November 21, 2015
From WalkerMN.com
Here are highlights from Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officer (CO) reports for the week ending Nov. 16, 2015. The complete report is available here.
CO Ben Huener (Roseau) reports violations that include transporting a loaded firearm, illegal party hunting, trespass, shooting from a motor vehicle from a road, burning prohibited materials and litter, where a hunter had dumped a gut pile on a WMA along with a tarp and rubber gloves. Enforcement action is pending for a hunter who logged and mowed shooting lanes onto public land to benefit his private deer stand.
CO Bill Landmark took calls that included shooting within 500 feet of a residence, untagged deer, ATV complaint and people shooting deer and leaving them.
In the Fergus Falls area, CO Mitch Lawler assisted the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office in searching for a missing person who was an avid trapper.
His vehicle was found parked next to a popular hunting marsh. While searching from his kayak, Lawler found the deceased individual next to his trapping equipment in shallow water; a painful reminder to always think of safety while in the outdoors.
COs Daniel Baumbarger and Tony Anderson assisted the Pope County Sheriff’s Office with a search for a missing hunter that turned into a drowning victim recovery. CO Greg Oldakowski (Wadena) handled two reports of lost hunters.
One got his truck stuck on a minimum maintenance road. The other was lost on foot in the woods but was found safe.
CO Matt Frericks (Virginia) is investigating a report of a hunter hunting on public land being harassed by someone else who has hunted in the area for 50 years. According to the suspect that means they were there first. A rural landowner called Frericks to report his van, parked in his driveway, was hit by a bullet. Frericks arrived and found the bullet after it had struck the van’s frame. A search of the area revealed a deer stand and a fresh deer kill south of the residence where the van was struck. By following the drag marks, Frericks was able to locate the person who fired the shot. The investigation is ongoing.
CO Darin Fagerman (Grand Marais) cited a deer hunter for hunting over bait and seized the rifle that the hunter’s father had given him the day before.
In the Duluth area, CO Andy Schmidt and a CO Candidate handled multiple trespass complaints that involved historical disputes between neighboring landowners. They also assisted the city and county with various calls including a report of hunters pointing a firearm at other individuals who were target shooting in a gravel pit.
In the Brainerd area, CO Amber Ladd (McGregor) handled a case of hunter harassment where a hunting party was upset that someone else was in “his”
stand, which was on state forest land and had been there illegally for several years.
In the Mille Lacs area, CO Dan Starr provided assistance with a medical call where a deer hunter fell out of a stand and may have broken a hip.
CO Joyce Kuske (Little Falls) received a TIP call about a guy who went into a gas station, purchased a deer license then walked outside and tagged the deer in his trailer in the parking lot on opening weekend. The “hunter” was tracked down and cited for hunting without a license. Another hunter was going to use his pit bull to track down a doe that he’d shot, until he learned it was illegal to use dogs.