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) did a remote patrol in the Boundary Waters. He then attended training at Camp Ripley. He also took a phone call from a property owner who stated a bear hunter set up his bear camp on her private property without permission.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland) spent most of the week assisting with fall in-service training for officers at Camp Ripley. Manning investigated a case of unlawful import of moose parts from Canada and worked with Canadian Conservation Officers on the case. The officer also assisted Cook County Sheriff and the U.S. Coast Guard in locating a pair of kayakers whose families were concerned for their safety in the stormy weather. The boaters were camped comfortably at a campsite on their planned route in an area with no cellular service.
CO Chris Vinton (Detroit Lakes) investigated a TIP call of a deer in a snare. The snare appeared to have been left out since last season and just recently snared the young buck as it tried to make a rub. There was no tag on the snare as required by law.
CO Greg Oldakowski (Wadena) received a report from a concerned citizen regarding a snapping turtle that was stuck in a water control structure in a dike system. With a little help from a citizen and a 2×4, the turtle was freed from the structure and rolled several yards through the structure in the current, before righting itself and crawling away on the bottom.
CO Don Bozovsky (Hibbing) dealt with a driver who was seen tossing garbage out the window of his vehicle. When stopped, the driver was found to have a suspended driver’s license and was in possession of drug paraphernalia and marijuana. When the officer asked why he threw out the garbage, he said he was just making room in his van
CO Joyce Kuske (Little Falls) checked on two waterfowl hunters who were pretty happy with the success they had in shooting almost a limit of mallards and teal. Unfortunately they learned the hard way that they should have read the regulations pertaining to city parks prior to heading out. One of the hunters remarked, “Oh, so that’s why no one else is hunting here and we didn’t hear any other shots this morning.”
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