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 deer hunters, trappers and ice fishermen. A few anglers are making their way out onto the ice with some nice fish caught. The firearm deer season wrapped up with a foggy and rainy day. Many hunters were discouraged with the low deer numbers along the shore. Complaints were handled and investigations were followed up on.
CO Darin Fagerman
(Grand Marais) reports a significant increase in wolf sign compared to the last two deer seasons. Many of the tracks seen were from packs and scent marking spots were common during the last couple of weeks. Many of the shallow lakes were checked by the CO and he found 4-7 inches of ice on the lakes he checked. Use caution on all lakes especially the deeper ones that take longer to freeze. If you feel you must venture out, ice picks and throwing on a life jacket would be good ideas. The warmest weather of the deer season couldn’t coax hunters out on the last weekend as most had given up. Early ice walleye fishing has been good so far.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland)
took a report of a vehicle dragging a beaver; the carcass was located along with a number of others intended as bait for the upcoming wolf hunt. The officer checked deer hunters and several stands and blinds; few successful hunters were encountered. The officer also checked ice anglers, who reported better success
CO Don Bozovsky (Hibbing)
closed out the firearms deer season just the way it started, with a deer baiting case. Snow aided in the case as a deer was shot over bait the previous day. All the evidence was easy to follow, including the destination of the illegally taken deer via an ATV to the hunter’s house. ATV tracks were also followed over a mile into a “Hunter Walking Only” access area where two hunters were installing a huge deer stand, aided with the ATV. Enforcement action was taken on hunting deer over baited areas, multiple transport loaded firearms, deer over limit, unlawful party hunting, operate ATV during restricted times, operate ATV in prohibited area (hunter walking area) and unregistered ATV.
CO Mark Fredin (Aurora)
finished up the week’s deer season with does being shot from roadways and fields. One individual found in possession of a doe stated that while in his stand an injured doe ran by and he let it go knowing not to shot does, but later found it dead and harvested it. The bullet hole in the doe’s side clearly shows cause of death. Most hunters who did not see deer stated wolf signs were everywhere and wished more wolves would be removed.
CO Scott Staples (Carlton)
gave assistance to the sheriff ’s office when it was reported that a hunter accidentally shot himself in the foot while climbing out of a stand. Later, a person came in to the local DNR office to report a large hairy object in the ditch of I-35 near Cloquet. After the individual nervously asked several questions about Bigfoot, the area was checked and no large hairy object was found.
CO Caleb Silgjord (Sauk Centre)
assisted the State Patrol with a bear that had been struck on I-94. The bear, a large male, was estimated to be about 350 pounds and totaled out a full-size pickup truck. The bear was donated to a local organization and the meat will hopefully be salvaged.
CO Chad Thesing (Albany)
conducted a TIP complaint investigation and found that a suspect hit a large buck with his car in September, took the deer without a permit and saved it for his work’s big buck contest. The suspect shot a small 6-point buck during gun season, then used his tag for the car-hit buck and brought the head to work to win the contest. Enforcement action was taken and the deer was seized.
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