt because it would not fly. Collette approached the bird and the owl looked at him and flew away. It appeared to have been sleeping and flew away when CO Collette woke him up by walking over!
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