Minnesota Conservation Officer Tales - November

[Dave]

TURKEY APPREHENDED

Minnesota Conservation Officer (CO) Bret Grundmeier (Mora) received a complaint of an individual running over wild turkeys with a pickup. The individual was found with two wild turkeys in the bed of his pickup. An interview of the individual determined he drove past a flock of turkeys on the road, turned around and accelerated into the flock. The driver was hoping to bring them home for butchering. A fine with restitution for the turkeys was issued.

IT'S TOO DARK TO TELL IN DIFFERENCE

CO Larry Milbridge (Warroad) reported waterfowl hunting was excellent in the Lake of the Woods/Roseau River area, but early shooting problems occurred. When an early shooter was asked if they were shooting at female or drake mallards, the hunter replied, "It's too dark to tell the difference."

WRONG NUMBER

CO Lloyd Steen (Ray) seized a live wild blue goose from a home where the woman called her friend and left a message that she intended to keep the wild goose. The problem was the friend's automated phone message asking her to leave a message wasn't her friend at all, but rather a friend of the local conservation officer.

AN APPLE A DAY KEEPS THE WOLVES AWAY

CO Darin Fagerman (Grand Marais) reported a timber wolf stopped by his residence, ate some crab apples off the ground, and continued on his way. He appeared to be healthy. Maybe it's the apple a day thing.

NO WAY!

CO Randy Hanzal (Brookston) reported his appearance at a local firearms safety class had to be delayed because of two separate incidents where hunters illegally shot from the roadway. In the first incident, a hunter stopped along a county road and shot a grouse that was standing in a person's front yard less than 30 yards from where two children were playing. The second incident occurred within minutes of the first and involved another hunter who shot a deer from within the road right-of-way and while trespassing. The officer apprehended the second suspect and attempted to explain how dangerous it is to shoot from within the roadway. The suspect disagreed and stated it was a safe shot because there was a telephone pole just beyond the deer he was shooting at. When the officer spoke to the firearms safety class, he asked the 11- and 12-years-olds if a telephone pole made a good backstop for a bullet. He was delighted by their unanimous answer: NO WAY!

ARCHERY HUNTER TAKING DEER WITH A PISTOL TRIES TO SMASH FREE

CO Karl Hadrits (Crosby) reported that prompt action and a phone call from a concerned sportsman led to the arrest of an individual who killed a buck deer with a pistol while bowhunting. The concerned caller's vehicle was parked along the narrow trail. The violator attempted to escape by first trying to drag the vehicle out of the way, and then rammed it out of the way with his own vehicle before fleeing the area. The violator, who was arrested and jailed on an outstanding warrant, faces numerous charges and restitution in the incident. A vehicle, the deer, a pistol and a bow were seized and are subject to confiscation in the matter. The caller will be receiving a reward from the Turn in Poachers program.

DUEL TO THE END

CO Chris Vinton (Perham) had an archery deer hunter call to say he had shot a nice buck that had its antlers locked together with another nearly dead buck.

KEEP YOUR SHORTS ON

CO Joyce Kuske (Little Falls) had a hunter admit his gun case string had broken and that he had ripped a strip off of his underwear to tie the case closed so he wouldn't get caught with an illegally cased firearm.

DEER SHINER STOPPED; NUMEROUS VIOLATIONS

CO Jeff Halverson (Staples) made a stop of a deer shiner. In the vehicle were two loaded, uncased guns, one uncased handgun, four open beer bottles, and a deer in the box of the truck that was undressed without a tag. The deer had been taken by bow with the use of the headlights of the truck.

WANT TO AVOID A CITATION? THEN READ THE REGULATION BOOK

CO Adam Block (Prior Lake) reported a pheasant hunter was located hunting before legal shooting hours. The hunter stated he thought he could begin hunting at sunrise. When informed that pheasant hunting starts at 9 a.m. daily the hunter said, " I should know better. I have a regulation book in the truck."

FOUL PLAY

CO Travis Muyres (Ham Lake) responded to a Turn In Poachers call on Linwood Lake where two hunters had wounded a trumpeter swan and chased it with their boat as they continued shooting. The hunters said they thought the swan was a snow goose as they handed it to the CO with both hands. When seizing one of the hunters guns, Muyres discovered a stash of marijuana in the gun case.

WAY OVER THE LIMIT OF FISH

CO Jason Peterson (Eagan) received a Turn In Poachers call of anglers keeping over limits of bass on an area lake. Peterson and CO Thephong Le watched an angler catch several bass. When talking with the angler, they found he had more fish at home in the freezer. The angler was found to have 250 sunfish and 75 bass over the possession limit.

DRIVER PIPES UP WHEN ASKED WHY THEY WERE SWERVING ON A HIGHWAY

CO Joyce Kuske (Little Falls) stopped a truck that ran her off the highway. To her surprise, the driver had a marijuana pipe tucked behind an ear. Kuske asked why the driver was swerving so much and the driver said he was looking for the pipe. A check through State Patrol dispatch indicated the driver's license had been revoked and he had two outstanding warrants issued for his arrest.

DEER TRAP

CO Brad Schultz (Center City) received a call from a citizen about a large trench the caller believed to be used to trap deer, ala a "tiger trap." Investigation revealed a drain field trench for a septic system.

FAMILY, FRIENDS, PHEASANTS AND MARIJUANA DON'T MIX

CO Jim Robinson (Slayton) reported the teacher's convention weekend produced large numbers of families hunting pheasants including a father, son and a family friend pheasant hunting with each in possession of marijuana.

CANADA GOOSE VISITS LOCAL RESTAURANT

Officer Jeremy Woinarowicz (Thief River Falls) worked with the area wildlife manager to capture a Canada goose that was continually trying to walk into a local restaurant; the bird was fixated on something inside and was quite persistent about getting in.

200 YARDS OF TREES CUT

Officer Keith Backer (Blackduck) investigated a report of persons cutting trees to block access to public land. Suspects had chain sawed nearly 200 yards worth of trees to keep others off of public land.

FORCED TO TAKE ENFORCEMENT ACTION, AGAIN

CO Matt Frericks (Virginia) saw an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) cross a highway directly in front of him and recognized the ATV operator as someone he had stopped five days earlier. The same 15-year-old operator, who did not have an ATV safety certificate, was operating on a public highway, was again escorted to his residence. Enforcement action was taken, again.

OFFICERS ASSIST PEOPLE ON THE RIVER ENROUTE TO ASSIST PEOPLE IN NEW ORLEANS

CO Tom Hemker (Winona) and CO Scott Fritz (LaCrescent) found three people paddling a runabout boat loaded with various articles, but no life jackets. The paddlers advised they did not have any river experience but were heading south to assist the people in New Orleans. The three people were taken to a town to get life jackets and encouraged to learn more about the river before continuing on their journey.