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 Mary Manning (Hovland)
patrolled forest roads and trails checking moose and small game hunters. Manning patrolled area campgrounds and spent time extinguishing several campfires left smoldering by former occupants. Manning also checked anglers on inland lakes and rivers. Manning assisted DNR Wildlife, investigated ATV and public waters complaints, and patrolled area SNAs and WMAs. Enforcement action was taken for no ATV Safety Certificate and a parent allowing a child to ride an ATV without a helmet.
CO Darin Fagerman (Grand Marais)
reports that most of the moose hunters quit and didn’t show up for the last weekend. The CO encountered a non-hunter calling moose for a hunter which is not allowed. He also talked to a young hunter who was walking behind his mother with a shotgun. He was sweeping the muzzle of his gun back and forth across his mother’s back as they walked down a trail. Warnings for failing to wear hunter orange while hunting for small game were also given out. A few people had ATVs out putting up deer stands. The CO also did a wilderness patrol in the Boundary Waters.
While patrolling Lake Minnetonka CO
Aaron Kahre
stopped a boat that was going full speed through a no wake zone on the lake. When he stopped the boat, the driver told him it was an emergency. When asked what the emergency was, the driver told Kahre his partner had to use the bathroom. As the CO was issuing the appropriate paperwork, he informed the driver that a potty break was not an emergency. Later that evening, the same boat was fishing after sunset without any navigational lights. Adding to the boat owner’s misery was the fact that his partner did not have a fishing license.
CO Jeremy Woinarowicz (Thief River
Falls)
responded to a request from Pennington County to assist in a watercraft search for a Thief River Falls woman who had been missing for almost one year. Woinarowicz, along with a deputy, located the vehicle of the missing woman submerged in the Red Lake River in Thief River Falls. A search of the vehicle revealed the remains of a female presumed to be the missing individual, pending autopsy and DNA verification.
CO Daniel Baumbarger (Wheaton)
responded to a complaint of two individuals shooting turkeys without a license and transporting loaded firearms in a motor vehicle. When questioned why they had shot the turkeys, the individuals responded that with the new uncased gun law, they thought it was okay to transport the guns with ammunition in the magazine, and the turkeys were by the road so they took advantage of the situation.
CO Randy Hanzal (Duluth)
says thanks to a TIP call from an eyewitness, in addition to evidence found at the scene, two men did the honorary thing and confessed to the less than honorary shooting of a swan while waterfowl hunting. Fines and restitution for this case of mistaken identity will certainly provide additional incentive for obeying the creed of “knowing your target before you shoot” that most hunters follow.
Leave a Reply