MN DNR Weekly Report

[Lee Borgersen]

  MN DNR Weekly Report 

Nov 15, 2016 

District 5 - Eveleth area
CO Darrin Kittelson (Int’l Falls) and COC report having another busy week with firearms deer season.  Complaints were answered for operating ATV during closed hours, and multiple hunters were checked.  Enforcement action was taken for taking a doe without a permit, lend/borrow licenses, untagged deer, loaded firearm in a motor vehicle, and felon in possession of a firearm.


CO Troy Fondie (Orr) checked deer hunters and saw limited success.  Deer are moving at night and many deer are getting hit by cars; numerous wildlife possession permits have been issued for car hit deer.  ATV and trapping complaints were handled and an incidental fisher in a mink trap was turned in.




CO John Velsvaag (Cook) checked deer hunters this past week.  Several nice bucks were taken but the weather is still warmer than many deer hunters want.  CO Velsvaag also took calls on deer baiting and beaver trapping.


CO Marc Hopkins (Tower) spent the week dealing with deer hunting issues.  The officer investigated trespassing, illegal dumping, wanton waste, untagged deer, and illegal discharge of firearms.  The officer is still seeing deer being harvested, despite the warm weather.


CO Don Bozovsky (Hibbing) spent the majority of the week working deer hunting activity with a COC.  Public waters and trespass complaints were worked and the officers dealt with unlawful OHV drivers encountered while working hunters.  Enforcement action was taken on hunt deer without a license, hunt deer without a license in possession, hunt small game without a license in possession, transport loaded firearm, driving after suspension, and a number of ATV violations.


CO Mark Fredin (Aurora) continued to work deer hunting throughout the week and hunters report not seeing many deer.  Many trespass violations throughout the week, some of the complaints are that hunters are on CN railroad lands driving or walking along the RR grade. Hunters are using the RR grade to access land down the tracks.  Trespass complaints were also taken on hunter’s illegally accessing mine lands.  CO Fredin and CO Murray worked a case in the Brimson area where a deer was shot off the road, and after a search of the area the road hunter was located.  A check of his cabin partners hunting in stands resulted in three hunting over bait citations.


CO Matt Frericks (Virginia) spent time following up on and investigating trespass complaints. Several deer hunters were contacted on area mine property. CO Frericks reminds deer hunters it is their responsibility to know where they are and if they can be there. Excuses like “someone told me” do not work. An investigation of a person who was posting state land as his own was completed with a citation being issued. Numerous reports of people shooting at deer from the roadway were taken.


CO Colleen Adam (Ray) checked grouse and deer hunters, fishing and netting activity and worked on equipment issues.  Enforcement taken for closed hour’s operation on ATV and deer hunting violations.


International Falls #2 - vacant.

District 6 - Two Harbors area
CO Sean Williams (Ely 1) reports another warmer than average week of deer hunting in the Ely area. Although fewer hunters were seen than in past seasons, hunter success was fair, and many successful hunters were checked. Violations included fail to validate big game tag, hunting without a license in possession, and operating an ATV during restricted time. 


CO Marty Stage (Ely) worked on some fall deer baiting cases and continued checking whitefish gill netters.  The whitefish run is slowing down, but it might just be due to persistent warm weather.   The officer has found that the gill netting rules seem to have been ignored for quite some time, but compliance is definitely improving with a few warnings and in some of the more serious and intentional violations, enforcement action such as citations and seizures.


CO Darin Fagerman (Grand Marais) reports that it was hard to tell if deer season was going on or not.  Very few hunters were in the field.  Some hunters contacted reported lots of wolf activity and sightings as they responded to bleat calls more than the deer did.  Now that the traffic has died down, grouse can again be seen as they’ve come out of hiding.  Those that have taken out the shotgun again report good success.  Enforcement action was taken for riding ATV’s outside of deer hunter hours, drive off road vehicle on snowmobile trail, and for failing to remove bear bait station within 48 hours after close of season.


CO Mary Manning (Hovland) continued to check deer hunters and hunting stands as weather finally turned a bit cooler.  The officer followed up on a couple situations in which folks have treated public lands as their own; in one case constructing a shelter, cook area, and bedframes from surrounding trees and in another driving over a berm blocking a closed roadway and preparing a building site.


CO Anthony Bermel (Babbitt) primarily worked deer hunters along with checking a few grouse hunters and whitefish netters.  Most bucks being harvested are young deer.  Enforcement action included transporting loaded firearm in motor vehicle, trespass, no blaze orange, transport deer with licensee not accompanying, small amount of marijuana, and drug paraphernalia.


CO David Schottenbauer (Silver Bay) worked area trapping complaints this week.  Deer hunting activity has slowed with continued warm weather.  Time was spent working a few trespassing complaints as well.


CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte) worked big game, small game and ATV enforcement. The officer responded to calls related to state park and ATV violations. Enforcement action was taken for transporting loaded firearms and illegal ATV use.


CO Don Murray (Two Harbors) worked a busy second weekend of deer season. Hunters were seeing more deer this week and temperatures remained mild. Enforcement action was taken for shooting deer from a roadway, no blaze orange, trespassing, and hunting deer over bait.

District 7 - Grand Rapids area
CO Randy Patten (Northome) worked deer hunting activity and handled calls on trespass, shooting from a roadway at a big game animal, hunt deer over bait, over limit of deer, failure to register deer, and alter cross section of a lake.  Enforcement action taken for felon in possession of a firearm when prohibited, take antlerless deer without a permit, transport loaded firearms in a motor vehicle, transport illegally taken big game, and operate ATV in closed hours.


CO Jayson Hansen (Big Fork) worked small game, waterfowl, big game, ATV, trespass, and fishing enforcement.  Violations included ATV’s on roadway, no license in possession, and unregistered deer.  Various wildlife calls were answered.


CO Mike Fairbanks (Deer River) worked trapping complaints, checked hunters and monitored angling activity. The area deer harvest was good this week. Enforcement action was taken for license issue, transport loaded firearm, and burning prohibited materials.


CO Thomas Sutherland (Grand Rapids) worked a busy and warm week of deer opener.   Enforcement action was taken for multiple untagged big game animals, failing to validate a tag, lending and borrowing a license, illegally transporting a big game animal, falsely applying for a license, shooting from a motor vehicle, shooting at a big game animal with the aid of a light, shoot from a roadway, and trespassing.


CO Gary Lefebvre (Pengilly) worked fishermen, ATV’s, bough cutters, trappers and firearms deer hunters.  He also handled various calls for service during the week involving hunting.


CO Jimmy Van Asch (Hill City) worked big game, small game, ATV, and bough/spruce top cutting enforcement.  Hunters participating in the second weekend of the firearms deer season continued to have considerable success along with the great weather.  Baiting issues and complaints continued into the second weekend.  Enforcement action was taken for hunting deer over a baited area, transporting loaded firearms, untagged deer, fail to validate tag at kill site, unregistered deer, and shining.

District 8 - Duluth area
CO Caleb Silgjord (Brookston) spent time during the busy week responding to deer hunting complaints and handling violations.  One TIP call resulted in hunting without a license, hunting over bait, and lend and borrow charges.  Hunting over bait has been a continued problem in the area and many hunters were visited on the stand for making the choice to hunt baited areas.  Calls regarding car killed deer, trapping incidents, and trespassing were also handled.


CO Andy Schmidt (Duluth West) followed up on deer baiting complaints as numerous cases were made involving bait.  Deer carcass dumping complaints along state and county land were handled.  Time was spent working on reports and shoot from the roadway complaints were investigated.


CO Kipp Duncan (Duluth East) spent the majority of the week answering and returning calls.  Complaints of shooting too close to houses and possible trespass were common.  Many complaints of dumping deer carcasses were taken and investigated.  Illegal hunting activity was investigated.  Some examples of enforcement activity included hunting without licenses, hunting over bait, borrowing deer licenses, lending deer licenses, and deer over limit.  Other activities included investigating illegal burning, ATV violations, and assisting other LE agencies.


CO Jeff Humphrey (Cromwell) continued with firearms deer season work.  Officer Humphrey also worked trapping, small game, ATV, and commercial bough enforcement.  CO Humphrey and CO Staples assisted Carlton County with a water related rescue incident on the St. Louis River.  An injured/sick bald eagle was transferred to a rehab facility for care.   Other calls, questions, and complaints included car injured deer, trapping, deer licensing and various hunting regulations, promiscuous shooting, youth safety training, and OHV operation.


CO Scott Staples (Carlton) assisted with the search and rescue of a person who fell out of their canoe on the St. Louis River and was stranded on a rock in the middle of the river. Lots of successful hunters were encountered this past week with several deer observed being taken. Baiting issues were worked and several enforcement contacts were made for license violations, operating ATV during prohibited hours, no blaze orange, registration and baiting violations.

Lake Superior Marine Unit
CO Matt Miller (Lake Superior Marine Unit) spent time on Lake Superior checking commercial fish nets. A complaint of possible hunter harassment was investigated where an individual was playing his guitar outside connected to an amplifier during prime shooting hours. A TIP call involving a possible lend and borrow violation was also investigated.  Enforcement action was taken on various big game, small game, and ATV violations.


Lake Superior Unit - vacant.