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 hunters during the last week of the firearm deer season and worked complaints associated with deer hunting. ATV and baiting calls continue to be the biggest complaints amongst hunters. With the wind, cold and snow, hunters were having limited success and were heading out of the woods early this past weekend. The officer responded to an incidental trapped lynx in the Finland area and was able to release it without harm to either the lynx or the officer.
CO Darin Fagerman (Grand Marais) reports the ice fishing season is upon us in the northeast as some put away their deer rifles in favor of ice fishing rods. It is extremely important at this time of the year to check the ice conditions for yourself and not go by the word on the street. It was hard to tell that it was even deer season as morning wind chills at -19 kept most of the hunters out of the woods. Enforcement action was taken for driving an ATV on public roads after revokation, failure to register ATV and failure to display current registration.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland) checked deer hunters and followed up on baiting complaints. The officer took an early morning call for a 12-point buck that had been gored by another buck. The two bucks had been heard sparring in the field nearby the previous night and the homeowner was surprised to find that one of them had died near an outbuilding. One deer hunter reported that a wolf pack was spotted near his stand and he had seen nothing in over a week of hunting.
CO Gary Sommers (Walker) received a call regarding three swans frozen in the ice of an area lake, which froze the night before. He told the caller that it would be unsafe to attempt to rescue the swans and that it was possible that they were not frozen in at all. The reporting party called back in an hour and a half to report that he had watched the swans fly away.
CO Bret Grundmeier (Hinckley) investigated a couple of poaching cases that involved complete disregard for Minnesota hunting laws and the safety of others. One individual was caught bow hunting without a deer license on someone else’s land and while wearing no blaze orange. Another incident included a road hunter who shot and killed a deer he saw standing out in a farmer’s corn field. The road hunter stopped his vehicle on the county road, took aim through the driver’s door window and took the shot while still seated in his vehicle.
Contact local DNR Conservation Officers to report violations or ask questions:
Thomas
Wahlstrom
218-370-0244
Darin
Fagerman
218-387-9751
Mary
Manning
218-475-0121
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