11/09/09 Report (Dist. 10-14)

[Woody]

District 10 - Mille Lacs area
11/8


CO Bret Grundmeier (Hinckley) worked the opening of the firearms deer season and saw an increase in hunters from last season’s opener. Hunters seemed happy with the unseasonably, warm weather but had to put in extra effort to keep their harvested deer cool. Violations dealt with included hunter harassment, trespassing, and untagged deer along with a large number of hunting over bait cases. Several bait piles and automatic feeders were found near deer stands that included corn, oats, apples, and acorns. Deer blocks containing fruit and grain were also found.

CO Scott Fitzgerald (Malmo) reports seeing lots of hunters out for the opening of deer season. A fair number of deer were seen taken during the first two days. Several of those parties were juveniles who bagged their first deer. The officer saw various violations but the most common was hunters not validating their site tag at the site of kill. TIP calls of hunter harassment and of baiting were also investigated. Enforcement action for the week included hunting deer over bait, fail to tag deer, failure to validate site tag, operate ATV during closed hours, no hunting license in possession, and juveniles passenger on ATV without helmet,

CO Dustie Heaton (Willow River) started the firearms deer season with several citations issued for hunting over bait. The hunters also had their firearms seized for evidence and will be forfeited. Other violations during the opener included failing to validate deer tags, hunting without a license, no license in possession, transporting illegally taken deer, shining after hours, shining with a firearm in the vehicle, hunter harassment, stands left in a WMA over night, hunting from a stand higher than 16 ft and trespass.

CO Luke Croatt (Wealthwood) worked the deer opener. Some hunters claimed it was slower than usual because of the warm weather. Croatt handled cases on hunting over bait and shooting from roadway. Many hunters are getting the validation of tags confused with tagging deer. The deer license must be validated at the site of kill and tagged when back at camp or before transporting it. Croatt also assisted the Aitkin County Sheriff’s Office with a lost hunter. The party became disorientated at dark when walking out and spent the night in the woods. A sheriff’s posse member located the party walking out. Enforcement action was taken for ATV, WMA and hunting violations.

CO Mike Lee (Isle) checked deer hunters this past weekend with some nice deer being taken, but many hunters stating, “Where are all the deer?” Officer Lee completed an investigation which resulted in locating an individual that had been hunting this year and past years without purchasing a firearms license. Numerous contacts were made with hunters this past weekend with violations pertaining to validating and when to place tags on deer. Hunters are reminded to look at page # 66 in the 2009 Hunting Regulations booklet in regards to Tagging and Validating Tags.

CO Eugene Wynn (Pine City) spent the week preparing for the upcoming deer season. He and CO Grundmeier spent a majority of the week scouting out baiting complaints. He also answered numerous questions regarding deer season during the week, and met with staff on a wetland complaint. CO Wynn and CO Grundmeier worked opening weekend around the Hinckley and Pine City areas citing numerous individuals for hunting deer over bait. Hunters decided to hunt over grain filled blocks, automatic feeders filled with corn, piles of corn, and piles of apples. Other reports were taken on baited areas, some minor neighbor conflicts, and car injured deer reports were taken.

CO Dan Perron (Onamia) took out 8 stands left if the Mille Lacs WMA before the season where stands can't be left overnight. He issued car-kill tags for bear and deer. He took many calls about the deer season. He checked many hunters during opening weekend. He found many happy hunters with the warm weather and good hunting. One youth hunter shot his first deer, an 8-point buck. Another hunter shot a huge 13-point buck. CO Perron & CO Verkuilen had a hunter stop and shoot the deer decoy (twice) on private agricultural land. When CO Perron pulled up behind the pickup the shooter told Perron that he was shooting at an injured deer. Perron asked where the deer had come from and the shooter pointed and said, “It came from over there.” The shooter was telling Perron for the 3rd time that he was shooting at an injured deer when Perron pointed at the decoy and the shooter realized what he had shot at. The shooter forfeited his license and firearm and will have to go to court.

CO Greg Verkuilen (Garrison) reports that in the last three weeks, three 8-point bucks have been hit on the same 6 mile stretch of Hwy 18. It appears that the deer are moving around a lot in the area. Verkuilen worked the gun deer opener which included the expected array of baiting violations, trespassing complaints, un-validated tags, and shooting from the road. He also enforced the hunting restrictions at Kathio State Park, helped staff the TIP line, and worked on some seasonal equipment. Trappers and small game hunters were checked as they made use of the Indian summer weather.


District 11 - Albany area
11/8

CO Robert Haberman (Little Falls) checked a hunter who was hunting over bait on the opening morning of the rifle season. The hunter was using apples to bait deer next to his stand. A citation was issued and the firearm was seized for evidence. Another hunter was cited for not tagging his buck back at his camp. CO Haberman found the buck hanging in a shed. The hunter stated that he was in a hurry to hang the deer and forgot to place it on the deer. CO Haberman issued a citation and seized the deer for evidence. With rainy conditions on the second day of the season, several hunters did have success in shooting deer.

CO Paul Kuske (Pierz) investigated an incident where an 8-point buck was shot before the season opener. During the week prior to deer opener, CO Kuske received and responded to numerous calls of shots fired. Most resulted in people just sighting in their rifles at the last minute, an illegal activity 5 days before the season starts. Deer opener saw good success for hunters and enforcement action was taken for hunting over bait and untagged deer. CO Kuske found a number of incidents where hunters failed to validate the site tag, especially with youth hunters. Several educational moments were conducted in the field. While on a routine check of deer hanging in a yard, CO Kuske found additional evidence of a deer that had been possessed illegally from a previous investigation at the same residence.

CO Keith Bertram (Sauk Centre) spent the week checking hunters. Enforcement action was taken for untagged deer, hunting deer over bait, license violations, and ATV registration violations. CO Bertram assisted Stearns County Sheriff’s Office with a hunting accident, where a 14 year-old hunter was shot on a deer drive.

CO Todd VanderWeyst (Paynesville) worked trapping, fishing, and small game and deer hunters. The Officer investigated abuse of the youth license where adults harvest the antlerless deer and place the youth’s tag on it. The officer investigates this preventable and growing problem every year.

CO Chad Thesing (Albany) worked deer and pheasant hunters in Stearns County. Deer opener weekend was great for weather, but poor for success. Most hunters struggled to see deer, blaming the poor numbers on corn and warm weather. Overall, law compliance was good with a few exceptions including hunting over bait and license violations.

CO Mike Martin (St Cloud) worked on deer baiting issues, waterfowl enforcement, and deer shining during the past week. Officer Martin investigated a complaint of a whole skinned and quartered deer being dumped in the Grand Lake area (the suspect only took the head and hide). The deer was dumped on either Tuesday Nov.3 or Wednesday Nov 4. Anyone with information is asked to call the TIP line at 1-800-652-9093 or #TIP on their cell phone. Callers can remain anonymous.

CO Brian Mies (Annandale) checked deer hunters in Stearns and Wright counties. CO Mies worked several TIP calls on deer hunting situations. CO Mies checked trappers in the area.

CO Rhonda Keniston (Long Prairie) investigated reports of baiting, prior to the weekend. Overall, it appeared there were less firearms deer hunters than usual over the opener. Hunting success was pretty good, even with the warm weather and a high percentage of standing crops in the fields. Many unhappy hunters voiced their confusion over a lottery in 213, when there are “so many deer”. A hunter was cited for hunting over bait, even after he had made the effort to remove the pile of apples, by tossing them in the nearby brush! Hunters were reminded to validate their license, prior to moving their deer. Enforcement action was also taken for no burning permit.

District 12 - St. Cloud area
11/8

CO David Schottenbauer (Princeton) had a very busy week. Other than what would be expected on deer opener, CO Schottenbauer worked an area that had no complaints of illegal shining. The area was however ideal for abusers of the law, so CO Schottenbauer was trying to get into a position to observe an open field when a vehicle came over the hill. CO Schottenbauer was forced to drive around the area to avoid detection, and tried again only to have another vehicle come over the hill, same for a third time. Finally CO Schottenbauer just pulled over to wait for the vehicle to pass. Problem was this vehicle was shining the field after legal hours. Enforcement action taken.

CO Rick Reller (Buffalo) worked several pre-opening deer hunting complaints and had a lot of questions about the deer hunting regulations. The opening deer hunting weekend was slower than normal with fewer deer seen harvested then in past years. Enforcement action was taken for hunting over a baited area.

CO Mitch Sladek (Big Lake) worked deer hunters and took enforcement action on a number of violations. He met with KSTP-5 News and did a story on illegal deer stands in the Wildlife Management Area. He followed up on a number of baiting calls. He also worked on a trespassing issue.

CO Tony Musatov (Sauk Rapids) checked firearms deer hunters. Complaints of trespass, stands left in a wildlife management area, and untagged deer were investigated. Trappers and fall anglers were also checked.

CO Brian Dobbick (Cambridge) reports with the warm weather, many hunters were afield for the opening of firearms deer season. Several nice bucks were seen taken in the area. Anglers, waterfowl and small game hunters were also checked throughout the week. Enforcement was taken for hunting without a license, no license in possession, failure to validate tag, angling with extra lines and registration violations.

CO Brandon McGaw (Mora) worked small game hunters and deer hunters during the past week. Time was spent investigating trespass complaints and fielding calls reference ATV use in the Snake River State Forest. Weather was warmer for opener but most deer hunters did not complain. Many commented on how hard it was to not fall asleep. Harvest seemed to be good but several said they did not see enough deer. Enforcement action was taken on not validating deer tags, transporting untagged deer, no pheasant stamp, ATV registration and display, possession of a firearm by felon, and transporting a loaded rifle.

CO Todd Langevin (Center City) reports a good opening morning of the firearms deer season. Many hunters harvested deer in the first few hours. Deer movement slowed with the warm temperatures but picked up again in the evening. One group of hunters had harvested two deer but forgot to validate their site tags and attach the tags to the deer before loading the animals in their vehicles.


District 13 - West Metro area
11/8

CO Thor Nelson (Bloomington) completed an investigation concerning a big game residency fraud and registration case involving two other states and served a search warrant in connection with that case with the help of Lt. Carlson and CO Kahre. CO Nelson worked three baited sites during the firearms deer season opener. Other time was spent on waterfowl and commercial enforcement.

CO Aaron Kahre (Minnetonka) worked the busy deer opener in the St. Cloud area. Success was a little slow with lots of crops still in the fields. CO Kahre also checked fishermen on Lake Minnetonka this past week. He reports that the musky bite has really slowed the last week or so. He also performed some administrative tasks and equipment maintenance.

CO Steve Walter (Waconia) spent most of the week returning calls to confused deer hunters who did not understand the regulations and did not want to violate the law. The deer opener was worked with more hunters checked than past years, but success was poor with only three deer seen shot in Carver County. Duck hunters were checked with poor success, most hunters never fired their guns. The pheasant hunters gave up hunting until the crops get picked.

CO Kevin Neitzke (Ft. Snelling) patrolled Dakota, Scott, and Carver counties for small game, waterfowl and archery deer hunters. He worked ORV enforcement. CO Neitzke worked the deer firearms opener with CO Kanieski in Hennepin, Sherburne and Anoka counties. He also checked fishermen along the Minnesota River.

CO Thephong Le (ELCOP) checked anglers and hunters in Metro areas. He worked on several TIP calls regarding over limit of walleyes. He worked with CO Fritz and CO Boyum on the deer opener in SE Minnesota. Violations detected were fail to validate deer tag, trespassing and transport deer without licensee accompany.

CO Vang Lee (ELCOP) worked the deer opener in Southeast Minnesota and attended a meeting in Houston County with landowners regarding trespassing issues. He worked at the Lao Family office, worked duck hunters, deer hunters and anglers in the metro area lakes and rivers. Officer Lee also provided a ride-a-long to an intern and patrolled state park and state trails. Violations included failure to validate deer tag, fishing without a license and fishing with an extra line.

CO Adam Block (Prior Lake) worked a busy deer opener. Many hunters were finding success despite all the crops yet to be harvested. Several violations were detected including shoot big game from road, no small game license, no blaze orange, hunting over bait and burning prohibited materials.

CO Todd Kanieski (Osseo) was very busy working deer hunting activity throughout the week in Hennepin, Sherburne and Anoka counties. Enforcement action was taken for a variety of cases to include trespass, hunting over bait, no blaze orange, failure to validate site tags and over limit of deer. Kanieski also assisted on a deer shining work crew.

CO Jackie Glaser (Mound) worked the firearms deer opener in Scott County with CO Block. The officers received numerous TIP calls and assisted other COs with illegal deer cases. Several baited deer sites were found. She received another TIP call about waterfowl dumped at a public access. Two swans and numerous geese and ducks were found laying at the Lake St. Joe Public Access in Chanhassen. She also responded to a TIP call of illegally shot deer in a WMA. Violations included hunting deer from the roadway, no blaze orange during the firearms deer season, no small game license, no fishing license, false info to a peace officer, hunting waterfowl with lead shot and transporting a loaded firearm.

District 14 - East Metro area
11/8

CO Greg Salo (East Metro) handled several phone calls regarding animal complaints, trespassing concerns and questions regarding the deer season. Several hunters experienced success on the deer opener and compliance was good. CO Salo continues to investigate baiting cases around the metro area.

CO Brad Johnson (Maplewood) reports that violations seemed to outnumber deer in southern Washington County. Enforcement action was taken for untagged deer, failure to validate license/tag and deer hunting in a closed area. CO Johnson issued a ticket to an individual from California who was fishing without a license. Two hours later, CO Vang Lee cited the same person for fishing with two lines.

CO Alex Gutierrez (Forest Lake) attended Use of Force training the week prior to the deer opener. The CO worked the much anticipated deer firearm season opener. Many hunters were seen out in the field attempting their luck and skills at deer hunting. CO Gutierrez found a few archery hunters, who were not wearing their blaze orange, but for the most few violations were encountered and many deer were harvested.

CO Tony Salzer (Eagan) patrolled Dakota County for small game activity. Officer Salzer also patrolled Dakota County with CO Opsahl during the firearms deer hunting opener. Salzer also assisted CO Kruse with a baiting complaint in Ramsey County. Enforcement action was taken.

CO Vuthy Pril (ELCOP) worked the firearm deer opener. He checked several hunters but only a few hunters were seen with deer. Officer Pril also checked waterfowl hunters and assisted a neighboring Conservation Officer with a baiting detail. He worked at his Cambodian Center office and answered questions about fishing and hunting.

CO Patrick McGowan (Hastings) reports a busy deer opener in Dakota and Washington counties. Hunters found slower success due to warm temperatures. CO McGowan also spent time checking duck hunters on the Mississippi River. Enforcement action was taken for unplugged gun, possession of toxic shot while waterfowl hunting, stamp violations, burning prohibited materials, trespass, no blaze orange, and shining deer at night while in possession of a gun.

CO Travis Muyres (Ham Lake) worked deer hunting enforcement during the firearm deer season. Several bait complaints were investigated. Enforcement action was taken for failure to tag big game, license violations and ATV violations. A hunter in St. Francis was air lifted after falling from his deer stand sustaining serious injuries.

CO Lisa Kruse (White Bear Lake) issued tags for two road-kill otter, issued ATV permits and handled calls with questions regarding deer hunting laws and licenses. She worked ATV and WMA enforcement, handled various TIP calls, wrote two reports for the attorney’s office and worked a TIP complaint with CO Salzer. CO Kruse checked numerous deer hunters over the weekend and various violations were encountered including no ATV registration, hunt deer over bait, illegal party hunting, hunt deer with invalid license and lend/borrow deer tag.