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) spent the past week following up on past investigations. He monitored ATV complaint areas, which resulted in enforcement action.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland) patrolled area forest roads and trails. She checked a few archery deer hunters and grouse hunters. Lake ice conditions still vary. Manning also followed up on a couple cases from the summer and fall in addition to handling equipment maintenance.
CO Kylan Hill (Tofte) reports checking early ice anglers in the area. Ice thickness varies between 2 and 6 inches. Water flowage may make ice dangerous so be sure to look at a map ahead of time to determine areas that may carry a higher danger. Walleyes, crappies, and sunfish were seen in the bag. Equipment maintenance was handled with the upcoming change of the seasons. A person was contacted for illegally burning garbage in a burn barrel.
CO Chris Vinton (Perham) and COC Vincent Brown spent time checking the area for early ice anglers. Enforcement action was taken for fishing with no license in possession. With anglers venturing out despite thin ice and large areas of open water, Vinton and Brown remind anglers to be cautious. It is recommended that you carry ice picks, wear approved flotation devices, and have safety plans in place.
CO Shane Zavodnik (Cook), along with CO Kittelson and COC Simonson, responded to a complaint involving a party retrieving a dead deer on private property. After further investigation, the passenger was found to have taken a doe in a lottery zone without the appropriate license, had failed to validate and attach the tag, and had registered it as a buck because they knew a doe could not be legally taken with that license. During the course of the interview, the known driver, whose driving privileges are cancelled, pulled into the driveway with the suspected pickup truck that transported the illegally shot deer. He also had the strong odor of alcohol coming from him and was ultimately found to be under the influence of alcohol. Enforcement action, including a DWI arrest and the seizure of a rifle, deer, and a motor vehicle, was taken during the course of the investigation.
CO Amber Ladd (McGregor) followed up on big-game cases and patrolled for bough-cutting activity.
CO Dan Starr (Onamia) saw a quiet end to the deer rifle season and a busy start to the muzzleloader season. Some ice anglers were observed on very sketchy ice with open water not far away. The overall consensus among First Responders is that a fish is not worth risking human lives. Starr received a call late at night from an obviously intoxicated muzzleloader hunter who wanted him to settle a hunting party argument.
CO James Fogarty (Prior Lake) checked hunters and anglers during the last week of the firearms deer season. Fogarty observed several people angling for trout during the closed season. In checking these anglers, it was found two of the three did not have angling licenses and one did not have a trout stamp. The anglers were fishing right next to a designated trout lake sign. Several ATV violations were observed, including youth riding without helmets, no registration and failure to display registration. Fogarty responded to a report of an owl shot in the city of Shakopee. Fogarty determined the owl had hit the overhead electrical lines and was not shot. Education and enforcement action was taken for angling without a license, angling for trout during the closed season and failure to display ATV registration.
CO Pilot Bob Geving (Mankato) flew big-game support flights. Geving also assisted ground units with hunting enforcement during days of inclement weather.
Standby Pilot CO Tim Gray (Bemidji) looked for timber theft sites and had the plane prepared for winter flying.
CO Chad Thesing (Albany) worked on deer cases and checked anglers, muzzleloader and archery deer hunters. A few duck hunters were out for the close of the duck season. One deer-season investigation resulted in a citation for illegal party hunting, among other violations. After the case was done, the hunter went and got a photo album that had a photo of the suspect and Thesing posing with his first buck that he got five years ago when Thesing checked him. The illegal deer meat was donated to an area food shelf.
CO Matt Miller (Lake Superior Marine Unit) wrapped up cases from the firearms deer season. Commercial cisco netters were checked as they wrapped up their season. Even the cisco meat and roe markets are being impacted by COVID-related closures. Enforcement action was taken for ATV and big-game violations.
Contact local DNR Conservation Officers to report violations or ask questions:
Thomas Wahlstrom
218-370-0244
Kylan Hill
218-387-4393
Mary Manning
218-387-5285
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