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) checked hunters during the opening weekend of firearms deer season. The number of hunters was down, but a few hunters had pretty good luck. A couple of hunters who got bucks stated that they were chasing does and appeared to be in the rut. The CO checked one hunter who was just leaving his truck to head to his stand without any orange on. A quick donning of the orange remedied the situation. The CO dealt with several whitefish netting violations during the week. Nets were set too deep, wrong/no names on the nets, and nets too close to others.
CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte) worked the whitetail deer opener. Several contacts were made with people hunting over bait. Citations were issued and firearms were seized. The majority of the other contacts the CO made went without incident. Hunters were enjoying the nice weather and some even bagged a deer. Enforcement action was taken for unregistered ATV, hunt over bait, WMA violations and illegal operation of an ATV.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland) checked deer hunters during a warm opening weekend. Baiting continues to be an issue and several hunters received paperwork and were relieved of their firearms for trying to get an unfair advantage over other hunters. The officer assisted Cook County with a chainsaw vs. operator accident and with a car vs. deer accident where a driver swerved to avoid a deer and nearly killed himself and his pets when he ran off the road into a ravine. Enforcement action included hunting deer over bait, permanent hunting stands in a WMA, and numerous ATV violations. CO Ben Huener (Roseau) took enforcement action on a party of hunters whose pile of beets outside their cabin aided their hunt from the deer stands. A call was taken for a poached timber wolf, but it turned out to be a coyote.
CO Brice Vollbrecht (Bemidji) worked with DNR Forestry and the county attorney on a timber trespass which included the illegal cutting of over 7,000 black spruce tops.
CO Duke Broughten (Longville) responded to a call of a person found unconscious near a trail with a loaded firearm. After further investigation it was found the individual was under the influence of alcohol. Broughten arrested the individual for hunting while intoxicated.
CO Tim Collette (Pequot Lakes) handled one incident where somebody drove into another camp and cut down a hanging buck, loaded it in their pickup and drove away.
CO Joyce Kuske (Little Falls) with help from another officer followed up on a hunter who had taken a deer during archery season, did not register it and purchased a duplicate archery tag to keep hunting. Unfortunately the hunter also had a felony warrant from another state. The guy’s hunting buddy also got interviewed and was found to not have registered his deer.
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