Although the Cook County News-Herald knows
that the majority of sportsmen and women are
law-abiding folks, there are a few who 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 that grouse hunting started off with mixed results. Certain areas of the county are holding more grouse than others. Reports were poor to fair. Some grouse hunters are still blocking public roads with their vehicles while they hunt. This will not be tolerated by law enforcement. These roads are public and are open to everyone! Do not assume that there aren’t other users that need to come and go. Also, law enforcement, emergency rescue and fire equipment may need access to these roads. Many hunters put their shotguns away due to the warm weather and took out the fishing rods. Most designated trout lakes will remain slow until the weather cools. All hunters checked had their guns cased. Some ATVers continue to go around the gates in the Pendant Lake area. Stay out of closed areas.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland)
checked grouse hunters during the busy opener. Manning answered questions on the new uncased gun law from hunters and nonhunters. Theofficerattended a meeting with 1854 Treaty Authority officers, handled vehicle maintenance issues, and worked anglers and boaters on Lake Superior with CO Wahlstrom.
CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte)
checked small game and archery deer hunters on a very warm opener. Hunters saw few birds in the thick cover and warm weather. The officer followed up on bear hunting cases. Wahlstrom checked anglers on Lake Superior where a lot of nice-sized lake trout were caught. Thefishermen worked hard for just a few salmon bagged all weekend. The officer attended a joint operation meeting with area COs and 1854 Authority COs. While checking goose hunting activity near Badger, CO Ben Huener (Roseau)
was surprised to see a hunter allow a flock of geese to land in his decoys and walk around for a minute before flying away. After approaching the hunter, it was obvious that he had been sleeping when the geese landed.
CO Don Bozovsky (Hibbing)
observed waterfowl hunters on foot on a WMA. One individual returned to his vehicle, discovered the officer’s truck and everyone was alerted. Sticks were cut to install in the unplugged shotguns, but the officer approached just as the plugs were being installed and the guns assembled. Themoral of the story is to install the plug prior to the hunt. Enforcement action was taken on unplugged gun, toxic shot and a number of bear baiting violations.
CO Joel Heyn (Plainview)
ran into a group who learned it’s illegal to cut trees down for firewood in a WMA. A tree that they were cutting down fell on the hood of their pickup as Heyn pulled up.
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