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) worked a Lake Superior detail with Officer Guida and checked bear baits during the week. The CO took complaints on hunters and guides coming in and baiting where bait had already been set by another hunter. He checked remote inland designated trout lakes by ATV. He also took reports of active wolves killing a couple of dogs, killing some chickens and attacking a calf during the week, all in the same vicinity west of Grand Marais. Enforcement action was taken for dumping fish guts into the lake and for cleaning a fish with size restrictions on the lake.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland) attended LOCKUP instructor training at Camp Ripley. The training will be used to enhance the safety of DNR enforcement officers through the teaching of arrest and control techniques during future in-service trainings. The officer also patrolled Lake Superior and its boat accesses.
CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte) attended an advanced firearms instructor training at Camp Ripley. The officer checked bear bait stations, ATVs and anglers.
CO Shane Osborne (Evansville) took a complaint of goose hunters trespassing on private property. When the assisting deputy asked the hunters why they were trespassing when they were told by the landowner the night before that they couldn’t hunt, they replied they thought the landowner was not being truthful about who owned the property.
CO Jeff Johanson (Osakis) caught and cited a man, again, for fishing without a license (the second time in eight months). The same man was also cited for hunting deer without a license last fall.
CO Don Bozovsky (Hibbing) reports that a frightened weasel was seen imitating a flying squirrel and took a jump off the edge of a 20-foot bridge.
CO Tom Hemker (Winona) got many rattlesnake calls during the week including one where a person shot a snake with a BB gun as it went into his garage.
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