Minnesota Conservation Officer Tales

Editor's note: Minnesota conservation officer tales is produced monthly by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources - Division of Enforcement.

MULTIPLE VIOLATIONS

Conservation Officer (CO) Dan Malinowski (Fosston) responded to violations including litter (the driver didn't know the empty cup landed on the road when he threw it out the window and placed a full cup in the holder), burning prohibited materials (the fireman stated a citation was not necessary, the embarrassment of being caught was enough), and transporting a loaded firearm in a motor vehicle (the violator stated it was more dangerous to uncase, load, and shoot in a hurry than to have the gun already loaded).

ONE UNUSUAL DEER

CO Gary Sommers (Walker) received a call about an unusual deer that had been taken. The deer had one short antler and both male and female sex organs.

STARING DOWN THE END OF A GUN

CO Lloyd Steen (Ray) reported while observing with his binoculars a hunter in his stand, the hunter pointed his loaded 30-06 at the officer to identify him through his scope. The hunter was cited for dangerous handling of a firearm.

LUCKY TO BE ALIVE

CO Dan Starr (Tower) assisted with a boat that had overturned in the icy waters of Lake Vermilion. Three deer hunters had set out at night with a boat full of camping gear, guns and a portable stand. The boat took on water and flipped; luckily the three occupants were wearing life jackets and made it to a remote shore. Enforcement action was taken for over-capacity on a 12-foot boat.

TEE TIME

CO Mark Fredin (Aurora) received a call of someone possibly shooting a deer from a roadway along a golf course and then harvesting the deer on the 14th tee.

A MEMORABLE FIRST DEER STORY

While driving on a heavily brushed and bumpy road, CO Marty Stage (Babbitt) passed a parked truck and felt bad about possibly scaring any deer away on such a calm quiet morning. As Stage headed into the woods to contact a deer baiter, a loud shot rang out very close by. Stage ducked down and continued on. Later when he was leaving the woods he saw the truck and went to apologize for driving by on opening morning. To his surprise, they were very happy about it because the truck's noise had run a nice buck right to a young hunter. Now there's a memorable first deer story!

HOW HE CAME ABOUT THAT UNIQUE RIFLE

CO Brian Buria from Bigfork checked a man with a very old and unique looking 8mm, short-barreled rifle. When asked how long he had been hunting with it, the 80-year-old Minnesota resident said, "Ever since I took it from a German paratrooper in World War II."

TAKING A SHOT THROUGH A CHAIN LINK FENCE NEAR A PLAYGROUND

CO Sam Hunter (Grand Rapids) responded to a call of a hunter who shot a deer from the road, through a chain link fence. The deer was standing on the infield of a baseball diamond near a playground.

THE OFFICER DIDN'T DO IT

CO Scott Staples (Carlton) had a very upset hunter call him on the firearm deer opener demanding the state buy him a new deer stand. Apparently someone took his stand out of the tree and destroyed it, then left a note stating that it was illegal to hunt over bait and that he would be fined if caught. The note also had the officer's name and phone number left on it! After calming the hunter down, he realized Staples had nothing to do with the destruction of his stand. The incident is still under investigation.

DEER RESCUED FROM BOATLIFT

The day prior to season opener CO Cary Shoutz (Crosslake) was called to rescue an eight-point buck that had its antlers hung up in a rope hanging from a boatlift. Shoutz was able to cut the rope and free the buck although the rope had spooled tightly around the buck's rack, sounding like a turbine as it unwound when the deer ran away.

JUST A ROUTINE PATROL

During routine patrol on state wildlife management areas, CO Brent Speldrich (McGregor) encountered a man brandishing a pistol, hunters leaving property on WMA units, hunters hunting over bait (six hunters cited, six weapons seized, six deer feeders seized), and illegal ATV operation on county park lands.

FLIMSY EXCUSES

CO Dan Perron (Onamia) worked with DNR aircraft on a baiting case and caught a hunter just 20 yards away from a pile of corn. The hunter told Perron that he wasn't going to shoot any deer in that direction because he was facing the other way. He also had a hunter enter private property and shoot a deer decoy twice. The hunter said they saw the deer and just thought he would take a shot at it. Both violations resulted in fines and loss of firearms.

UNBELIEVABLE

CO Paul Kuske (Pierz) reports a hunter lined up two deer and killed them with one shot! Quite an act of marksmanship, except Kuske found the shooter had literally dropped them on a bait pile. Also, numerous untagged deer were found in camps, residences, farms and vehicles. One hunter said, "When did they start making us tag deer?"

DOING THE RIGHT THING

CO Brett Oberg (Maplewood) assisted with a hunter harassment call where an individual was banging garbage cans to scare away deer from nearby hunters. The hunters involved did the right thing by calling the local conservation officer instead of confronting the individual.

FIREARM AND 600 POUNDS OF CORN SEIZED

CO Travis Muyres (Ham Lake) worked Anoka County during the firearms deer season opener with one individual cited for hunting deer over bait. His firearm as well as a receipt for 600 pounds of corn was seized.

MYSTERY LIQUID IDENTIFIED

CO Matt Loftness (Redwood Falls) investigated a hunter harassment case where a yellow liquid was dumped on a vehicle in a Wildlife Management Area. Originally thought to be doe urine scent, the liquid was actually Mountain Dew.

A HOPEFULLY UNCOMMON FATHER/SON HUNTING TEAM

CO Jim Robinson (Slayton) investigated a father/son hunting team reportedly chased a deer in a bean field and shooting the buck from the truck. The father said he shot the deer with a .20 gauge smooth bore shotgun from an adjacent cornfield that was about 200 yards away, which he said that were not uncommon shots for him to make!

SLUG FEST

CO Greg Abraham (New Ulm) reported seeing the largest number of hunters in the field for the firearms deer opener in 10 years or so.

I GOT YOUR PICTURE

Officer Pat Znajda (Karlstad) reports a man who shot a nice buck over bait even posed with the deer while another hunter took his picture. The man must have thought it wasn't the best idea to have his picture taken and left the deer behind. Officer Znajda obtained the picture and the deer was confiscated. The man was later found and charged with hunting over a baited area.

A DOE SPORTING A 10- POINT RACK

Officer Jeremy Woinarowicz (Thief River Falls) was fortunate enough to see one uncommon site this deer season, an antlered doe. The doe was sporting a rack scored a 10 and taken by hunters along the Red River south of Robyn.