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 he was very pleasantly surprised at the amount of grouse he saw during the second weekend of grouse season after a disappointing opener. Lots of activity was encountered over the weekend. People were out fly fishing for brook trout in the streams, fishing inland lakes, ATVing and canoeing. Bear and grouse hunters were also out in numbers. Mix that in with a few leaf lookers and bird watchers and the back roads were bustling with activity. One fellow learned the lesson the hard way, and in front of his young son, that it is not a good idea to carry a loaded shotgun on an ATV. A couple of calls on nuisance bears were taken.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland) checked grouse hunters and continued to work bear hunters. Vandalism that has plagued the county has moved into the woods with two apparent hunters on ATVs damaging signs and gates on the Boyd Road ATV Trail. An ATV club member nearly caught them and any information on the incident would be appreciated, as the money to repair the damage done would be better spent insuring access and improving trails for appreciative users.
CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte) was involved in an operation that took place in the BWCAW with area officers. Wahlstrom attended a meeting at Camp Ripley, handled bear complaints and other nuisance animal calls. Enforcement action was taken for ATV and angling violations.
CO Mitch Lawler (Alexandria) observed as a boat was leaving a lake with an out-of-season small mouth bass in the livewell, as none of the fishermen were aware the season had closed a week earlier. These avid fishermen were reminded to always check the regulation book before heading out and keeping fish. Another angler was very proud to tell Lawler at the boat access about his early morning muskie catch, however, it was found that he hadn’t yet purchased a fishing license for this year. Enforcement action was taken.
CO Tony Anderson (Morris) encountered one individual who was found to be using waste oil as a “fire starter.” He was advised that is not an accepted method to start a fire and received a citation.
CO Mark Fredin (Aurora) received a TIP call of possible duck hunters. The hunters were located and seen with duck decoys and a spinning wing decoy. The officer observed both hunters shoot. They were checked on shore and both stated duck hunting was poor. They had shot at a wood duck swimming and missed. They produced licenses and had a copy of waterfowl regulations with them. They were shown the opener date and both hunters’ jaws dropped.
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