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) reports that grouse season started out to a slow start as hunters found birds to be very scarce. A couple of people found pockets of birds and reported good success, but most found the early season to be disappointing. A few bear hunters were checked and one area where some garbage was left behind was investigated. Another call of a wolf coming after a couple of dogs was taken during the week.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland) continued to work bear hunters and check bait stations. The officer assisted with regional tactics training and firearms qualifications in Hibbing. Manning also worked a busy grouse opener and took calls on deer feeding, nuisance beaver and the high concentration of human feces being left near a popular beach area on Lake Superior’s shoreline.
CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte) worked area bear hunting activity and the small game opener. Hunters had limited success with harvesting birds. Time was also spent working a project in the BWCAW.
CO Matt Loftness (Marshall) received a call of a great horned owl that had gotten into a pigeon coop and was trapped. Luckily, with assistance from the landowner, he was able to capture the owl and release it back into the woods. The pigeons in the coop were not so lucky after spending the night with the owl.
CO Al Peterson (Osage) followed a deer hunter and checked the camp where the morning kill was hanging without a tag. While issuing a citation, his brother drove into camp with a second untagged deer. A second citation was issued.
CO Mark Fredin (Aurora) received calls about a bear cub “hanging out” along a roadway ditch. People are stopping to feed the bear, the caller is concerned it’s going to get hit by a car. The mother has been seen in the area but the enticement of food is too desirable to the cub.
CO Marty Stage (Ely) was with officers who traveled into the BWCAW on a complaint of a burnt tent. The reporting party placed an X on the map to show officers where the site was. The exact location of the site was searched, but nothing was found. Further investigation is pending.
Leave a Reply