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 Mary Manning (Grand Marais East) checked anglers and fishing shelters. Ice conditions are still extremely varied throughout the region and more snow is needed for snowmobile trails to be ready for riding. The officer also assisted another victim of the cell phone map app…a delivery truck ended up stuck several miles inland on an unplowed forest road. The driver showed the officer the phone with the route displayed – including a stretch of an old, impassable logging road; it was quite a few miles from his destination right on Lake Superior! Officer Manning was able to help the driver and the responding tow truck find a place to turn both large vehicles around and get back to civilization.
CO Darin Fagerman (Grand Marais) reports eight to 10 inches of good clear ice on most of the small lakes. While it is said that no ice is safe ice, this is a good start. For such a beautiful weekend, with snow and good ice, there was hardly a person out enjoying it. A few ice anglers were checked as were some snowshoers out looking for that perfect Christmas tree. One muzzleloader hunter thought it was a good idea to park his truck on an access road to block entry from other hunters. Enforcement action was taken.
CO Don Bozovsky (Hibbing) investigated when a hunter dumped deer carcasses on the side of the road. Evidence led the officer to one of the hunters and it turned out that besides the littering violation, two hunters also had not registered their deer. The officer checked on the status of a person who had not returned to his vehicle for days. The officer found the person winter camping half-a-mile away and doing fine.
CO Marty Stage (Ely) checked lakes and ice conditions and found some lakes to be a bit alarming; the local area had Ely people dropping fish houses and trucks though the ice, so be smart. One fellow coming up from the cities was convinced that there was a foot of ice and that it was all safe. He had a load of ATVs on a trailer and didn’t seem convinced when the officer told him otherwise. Just because the ice is all white now doesn’t mean it is safe. Don’t fall for that common misconception.
CO Tricia Plautz (Henning) was called about a nuisance snowy owl getting an individual’s chickens, and turned it over to wildlife staff.
CO Luke Croatt (Wealthwood) reports that a passerby saw just an ice bucket and auger on the ice and figured the owner fell through, but he was later found on shore.
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