Although the Cook County News- Herald knows that the majority of sportsmen and women are lawabiding 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) had another very busy weekend in the woods with many grouse hunters commenting that they have never seen so many people around. Now that the leaves are gone, it is safe to say this grouse season will not be near as good as last year. Also, the CO has rarely seen a young bird in the bag. It doesn’t appear too many of them made it through to this point. Enforcement action was taken for loaded shotguns and no federal waterfowl stamp.
CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte) spent time working on his patrol ATV checking hunters with other officers during a work detail. Several violations were encountered during the detail. Wahlstrom responded to wildlife calls and followed up on investigations.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland) checked anglers on area lakes and checked abandoned bear bait sites. A report was taken of an injured moose but the animal was gone by the time the officer arrived in the area. Manning also participated in an ATV work detail in the Silver Bay/Finland area; traffic was heavy over MEA weekend and compliance was generally good. Enforcement action was taken for transporting loaded firearms in motor vehicles and failure to display ATV registrations.
CO Brice Vollbrecht (Bemidji) checked waterfowl hunters on several different lakes in the area. One group of hunters was observed chasing waterfowl with a boat so an individual on shore could shoot them.
CO Duke Broughten (Longville) received a call of a person suspecting a waterfowl hunter of shooting a seagull. During the investigation it was found the suspected seagull was a snow goose.
CO Sean Williams (Ely) received a complaint over the week of a boat left tied to a dock on a local lake for several days. After investigating he was able to get into contact with the owner who said that he didn’t have a trailer for the boat but would go immediately and remove it. When he arrived at the landing he found that the motor had been stolen from the boat sometime overnight. Violations included storing a boat at a public landing, and trespass.
CO Brad Johnson (Maplewood) received calls about a muskrat in a window well and a deer tangled in a hammock.
CO Mike Gruhlke (Jackson) got a call on day 1 of the MEA break on an eight-point and a 10-point buck tangled up by their antlers. At mid-day they attempted to free the animals with sticks that they found in the area, but because the sticks were not rigid enough and long enough they could not get the leverage they needed to complete the task. Later in the afternoon Gruhlke responded to the area with a two-piece ice chisel and a canoe paddle. With these two tools they cautiously separated the two deer. After some time, the antlers were pried apart and almost immediately the 10-point buck jumped to his feet and left the area. Within approximately 20 minutes the eight-point buck got up and ran away as well.
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