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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) worked the bear opener and busy Labor Day weekend. The season started out slow with the warm weather and then quickly picked up as the temperatures dropped. He also worked area trout lakes. Enforcement action was taken for an overlimit of stream trout, extra lines, and bear-hunting violations.
CO Kylan Hill (Tofte) reports a busy week in Cook County as fall activities are in full swing. Due to abundant natural foods, Hill was concerned the bear harvest would be relatively low over the first few days of the season. However, Hill was pleasantly surprised that the majority of hunters were successful. Although there are still hunters with empty tags, there have been opportunities. A hunter was warned after a few candy wrappers were found in their bait site. Numerous ATV riders were stopped for headlight and registration violations, and traffic stops were initiated for boat plug violations. An uptick of fly anglers was seen.
CO Victoria Griffith (Isle) spent time checking bear hunters and anglers and responding to complaints. The ATV trails were busy during the weekend. Assistance was given on an ATV accident on the Red Top Trail and at a firearms safety class. Enforcement action was taken for various ATV violations and unregistered bear baits. Griffith stopped a car driving down an ATV trail. The driver stated that he did not notice the large, Soo Line Trail sign, but noticed the road seemed a little bumpy.
CO Sean Williams (Ely #1) received several complaints about an individual camping at a public water access in the Ely area. When he arrived he found that not only was the individual camping at the access but they had also used a chainsaw to cut several trees down in order to make their spot more open. Violations for the week included angling without a license in possession, camping in a PWA, and cutting trees within a PWA.
CO Ben Huener (Roseau) checked bear, goose and teal hunters as well as boaters and anglers on Lake of the Woods and Lake Bronson. Some bear hunters have had success, but in general, bears are hard to come by with all of the natural foods on the landscape. Violations for the week included waterfowl hunters who shot early, killed wood ducks out of season, killed seagulls and a tern, possessed lead while waterfowl hunting, hunted with an unplugged shotgun, and hunted without a small game license and/or state and federal waterfowl stamps.
CO Demosthenes Regas (Blackduck South) reports working bear-hunting opener, early teal season and early goose season this past week. Time was spent checking anglers and monitoring boating activity on station lakes through the Labor Day holiday. Regas reports while on patrol he encountered an escaped captive white-tailed deer running with the wild heard. Efforts to locate the deer and determine where it may have come from continue. Violations encountered and addressed this past week include unregistered bear baits and a group of ATV riders operating on a state highway to avoid a muddy section of the designated ATV trail.
CO Jim Guida (Brainerd East) worked a busy holiday weekend with a focus on sport fishing, boating, all-terrain vehicle, migratory waterfowl, and bear-hunting activities. Guida addressed an off-highway motorcycle operator illegally operating in the public road ditch. A burning complaint was investigated. The landowner had been warned in 2018 for a similar violation but this time received a citation for the illegal burning. There were bottles, broken glass, iron, aluminum, wire, and plastics in the smoldering fire.
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