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 (Grand Marais) investigated a wetland complaint and checked bear-hunting activity. He followed up on a trespass complaint and worked AIS. Enforcement action was taken for ATV, firearms, big-game and wetland violations.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland) had a busy week with bear hunters and ATV operators. Bear hunters are reporting good success and nuisance-bear calls keep rolling in. Campers at one forest campground reported cleaning up after the previous guests, and one bear hunter decided to dump the animal’s carcass along a roadside. Anglers are reminded to check the regulation book before they wet a line, and to be sure they can correctly identify fish.
CO Kylan Hill (Tofte) reports an extremely high success rate among hunters as bears are hitting baits very hard. Hill has seen multiple bears throughout the station and nuisance reports are still coming in along the North Shore. Hill handled a few bait-registration violations as a few hunters did not provide the required information in their mail-in bait registrations. ATV traffic has also picked up tremendously and Hill must reiterate to users that juveniles under the age of 18 must wear a helmet. Multiple guardians went home with citations after Hill stopped them for operating with helmetless juveniles. Hill assisted the local sheriff’s office by apprehending a suspect in an assault that occurred in Lutsen.
CO Clint Fitzgerald (Rochester #2) spent the past week focusing on anglers and early goose hunters. Fitzgerald received a complaint about two mature bucks that were locked together in a bean field. Fitzgerald met CO Annette Kyllo at the scene and saw that the bucks were still actively fighting. After a short period, the bucks crashed through the woods and into a creek. The larger buck pinned the smaller buck under the water until it drowned. The larger buck then started to get pulled under by the weight of the dead buck. Fitzgerald waded into the creek and grabbed the buck’s antlers to keep its head above water. Kyllo used a saw to cut two tines off the still-living buck and the two deer were separated. The surviving buck climbed out of the creek after a few minutes of catching its breath and departed the area.
CO Demosthenes Regas (Blackduck South) reports checking bear and early season goose hunters, as well as boaters and anglers on special regulation lakes this past week. Time was spent patrolling area ATV trails, monitoring wild rice harvest activity and assisting the sheriff’s office with a call of suicidal male with a firearm. A report of a landowner shooting at wildlife from his dock was investigated. The investigation revealed one of the tenants saying that the resident had been shooting ducks because they had become a nuisance for defecating on the landowner’s dock. The suspect was identified and the carcasses of two hooded mergansers were recovered where they had been discarded. Enforcement action was taken for taking waterfowl out of season as well as several other violations involved. Additional violations encountered and addressed this past week included failure to pay the surcharge for bear bait barrels, possession of lead shot (toxic shot) while waterfowl hunting and assorted angling and boating equipment violations.
CO Angie Warren (Mahnomen) worked angling and boating activity. AIS inspections were performed for compliance. Areas were checked for bear-hunting activity. Early goose hunting was worked with few hunters and few birds out and about. Patrol was conducted for ATV and off-road vehicle activity. A call of a bear cub in a field was received and the caller was advised to leave the cub alone as the mother will usually return.
CO Don Bozovsky (Hibbing) worked anglers and boaters, as well as the bear and early goose hunting openers. Bozovsky also worked on state park enforcement and issued public waters and Wetland Conservation Act resource protection notifications for fill that was placed in wetlands and culverts that were installed in a river without a permit. A bear hunter with an unregistered ATV was stopped. As Bozovsky approached, the hunter had to be told repeatedly to take his hand away from his side, as he kept putting it back to his right beltline. Bozovsky’s suspicion was correct, and the man was carrying a loaded handgun. Bozovsky explained that reaching for his gun was not a good idea. The nearby truck, driven by a friend, had transported a loaded bear-hunting rifle for the hunter in the truck. Both were cited. Enforcement action was taken for transporting a loaded firearm, bear-baiting violations, untagged bear, a fishing license violation, OHV trespass and numerous ATV and boating violations.
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