District 1 – Baudette area
CO Ben Huener (Roseau) checked deer-hunting activity. Violations for the week included locating wild animals with an artificial light while in possession of firearm, taking deer without a license, illegal party hunting, transporting a loaded firearm, shooting from the road, transporting an illegally taken big-game animal, trespass, taking deer with the aid of bait, failure to register deer, a deer overlimit, taking deer with an invalid license, failure to validate a deer license, and transporting untagged deer.
CO Jeremy Woinarowicz (Thief River Falls) continued monitoring firearms deer hunters in the area. Although ice has formed on area rivers, extreme caution should be used if attempting to angle through the ice.
CO Demosthenes Regas (Blackduck) worked ATV/ORV enforcement and deer-hunting activity and checked early ice anglers throughout the week. Time was spent handling several calls about car-killed deer, issuing possession permits, and attending training in St Paul.
CO Nicholas Prachar (Blackduck) worked with CO Vollbrecht and his COC, along with Beltrami County and local first responder groups, on an early ice rescue on Upper Red. Be sure to check ice conditions prior to venturing out on seemingly safe ice.
District 2 – Bemidji area
CO Tim Gray (Bagley) checked firearms deer hunters, flew with a DNR pilot to look for violations, and answered questions about small game.
CO Brice Vollbrecht (Bemidji) and COC Shane Zavodnik had another busy week of deer-hunter activity. One hunter was so desperate to get a big buck this year that he ended up shooting an 8-pointer on his neighbor’s field. When the neighbor went out to check where the shot came from, the suspect was seen running across the neighbor’s field, back to his house, leaving the deer behind. When Vollbrecht and Zavodnik arrived at the scene, it was clear from the boot prints in the snow that he had run from the field straight to the back patio of his house. The suspect was interviewed and he quickly admitted to shooting the 8-pointer, stating that “the antlers got in my head and I took the shot without thinking.” On Saturday evening the COs also responded to call about fishermen who were stranded on the ice at Upper Red Lake. The individuals were safely brought back to shore by emergency responders. Their fish house, augers, and other gear were recovered by the COs in the Enforcement Division airboat.
CO Chris Vinton (Perham) captured a trumpeter swan that was unable to fly on the softball field of a local school. The swan was released on the river with other swans and appeared to be faring well.
CO Angie Warren (Mahnomen) spent time on small-game and pheasant-hunting activity. Hunters reported seeing few birds.
District 3 – Fergus Falls area
CO Troy Richards (Fergus Falls) fielded calls about deer bonus tags for multiple seasons and general deer-hunting questions. Goose hunters continue to have good success around the area and ice fishing has started. As always, be sure to check the ice if venturing out and use extreme caution.
CO Tricia Plautz (Henning) and COC Annette Kyllo report following up on firearms deer season investigations. One of the most common violations encountered this past week was failure to register deer.
CO Brian Holt (Osakis) followed up on cases from the firearms deer season and monitored waterfowl hunting. He also investigated a TIP complaint. Holt assisted CO Mathy in helping some duck hunters off of Cass Lake. They were having engine troubles on a very cold day.
District 4 – Walker area
CO Randy Posner (Staples) reports working on deer-hunting enforcement this past week. Complaints reported and investigated were hunting over bait, shooting after hours, and carcass dumping. He checked duck and goose hunters and the report was poor. One group of hunters had to break a quarter-mile of ice to get to their hunting spot, and another group got stuck in the ice after having trouble with their motor and boat icing.
CO Mark Mathy (Cass Lake) continued follow-up and investigation into deer season cases. A call was received from a landowner who found two whole deer dumped on his land with their heads cut off and no meat taken. Illegal taking of forest products was investigated.
District 5 – Eveleth area
CO John Slatinski (Ray) reports deer hunting was again a popular activity this past week. Working with COs Kittelson and Lor, an injured swan was captured to be transported for rehabilitation.
CO Troy Fondie (Orr) reports monitoring area lakes and access sites as anglers have begun testing the ice. Deer-hunting activity appeared nonexistent as sub-zero temperatures arrived.
CO Duke Broughten (Cook) spent the week monitoring deer-hunting activity. The second week of deer season brought fewer hunters to the woods. Broughten investigated more hunters hunting over bait, which resulted in multiple citations, seizure of firearms, and seizure of deer. In one case, parents were teaching their juvenile children to hunt deer over bait.
CO Marc Hopkins (Tower) is investigating a case of wanton waste of a poached deer. Hopkins, along with CO Williams, assisted with a call about a wounded deer. They were able to follow a trail back to a hunting stand about a mile and a half away. The happy deer hunter was able to tag his deer.
CO Don Bozovsky (Hibbing) primarily worked deer-hunting enforcement. One hunter shot from a vehicle onto posted land and toward another hunter in his stand. That landowner approached the hunter and took the firearm until Bozovsky and other officers arrived. Another car driver shot at a deer out of the passenger window while on a state highway. In the process, the hunter hit the outside mirror of the car with a bullet, sending parts into the car and into the ditch. In addition to the initial violation, the hunter is charged with an overlimit of deer, as that was his second buck. Bozovsky assisted CO Broughten on a baiting complaint, which evolved into multiple deer baiting and trapping violations.
CO Matt Frericks (Virginia), while patrolling the Forbes area for deer hunters, located footprints through the snow going directly past a “no trespassing” sign and leading onto mine property. Frericks followed the tracks for over an hour and finally located a large deer stand with shooting lanes. The occupant admitted he knew he was on mine property and that he should not be there. When Frericks looked down the shooting lane and asked the hunter if there was bait, the hunter said there was. The hunter admitted to dumping a 50-pound bag of corn over the two shooting lanes two days prior to being located by Frericks. The hunter’s rifle was seized, and he was cited for the violation.
District 6 – Two Harbors area
CO Sean Williams (Ely) reports several TIP calls were received around the Ely area, including those regarding deer being shot from the roadway and individuals hunting without a license.
CO Darin Fagerman (Grand Marais) reports the kick-off of the ice-fishing and snowmobiling seasons in the northeast. Check ice conditions before venturing out.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland) checked deer hunters and followed up on deer-baiting complaints.
CO Anthony Bermel (Babbitt) continued to check deer hunters and checked the first ice anglers of the season. A deer case involving several people lending/borrowing their deer tags, untagged deer, and unlawful transportation is under investigation with charges forthcoming.
CO Don Murray (Two Harbors) worked the final week of deer season, following up on illegally dumped deer carcasses along a roadway and illegal deer-baiting activities.
District 7 – Grand Rapids area
CO Randy Patten (Northome) checked deer hunters and investigated complaints about deer hunters. Enforcement action was taken for transporting a loaded firearm on a motor vehicle, operating an ATV on a highway, failure to display current ATV registration, and no license in possession.
CO Jayson Hansen (Bigfork) reports training with COC Nathan Benkofske. Enforcement action was taken for transporting loaded firearms in motor vehicles, operating ATVs during closed hours, youth on ATVs without helmets, and no hunting licenses in possession. Time also was spent investigating TIP calls and assisting the Itasca County Sheriff’s Office in locating a runaway juvenile.
CO Sarah Grell (Grand Rapids) checked deer-hunting activity this past week. She handled trespassing calls and a couple of poaching complaints.
District 8 – Duluth area
CO Andy Schmidt (Duluth) assisted with a felon in possession of a firearm.
CO Kipp Duncan (Duluth) and COC Leah Kampa responded to an injured deer located in a person’s yard. They also followed up on a possible lending and borrowing case and deer carcass-dumping complaints.
CO Jeff Humphrey (Cromwell) reports firearms deer season work continued throughout the week. Deer hunters continued to report fewer deer seen and shots heard while afield. Wolves were a topic of conversation in many deer camps.
CO Scott Staples (Carlton) worked baiting and trespassing complaints in the area that finished off the 2018 firearms deer season. A wolf depredation complaint was investigated in the Cloquet area, where a sheep was killed
Lake Superior Marine Unit
CO Keith Olson (Lake Superior Marine Unit) assisted district officers with a case involving a felon in possession of a firearm. Car-kill deer permits were issued and general calls regarding deer-hunting questions were returned.
CO Matt Miller (Lake Superior Marine Unit) and COC Tony Elwell worked on Phase 4 of field training. A hunter approached the officers in his UTV. After a short conversation, it was determined that the rifle on his lap was loaded. The driver of a vehicle on a county road was found to be suffering from a drug-induced medical issue and was brought to a safe place to remedy the matter.
District 9 – Brainerd area
CO Jim Guida (Brainerd) checked deer hunters in the 100 Series of permit areas. Trespassing, theft, and car-killed deer possession permits were addressed.
CO Scott Fitzgerald (CCSRA) reports continued field training with COC Jacque Hughes. They checked deer hunters throughout the week and weekend. Calls regarding injured deer and people wanting a car-kill deer permit were handled. Patrol was also done in the SRA for park and hunting violations. Fitzgerald and Hughes handled calls about trespassing, shooting from the road, and possibly illegally taken deer. They also assisted with a case of someone taking spruce tops without a permit. Enforcement action for the week included various big-game violations.
CO Patrick McGowan (Pine River) continued field training with a conservation officer candidate. They checked firearms deer hunters and late-season duck hunters.
District 10 – Mille Lacs area
CO Gregory Verkuilen (Garrison) checked deer hunters during the final week of the firearms deer season and issued road-kill tags. Duck hunters were out but most needed to break ice as shorelines and backwaters freeze.
CO Dustie Speldrich (Willow River) investigated a TIP complaint about hunting deer over bait and using spotlights to shoot deer at night. Enforcement action was taken for hunting over bait. Speldrich also received a complaint about dogs chasing deer. The dogs’ owner was educated on the violation. The CO also assisted neighboring officers with rounding up escaped cervidae.
CO Dan Starr (Onamia) reports the discharge of a loaded gun in a vehicle was investigated and enforcement action taken. The shotgun blast did not hurt anyone.
CO Bret Grundmeier (Hinckley) and COC Jacob Swedberg spent the week working the firearms deer season. One hunter can thank a cutout display of a doe and buck for drawing the attention of the two officers to the untagged deer lying on a trailer at his deer camp. They also report checking the first ice anglers of the season on 2½ inches of ice.
CO Luke Croatt (Wealthwood) checked hunters during the week and weekend. Various hunting complaints were handled, and Croatt assisted the sheriff’s office with a call for service. A reminder to all who are processing deer to dispose of them properly. That means not in road ditches in front of people’s yards.
District 11 – St. Cloud area
CO Joyce Kuske (Little Falls) has been getting calls regarding the annual neighbor feuds that happen during deer season. The calls include neighbors trespassing, neighbors harassing each other, and neighbors stealing stands and game cameras. The most common cause of the problems is deer stands being built or put up right along property lines. Reports about stands in state wildlife management areas came in and hunters are reminded that it is illegal to leave portable deer-hunting stands overnight or build permanent deer stands in WMAs.
CO Caleb Silgjord (Sauk Centre) spent time during the week following up on a turtle-trapping case that resulted in enforcement action for no recreational turtle license, failure to tag, and failure to tend.
CO Chad Thesing (Albany) worked on follow-up investigations stemming from the firearms deer season. The first ice anglers were checked on an Avon-area lake. Assistance was given to neighboring officers involving a felon in possession of a firearm while deer hunting. Another investigation resulted in enforcement action for shooting a deer from a road. The deer was a doe with velvet antlers.
District 12 – Princeton area
CO Angela Londgren (Cambridge) received a complaint about an individual hearing shots and later seeing flashlights in the woods. Two males later were located and found to have shot two deer after the season was closed, purchasing licenses after harvesting the deer, and having no site tags on the deer. Londgren also cited an archery hunter for hunting over bait and investigated a beaver taken out of season.
CO Trent Seamans (Big Lake) spent the week checking archery and small-game hunters. Additional time was spent checking anglers and duck hunters on the Mississippi River.
CO Rick Reller (Buffalo) finished up deer-season cases. He also checked some late-season duck hunters who were still out chasing the last few birds in the area.
District 13 – West Metro area
CO James Fogarty (Prior Lake) located a person hunting deer during the B season with an A season license. The hunter stated the clerk where the hunting license was purchased said it was good for both seasons. When asked if the hunter read the regulations, the hunter stated they were downloaded on his smartphone but he hadn’t read them.
CO Arnaud Kpachavi (Mound) responded to a call in which a hunter shot at a group of hunters. The hunter who shot was not wearing blaze orange and was on property he did not have permission to be on. He shot up a hill toward a group of hunters at the top who were wearing blaze orange, narrowly missing one of the members. Enforcement action was taken for reckless discharge of a firearm.
CO Alexander Birdsall (Waconia) investigated a TIP call about a hunter discharging a firearm along a state trail during the closed season. The hunters later were located hunting along a state trail. They did not have any blaze orange on and were found to be completely camouflaged. The hunters were in possession of shotguns and slugs. When informed the season was closed, they stated they were hunting the metro 601 zone. They were shown their location on a map and informed they were in fact hunting deer during the closed season.
District 14 – East Metro area
CO Luke Gutzwiller (White Bear Lake) worked waterfowl hunting, angling activity, and an ongoing big-game investigation. Assistance was given to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks with an investigation involving illegal party hunting and the taking of an overlimit of mule deer.
CO Chris Tetrault (Maplewood) assisted officers across the state with follow-up from investigations they were conducting. Interviews were conducted with hunters regarding their actions in the woods, resulting in citations for the illegal taking of deer from a roadway with three separate hunters. Two deer were seized.
District 15 – Marshall area
CO Jim Robinson (Slayton) spent the week working hunters and conducting investigations. Pheasant hunters continue to have only fair success. More waterfowl have been seen in the area lately.
CO Matt Loftness (Marshall) spent the week checking archery deer and pheasant hunters and working trapping enforcement. Ice fishing has become a topic of conversation as some smaller lakes have frozen over. Extreme caution needs to be taken by anglers, as open-water spots are still being seen.
District 16 – New Ulm area
CO Nicholas Klehr (Litchfield) spent time during the week following up on TIP calls from the firearms deer season. Other time was spent on waterfowl- and pheasant-hunting enforcement. Klehr also spent a day in the DNR plane, flying over southeast Minnesota during the B season, assisting officers on the ground with locating hunters and possible violations.
CO Dustin Miller (Windom) reports a public waters violation was taken and is being investigated. With the recent snowfall, numerous calls were taken regarding coyote-hunting regulations.
District 17 – Mankato area
CO Chad Davis (Owatonna) responded to multiple TIP complaints regarding illegal hunting activity. He also assisted a police department and citizen by pulling the citizen’s dog from open water and thin ice after the dog was unable to get back onto the ice.
CO Jeremy Henke (Albert Lea) continued working deer enforcement this past week. The few waterfowl hunters still getting out are having some success in fields for geese and mallards.
District 18 – Rochester area
CO Brittany Hauser (Red Wing) spent time looking into who was responsible for dumping 19 bags of garbage at a public access. The owners of the garbage were identified, and enforcement action was taken. Assistance was also given to the local sheriff’s office with an incident in which a small-game hunter shot in the direction of a group of deer hunters. No one was injured and enforcement action was taken.
CO Kylan Hill (Zumbrota) reports a citation was issued to a hunter who was found to be deer hunting in a state park. CO Hill received a call of a deer possibly shot from the road. He located the suspect, who ended up being in possession of a roadkill buck. The suspect stated he hit the deer with his car, drove it to another location, and gutted it in the ditch. The person stated he did not have a permit because he “did not want to bother the police.” It was determined that the suspect was driving without a driver’s license and without vehicle registration. The deer was seized ,and the party was cited.
The post Minnesota Outdoor News Cuffs & Collars – Nov. 23, 2018 appeared first on Outdoornews.
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