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 the blueberry crop is shaping up nicely. On the same subject, bears seem to be everywhere and will provide competition for nature’s bounty. The CO has never seen so many bears and the complaints are starting to roll in. It is long overdue to put the birdseed and garbage away. A snowsquall reminded the CO that summer is not quite here yet. Cedar waxwings are taking over the budding apple trees. Geese are still making their way north and the grouse are still drumming. A couple of wolves came to the shoreline to investigate the noise of a running boat motor.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland) attended tech training in St. Paul. The officer also discovered that a local cat owner decided to beautify area overlooks with grocery bags of used litter. Anyone with info should contact Manning. The officer handled a road-killed moose, checked inland anglers and ATV operators, and spoke with boaters about aquatic invasive species.
CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte) reports walleye fishing was decent late in the night this past week on a few area lakes. Anglers were happy pulling in ’eyes and not dealing with the normal swarm of mosquitos due to the cold weather lately. The officer responded to nuisance bear calls and road-killed deer. Enforcement action was taken for failure to illuminate navigation lights, insufficient PFDs, license and registration violations.
CO Brice Vollbrecht (Bemidji) investigated a nuisance bear complaint with area wildlife staff that involved a dog being killed. It was unclear if the dog had been killed by the bear or another animal.
CO Greg Oldakowski (Wadena) provided assistance to local law enforcement with a sick calf. It was unknown if it was shot or attacked by an animal, but was found to have odd medical issues. CO Jeff Halverson (Staples) handled bear complaints; one bear chased off a guy mowing his yard and then took a bite of his gas can.
CO Randy Hanzal (Duluth) reports that complaints continue of people keeping illegal length fish on one local lake. Several cases were made on people keeping walleyes outside of the slot limit. One angler was caught using extra lines even though he had hand-painted his bobbers matte gray in an effort to hide them from the CO’s watchful eyes; however, good optic and a steady hand proved to be no match against the poacher’s efforts.
CO Jim Guida (Brainerd) responded to a watercraft inspector’s request for assistance after a boater and his buddy told him that they don’t need to submit to watercraft and equipment inspection prior to launching at a public water access and also to stop harassing him. The angler was identified and issued a citation and now faces fines for the violation.
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