10/11/09 Report (Dist. 6-11)

[Woody]

District 6 - Two Harbors area
10/11

CO John Velsvaag (Ely) checked small game hunters and moose hunters this past week. Moose hunters are seeing limited success. Hunting conditions were tough all week but some grouse hunters that did some walking did okay.

CO Marty Stage (Ely) worked hunters and spent the week in the BWCAW checking fishermen and moose hunters. Very few moose hunters were seen and the success was not too encouraging. One group of non-resident fishermen was asked if they were aware that the bass season was closed. They appeared confused and said, “We do now.” It’s really not a good idea to head into another state and not read the fishing or hunting laws. Grouse hunters are doing okay, but the duck numbers are pretty poor.

CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte) fielded many calls about ATV use in the National Forest and about the upcoming deer season. The Officer worked the North Shore streams and observed people that could not resist snagging salmon. Citations were issued and fish were seized. Wahlstrom spent time investigating a wanton-waste case on a moose from a TIP call. The Officer worked with 1854 Officers and a Fond du Lac Officer on a case involving shooting a big game animal from a roadway. Wahlstrom checked grouse hunters with better success than last week. The Officer has also received calls about wolves in the area a Lab was taken down by them.

CO Darin Fagerman (Grand Marais) assisted the 1854 Authority with a moose investigation. He also checked moose hunters in the BWCA with Officers Duncan, Thomasen, and Ter Meer. The officers encountered a couple of groups coming out without filling their moose tags. They were frustrated with the cold wet weather and the inability to get dry. Assistance was given to the U.S. Forest Service after a group of moose hunters decided to celebrate by firing “victory” shots through the night at a campsite in the BWCA. Just because it is called a wilderness area doesn’t mean that there aren’t other people around. CO Fagerman located the hunters and the information was turned over to the law enforcement officer. Charges are pending on an individual for shooting a moose on a road.

CO Mary Manning (Hovland) worked moose and grouse hunters. Manning also spent time on the rivers during salmon run; water levels were up and fish numbers are down. Manning also tended to seasonal equipment maintenance and worked on a couple open wetlands and public waters cases.

CO Dan Thomasen (Two Harbors) worked to update district inventories on and off throughout the week. Officer Thomasen joined forces with a few other officers to concentrate moose enforcement efforts both in and out of the BWCA, which developed into a shoot from the roadway case. The officers spent many hours tracking a wounded moose through thick swampy forest after the hunter failed to follow up on the injured animal after shooting it from the road. CO Thomasen also spent time in the aircraft with CO Pilot Buchert on Sunday looking for this moose as well as an overdue canoeist.

Babbitt - vacant.

Silver Bay - vacant.

District 7 - Grand Rapids area
10/11

CO Jon Paurus (Hill City) worked hunting and ATV activity throughout the week. Deer baiting cases were followed up. A stranded boater was picked up and his boat towed back to shore after his motor failed while out duck hunting. The assistance given by a couple of local hunters was greatly appreciated. A complaint of late shooting lead to enforcement action for some young hunters that shot two Bonaparte’s gulls.

CO Gary Lefebvre (Pengilly) worked waterfowl and small game hunters, ATVs, state forest campgrounds and bough cutters. He also to several hunting complaints during the week.

CO Mike Fairbanks (Deer River) worked waterfowl hunters, OHV complaints, shining complaints and answered calls on the new gun case laws. CO Fairbanks saw the first snow mobile of the year after the recent snow fall. The area duck harvest has been fair with a few limits taken. Enforcement action was taken for leave decoys unattended, no state waterfowl stamp, fail to display registration on ATV and trespass.

CO Jeff Koehn (Grand Rapids - OHV Specialist) patrolled for OHV activity. He performed some equipment maintenance. CO Koehn participated in an administration process for updating current OHV laws. He assisted other COs with waterfowl hunting investigations. Time was spent responding to injured game animal calls.

CO Randy Patten (Northome) checked anglers, waterfowl hunters, and grouse hunters. Helped out with the Northome firearm safety class, answered questions about deer and waterfowl hunting and handled a trespass complaint.

CO Sarah Sindelir (Grand Rapids) worked shining complaints in the area this past week. A complaint of want and waste is still being investigated. She also answered numerous questions relating to current and upcoming hunting seasons.

Bigfork - vacant.

District 8 - Cloquet area
10/11

CO Kipp Duncan (Duluth) spent the first part of the week moving into a different home. This included setting up a new home office and telephone number. Enforcement work included working complaint areas for night shining of deer. Officer Duncan also assisted with moose hunting enforcement in the Grand Marais area. This work included checking moose hunters by motor boat, canoe, truck, and on foot. An investigation continues of hunters taking moose illegally.

CO Andy Schmidt (Brookston) focused on waterfowl and grouse hunters for the week. Hunters are reporting seeing very few birds and the harvest has been slow. ATV complaints continue in the area as trail closures and forest designations have changed. The officer is preparing for deer season as shining complaints from landowners have begun. Maintenance issues were attended to during the week.

CO Scott Staples (Carlton) attended a Wetland Conservation Act TEP meeting about violations in the area. A site visit was done at one location and the possible violation is still under investigation. A wolf complaint was addressed in the area where two calves have gone missing over the past 3 months and the owners believe it is wolves that took them. Complaints of waterfowl hunters shooting early was worked and unfounded. Enforcement action was taken for waterfowl hunters not having life jackets in their watercraft.

CO Randy Hanzal (Duluth) reports several complaints of irresponsible hunters shooting at grouse from motor vehicles and onto private land were received. A few hardy waterfowl hunters were checked. A firearms safety class presentation was made to about thirty bright-eyed new hunters. Trespass complaint are also increasing.

District 9 - Brainerd area
10/11

CO Jim Guida (Brainerd) focused on waterfowl enforcement. Hunters were located shooting after legal hours on Saturday. A reminder to waterfowlers that the season now ends at sunset. Officer Guida was assisted by Officer Collette in a Turn In Poachers call. The investigation led to numerous Gross Misdemeanor charges as well as other Misdemeanor violations.

CO Tim Collette (Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area) investigated a report of deer baiting and found a hunter sitting over a bait pile, on posted private property without permission, using a crossbow without a permit, who had driven himself to the area even though his driver’s license had been canceled. Charges are pending. Duck hunters reported poor success, and the cold, snowy weather seemed to slow down the angling catch as well. Other activity included winterizing equipment, dealing with littering at a public access, and working deer shiners with a neighboring officer where two people were arrested for shining and shooting deer at night.

Conservation Officer Bob Mlynar (Aitkin) checked anglers and hunters throughout the week. Evidence of a few early October snowmobilers was also seen.

CO Brent Speldrich (McGregor) checked waterfowl hunters in the area. He observed a higher number of birds in the area late in the week. Most hunters were reporting seeing larger flocks of mallards and more wood ducks in the area. He also continued to work bear hunters, small game hunters and answered deer hunting questions. Officer Speldrich also worked several ATV complaint areas and checked on a reported abandoned ATV on the Soo Line ATV trail. He fielded many questions regarding the new firearms transportation law and worked shining complaint areas and hunter trespass issues.

CO Chad Sherack (Pequot Lakes) followed up on several TIP complaints and checked small game and big game hunters this past week. Officer Sherack took enforcement action for taking bear w/o a license, lending borrowing bear license, unregistered bear bait, trespass, failure to tag bear bait station, no license in possession, unplugged shotgun, unregistered ATV, and illegal party hunting.

District 10 - Mille Lacs area
10/11


CO Mike Lee (Isle) continued checking small game hunters with a few birds being taken. Waterfowl hunters are also picking up a few birds here and there. Officer Lee also completed some boat maintenance. Fishing on Mille Lacs is still slow, but a few perch are being picked up with the walleye bite still slow.

CO Bret Grundmeier (Hinckley) saw very few pheasant hunters during the windy, snowy opener. Birds seemed to be holding tight in the many acres of unharvested corn and other crops. Early antlerless hunters were out and also reported seeing very few deer moving around. Duck hunters reported seeing limited duck numbers.

CO Scott Fitzgerald (Malmo) reports still seeing a few waterfowl hunters out in the snow and cold. Most had a mixed bag of ducks and geese. Fishing on Mille Lacs slowed with the windy and cold conditions. Patrol was done in the Solana State Forest and surrounding county lands. Small game hunters were checked, most were commenting on how the leaves and the tall grass were making it hard to see the grouse. Some investigation work was done on a TIP complaint on deer baiting. Lots of questions concerning big game and waterfowl laws were answered throughout the week

CO Dustie Heaton (Willow River) followed up on APM/public waters complaints. Enforcement action was taken for removing emergent vegetation without a permit. She took a call of wolf depredation on a foal near Bruno. Heaton worked shiners and checked waterfowl and grouse hunters.

CO Luke Croatt (Wealthwood) checked waterfowl hunters during the week and weekend. Duck numbers remain low. Cold weather did push some ducks around over the weekend but still remains slow. Croatt noticed many of the smaller ponds freezing over and larger rice filled lakes beginning to develop ice cover. Hunters checked bagged mallards, wood ducks, teal and coots. Waterfowl and refuse dumping violations were encountered.

CO Greg Verkuilen (Garrison) checked waterfowl hunters who were optimistic that the cool weather would bring ducks to the area. Success was still slow. Some hunters had to break skim ice to set out decoys. Verkuilen also checked bow hunters, enforced the earlier shining hours, and answered deer season questions.

CO Eugene Wynn (Pine City) spent time during the week checking for waterfowl and archery hunters. He answered questions regarding the upcoming deer season, pheasant season, and snowmobile seasons. He checked numerous hunters trying to harvest a doe for the early antlerless season, checked pheasant hunters, and responded to a TIP complaint of waterfowl hunters hunting after hours on Rush Lake. Enforcement contacts included operating a watercraft without lights after sunset, no state waterfowl stamp, HIP certification issues, and waterfowl hunting after the 4pm closure. CO Wynn also followed up on complaints of ATV’s operating off-trail, filled out ATV/snowmobile permits for the upcoming deer season, and is starting to receive reports of deer starting to be struck frequently on area roadways.

CO Dan Perron (Onamia) reports duck hunters are still hitting local lakes and ponds. Most are not seeing ducks. One hunter in the Mille Lacs WMA hit the jackpot when he paddled out and ran into a flock of mallards. Hunters continue to look for grouse and woodcock in the area and the hunters with dogs are having the best luck. CO Perron also checked archery deer hunters who have been seeing does but not many bucks. CO Perron took a call about a duck hunter finding a deer floating in one of the pools in the Mille Lacs WMA who cut the head off to keep the antlers. A reminder that you cannot possess a protected wild animal or any part of one if you do not possess a valid license or proper possession permit. CO Perron ran into a couple guys going into the woods at dark. It turns out that some others had been lost in the woods since 2:00 in the afternoon and had called relatives in the Cities to come and find them. With help from Mille Lacs Co, Isle PD, search & rescue and the State Patrol air wing the hunters were found and other than being cold were unhurt. CO Perron reminds hunters that even if you know the area you are hunting to bring your compass.

District 11 - Albany area
10/11

CO Robert Haberman (Little Falls) checked pheasant hunters over the opener weekend. CO Haberman checked many waterfowl hunters who had some success. The weather didn’t scare many youth hunters away from the Youth Archery Hunt at Camp Ripley and no incidents occurred this year.

CO Paul Kuske (Pierz) and CO Collette were working a deer shining complaint shortly after midnight. They observed a vehicle approach a field where several deer were feeding. A passenger in the vehicle shot at one of the deer. When the vehicle was stopped, two uncased and loaded rifles were found inside. Two individuals were taken to jail with gross misdemeanor charges, plus one of the individuals was charged with felon in possession of a firearm. Patrolling some county and state forest land, CO Kuske encountered three people with a fire, camped right on the road. A large number of empty beer cans, on the ground around them, must have played into their inability to select a proper campsite. They were rousted from their sleeping bags and told to clean up and move their camp. One individual this past weekend learned the importance of reading the hunting regulation booklet. He went early antlerless deer hunting in an area that was closed. He shot a deer and later received a visit from CO Kuske. Enforcement action was taken. Both duck and pheasant hunters found little or no action this past week.

CO Keith Bertram (Sauk Centre) spent the week checking fishermen and hunters. Enforcement action was taken for license violations, extra lines, and lead shot. CO Bertram also worked deer shining complaints.

CO Todd VanderWeyst (Paynesville) reports working anglers, as well as waterfowl and pheasant hunters last week. The officer handled trespass and litter complaints. The recent weather has blown in some waterfowl, with more geese than ducks.

CO Chad Thesing (Albany) worked pheasant, duck and deer hunters. Pheasant opener was real slow in the Albany area. Deer baiting and aquatic plant violations were investigated during the week. Enforcement action for the week included no pheasant stamp, unplugged shot gun, lead shot, no license in possession, and no federal duck stamp.

CO Mike Martin (St Cloud) worked on the Rainy River and Lake of the Woods, over the past week. In one encounter on the Rainy River, Officer Martin discovered a hidden illegal length walleye behind the freezer in a cabin. In another enforcement encounter, a charter captain was found to be in possession of an illegal length walleye. Enforcement action was taken on both. Other enforcement action included transport walleye without a patch of skin, transport infested water, illegal length fish, no life vest, angle without license in possession, and no throwable lifesaving device.

CO Brian Mies (Annandale) checked anglers in Wright County. CO Mies also assisted officers in the SE part of the state for a few days. CO Mies gave a law talk to an ATV class in South Haven.

CO Rhonda Keniston (Long Prairie) checked hunters. There were few pheasant hunters and fewer pheasants for the pheasant season opener. CO Keniston spent time at the veterans’ hunt at Camp Ripley. CO Keniston participated in an open mic segment of a local radio station. A trespass complaint was handled.