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 it was hard to tell if deer season was going on or not. Very few hunters were in the field. Some hunters contacted reported lots of wolf activity and sightings as they responded to bleat calls more than the deer did. Now that the traffic has died down, grouse can again be seen as they’ve come out of hiding. Those that have taken out the shotgun again report good success. Enforcement action was taken for riding ATVs outside of deer hunter hours, driving off road vehicles on snowmobile trails, and for failing to remove a bear bait station within 48 hours after close of season.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland) continued to check deer hunters and hunting stands as weather finally turned a bit cooler. The officer followed up on a couple situations in which folks have treated public lands as their own – in one case constructing a shelter, cook area, and bedframes from surrounding trees and in another driving over a berm blocking a closed roadway and preparing a building site.
CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte) worked big game, small game and ATV enforcement. The officer responded to calls related to state park and ATV violations. Enforcement action was taken for transporting loaded firearms and illegal ATV use.
CO Gary Forsberg (Pelican Rapids) responded when a hunter reported that a member of his party may have accidently mistaken a stray cow for a deer and shot it. A check of the free ranging livestock found no harm to the animals. The shooter was very happy that it was a miss. The rules of firearms safety were covered with the shooter for the next time a cow wanders by.
CO Scott Staples (Carlton) assisted with the search and rescue of a person who fell out of his canoe on the St. Louis River and was stranded on a rock in the middle of the river.
CO Bret Grundmeier (Hinckley) reports that one group of hunters tried to get away with shooting deer in the middle of the night while driving down the road. Unfortunately for the poachers, a property owner watched the illegal activity and helped officers make the arrest.
CO Paul Kuske (Pierz) investigated TIP information about a person who was taking extra deer. Kuske found the person to be in possession of a used deer tag, all cleaned up and nicely folded with his license. When asked why he had the used tag with him he couldn’t remember why. Asked if he was planning to try and reuse the tag the response was, “Oh no, I won’t do anything like that.”
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