Photo courtesy of Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Greeley posing with one of the bears that was recovered from his freezer during the investigation leading to charges for poaching. Greeley did not have a valid license when shooting this bear.
A Minnesota bear guide faces significant fines and restitution after recently pleading guilty in Cook and Faribault county district courts to illegally hunting bear, deer and other animals. This follows a multi-year Department of Natural Resources poaching investigation.
Brandon R. Greeley, 28, a resident of Blue Earth and a licensed bear guide in Tofte, is well known to DNR conservation officers in northern and southern Minnesota as a chronic poacher with previous fishing, trapping and hunting violations.
After the latest investigation wrapped up, Greeley was convicted of several gross misdemeanor and misdemeanor charges, fined nearly $4,000, and his hunting privileges were revoked for three years.
Conservation officers began investigating Greeley in 2012, and it became apparent that he violated game laws involving bear, deer, furbearing animals and fish.
Greeley’s illegal activities with clients included reports of not having the proper zone license to hunt bear in a given area, illegally transferring a bear tag, failure to register a bear, and lending a bear license. Multiple other bear violations, committed by other hunters, were also detected during the extensive investigation.
Greeley was also accused of shooting two bears in 2012 without a license and using a client’s bear tag. DNR records indicate that the client’s tag had been used to register four bears from 2007-2011, but the client had only taken two bears and couldn’t account for the registration of the additional bears.
Greeley convinced four clients, including two juveniles, to buy tags for the wrong zone when they weren’t drawn for the zone Greeley guides in. Another client without a bear license videotaped himself shooting a bear and bragging about it. That bear was tagged by the hunter’s father. Officers obtained a search warrant on that hunter’s residence and seized a bear rug. Three search warrants executed at properties owned by Greeley and his parents in Blue Earth, Winnebago and Tofte uncovered a bevy of illegal game. This evidence provided investigative leads from the Iowa border area to northern Minnesota to Mississippi, and involved multiple emails and pictures of unlawful natural resources activities.
Investigators seized more than 100 items during the searches, including over 150 traps, six black bear hides, multiple deer quarters, fish and other furbearing animals. Over the next several months after the search warrants, conservation officers spent a considerable amount of time combing through evidence, detecting violation after violation. Officers then worked closely with prosecutors in both Cook and Faribault counties to have Greeley charged.
During recent sentencing in Cook County, Greeley was convicted of a gross misdemeanor involving the unlawful transportation of wild animals and ordered to pay fines and restitution of $2,420. Greeley was also convicted of a misdemeanor involving the illegal take of deer without a hunting license. In both instances Greeley was ordered by Judge Michael Cuzzo not to be present in any hunting camp; not be in the field or accompany or assist any other hunters, including but not limited to, guiding, transporting, baiting, scouting, or possession of big game; and not to engage in any hunting, guiding, or outfitting activities. Greeley will also lose hunting privileges for three years.
In Faribault County, Greeley was convicted of misdemeanor illegal taking, buying, selling, transporting, or possessing of protected wild animals and faces $1,495 in fines and restitution.
“Minnesotans can be proud of these officers whose hard work, long nights, and nonstop investigative efforts have paid off,” said Colonel Ken Soring, DNR Enforcement Division director. “Poachers steal from honest hunters, anglers, and all of us who responsibly enjoy our state’s natural riches.”
Minnesotans are reminded to be on the lookout for game and fish violations and report them to the Turn In Poachers (TIP) hotline at 800-652-9093. Cell phone users can dial #TIP. Informants can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward.
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