November 10, 2010
DNR officer beats
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
– District 15 – Marshall area CO Gary Nordseth (Worthington) took enforcement action on numerous violations during the opening firearms deer season. These violations included illegal shining with a firearm, trespass, and chasing deer with motor vehicles. The officer also investigated an incident where a hunting dog was killed in a conibear trap. The dog’s owner was not familiar with this type of trap. The officer encourages all dog owners to review Page 51 in the Minnesota 2010 Hunting and Trapping regulations handbook which explains how to free a dog caught in a body gripping trap.
CO Craig Miska (Ortonville) monitored deer hunting activity during the opening weekend of the firearms season. Numerous calls of trespassing and shooting from the roadway were reported. This officer was able to make a case against a hunter who shot a deer from the roadway. The violator was located with assistance from the aviation unit. The deer was seized and restitution charged. A shining detail was worked with neighboring officers from District 15. Infractions for the week: shooting at big game from a roadway, failure to validate site tag, and various hunting license violations.
CO Jim Robinson (Slayton) reports … Enforcement action was taken for chase deer with motor vehicle, trespass, no blaze orange, fail to tag deer, unlawful party hunt, illegal transportation of deer, transport illegal deer, hunt deer over bait, and license/stamp/registration violations.
CO Doug Lage (Marshall) reports that conflicts between landowners and hunters were high; being a mediator for most incidents seemed to be the norm. … Several trespassing citations were issued. Also, several trapping violations were taken care of and one 10-point buck was seized from a person who had shot it while hunting from a road right-of-way.
CO Matt Loftness (Marshall) states … TIP calls and other investigations were worked in reference to numerous illegal hunting complaints. Most of those dealt with trespassing, shooting from the roadway, chasing deer, and illegal tagging issues. A hunting accident was also investigated less than 2 hours into the opener. Pheasant hunters continue to struggle even though most of the corn is harvested. … CO Ed Picht (Montevideo) reports of two hunting accidents during the opening weekend of the deer season, one of which resulted in a hunter being shot while sitting in a pickup. CO Picht also addressed hunters who were exhibiting poor firearms handling while walking in the field. Violations encountered included shooting from roadway, using radios to take big game, license violations, dogs chasing deer, shooting pheasants while too close to an occupied home and deer shining issues.
Wetland Enforcement Officer Larry Hanson … assisted with shining details, trespass issues and worked in open stations for the Firearms Deer Opener. Enforcement action was taken for license violations and hunting in a state wildlife sanctuary. Many trespass calls were investigated along with a lot of questions fielded over the weekend.
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District 16 – New Ulm area CO Jim Steffen (Willmar) (said) Lots of calls coming in related to the firearms deer season. … CO Brett Oberg … Several calls were handled related to the deer season during the week. CO Oberg handled calls dealing with wounded deer, trespassing, early shooting, and shinning. CO Oberg also assisted hunters with a wounded deer that went on to a Nature Conservancy property that is closed to hunting.
CO Angela Graham (Hutchinson)… Enforcement action was taken on trespassing, trap tampering, hunting without a license, illegal party hunting, failure to register deer, and no license in possession.
CO Mike Gruhlke (Jackson)… Enforcement action was taken for insufficient blaze orange and invalid license. Gruhlke also followed up on a baiting issue, chasing deer and possible trespass while trapping and hunting.
CO Eric Schettler (Fairmont) worked a very busy firearms deer season. Insufficient blaze orange was once again a common offense. TIP reports were followed up on for felons in possession of firearms. … Investigations are still ongoing with hunters shooting from vehicles and trespassing.
CO Jeff Denz (Willmar) … many violations were encountered relating to validating and tagging the deer. … CO Phil George (Mantorville) …took calls of shooting too close to buildings, shooting from the road, and trespass. Enforcement action was taken for use of artificial lights during restricted hours and other deer related offenses.
CO Chris Howe (St. Peter) worked several shining details, opening of deer season and checked small game hunters. Violations include fail to validate license, fail to register deer, fail to tag deer, lending and borrowing deer licenses, small game hunter fail to wear sufficient blaze orange during firearm deer season and illegal shining of deer during closed hours. He had one set of hunters who had butchered their deer and never tagged or registered their deer. A number of deer were seized and paperwork was issued for the violations. … CO Julie Siems (Faribault) reports … Violations included untagged traps and an antler point restriction violation. An individual was shot while inside a residence resulting in very minor injuries from a hunter in the area shooting at a deer.
CO Bob Geving (Mankato) flew several recognizance flights for possible baiting situations. Geving also worked three decoy/shining enforcement operations in reported problem areas. The opening weekend deer take seemed moderate compared to previous years. Enforcement actions included using artificial lights to locate wild animals.
CO Corey Wiebusch (Mankato) and CO Ihnen handled a call in a state game refuge where two individuals had success getting their limit of ducks. An investigation of an eagle that had been shot by some duck hunters is underway. … CO Tom Hutchins (Albert Lea) reports … Complaints of trespassing were received. Violations encountered included take non-game migratory bird and various deer hunting related violations.
District 18 – Rochester area CO Mitch Boyum (Rushford) reports working the 3A deer opener. Violations encountered were transport loaded firearm, failure to validate deer tag and failure to register deer. Trespass calls are down a little from last year at this time. Shining complaint areas were also worked. One subject caught shining stated his dog chases deer and he was looking for a deer to see if the dog would chase it. At that time he was going to use an electronic collar to fix the problem. He was advised to find another alternative.
CO Tom Hemker (Winona) reports a good deer opener with only few problems. He assisted with an incident where a buffalo had been shot in a leg probably before the deer season. Deer problems included illegal party hunting, trespass, tagging violations, motor vehicle violations, and several antler point restriction violations.
CO Kevin Prodzinski (Zumbrota) reports … Trespass and untagged deer were the most documented violations.
CO Tyler Quandt (Red Wing) reports … Most of the weekend was spent checking deer hunting and shining activity…Some hunting violations were detected and guns and deer were seized.
CO Scott Moran (Wabasha) reports … Violations included over limit of deer, shooting deer that did not meet the 4 points on one side requirement, untagged deer and driving on closed forest trails.
CO Dan McBroom (Rochester) (reports) a number of deer where shot that did not meet the 4 points on one side requirement. Lt. Dean Olson and CO McBroom released a timber wolf from a trap outside of Rochester. Violations included no federal waterfowl stamp, shooting to close to an occupied dwelling, possessing slugs in an open zone without a valid deer license, and shooting a buck with less than 4 pts on one side.
CO Scott Fritz (LaCrescent) Enforcement for the week included trespassing, use rifle in shotgun zone to take deer, no blaze orange, fail register, fail to tag, and take buck with the 4 points on one side.