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) spent the week checking bear baiting activity. Nuisance wildlife calls continue to come in and were dealt with. ATV activity was worked throughout the week as well.
CO Darin Fagerman (Grand Marais) continued to check bear baiting activity, guides and soon-to-be hunters. Questions on nuisance bears were answered. An ATV patrol led the CO back into very remote areas and many of the designated trout lakes were found to be empty.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland) again helped teach firearms and arrest and control tactics at annual training at Camp Ripley. Manning also checked bear bait stations prior to the start of the season on Tuesday, ATVs and anglers, and took calls on nuisance bears.
CO David Schottenbauer (Silver Bay) noticed the sound of air leaving his truck tire while out on a traffic stop. He was able to find a safe place to change the tire off the highway. It was turning out to be a rough day but when he pulled out of the parking area he happened to check an angler who had showed up while he was working, only to find the angler was without a license or a required trout stamp. Rough day for all.
CO Anthony Bermel (Babbitt) came upon an angler who was trolling crankbaits, and as the CO approached he quickly tried to subtly reel in his second line. When the angler realized he wasn’t going to get all the line in before getting caught, he broke the line. Not only did he fail to get out of the extra line citation, he was out a $9 Rapala.
CO Tom Hemker (Winona) received a call from a person in his late 70s who was going to start hunting and fishing and had many license questions. He called back the following day and wanted to know why Hemker was not at the sporting store to sell him his licenses. They went through the process a second time.
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