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
CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte)
spent the week checking bear hunters and salmon anglers. Wahlstrom checked a bear camp where a fire was left unattended for most of the day. When the hunters were contacted, they did not think it was a problem since it rained sometime earlier that week. Theofficerhandled calls relating to a cougar and an elk sighting in the Tofte area. Wahlstrom continued to investigate a wanton waste case along with other bear hunting violations. Enforcement action was taken for transport untagged big game animal, fail to extinguish a fire and transport loaded firearms in a motor vehicle.
CO Darin Fagerman (Grand Marais)
checked hunters on the bear season opener. A few unregistered stations and a couple of instances of using non-biodegradable materials in a bait station, but overall, good compliance of the rules. The CO took care of a wounded bear, checked ATVs, and checked a few boats at accesses. The pink salmon are starting their spawning run in the rivers.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland)
saw an increase in wanton waste cases this bear season with some hunters taking very little meat with their bear pelt and dumping carcasses in fairly public places. Manning checked bear hunters and worked the start of the fall salmon run. CO Manning also checked area campgrounds and lakes during the long, cool holiday weekend.
CO Dan Thomasen (Two Harbors)
responded to a complaint of a sick wolf pup at a rural residence. The pup, suffering from mange and malnourishment, had to be removed from the property.
CO Thomas Sutherland (Grand Rapids)
encountered a hunter who took it upon himself to shoot a crow, but when Sutherland saw the bird he identified it as a raven, which is a federally protected bird.
CO Matt Frericks (Virginia)
observed a few hunters who thought it would be a good idea to drive onto a field they did not have permission to be on and shoot at a flock of geese from the back of a pick-up. Good reporting from the landowner led to enforcement action being taken for transporting a loaded firearm, using a motor vehicle to chase wildlife, shooting at wildlife from a motor vehicle, and trespassing.
Frericks also observed one angler struggling with a loon on the end of his line that had taken the angler’s minnow. Before the CO could get on the lake to assist, the angler pulled the loon in close enough and cut the line close to the hook. The juvenile loon was seen a short time later with the hook embedded in the back of its neck but appeared to be fine.
CO Jon Paurus (Hill City)
checked fishing and bear hunting activity. Cooler weather later in the week helped the bear hunters as several were successful. One hunter was contacted on his stand for hunting without a license. As the officer approached the hunter, who happened to be sitting 20 yards from a bear bait station, the hunter exclaimed he was just out “watching the bears because it’s the only way to see them anymore.” He then informed the CO that he just brought his rifle with in case he saw a coyote.
CO Mike Lee (Isle)
was called to a residence where a young skunk had gotten its head stuck in a Mountain Dew can. By unbelievable luck the skunk was removed from the can, and no one left smelling worse than when they got there. All it took was a paint pole, a garden rake, and just use your imagination.
Leave a Reply