District 1 – Baudette Area
Last update: 2022-09-06
CO Ben Huener (Roseau) reviewed bear, goose, and teal hunters, as well as boaters and fishermen on Lake of the Woods and Lake Bronson. Some bear hunters have been successful, but in general, bears are hard to find with all the natural food in the landscape. Violations for the week included waterfowl hunters who shot early, killed wood ducks out of season, killed seagulls and a tern, possessed lead while hunting waterfowl, hunted with an unplugged shotgun, and hunted without a small game license and/or or state and federal waterfowl. seals
CO Corey Sura (Baudette East) spent time patrolling ATV activity, checking on fishermen and working with bear, teal and goose hunters. Sura also worked at the DNR booth at the State Fair. Enforcement action was taken for fishing with extra lines, discharging a firearm from a motorboat while it was in operation, hunting on state park property, and speeding. An allegation of bear hunting trespassing was investigated.
CO Jeremy Woinarowicz (Thief River Falls West) spoke to the Thief River Falls Lions club and patrolled the first weekend looking for bear, teal, dove and geese hunters. Enforcement actions taken for transporting a loaded firearm, failing to register bear bait, failing to display bear bait, leaving equipment in a WMA, angling without a license, taking small animals without a license, failure to wear life jackets on boats and record boat and off-road vehicle violations
CO Tony Elwell (Thief River Falls East) oversaw bear hunting and baiting activity and worked on teal and early goose starters. Mixed success from teal hunters is reported. The fishermen were also checked.
CO Demosthenes Regas (Blackduck South) reports that last week he was working on the opening of the bear hunt, early teal season and early goose season. He spent time checking in with fishermen and monitoring boating activity on the station’s lakes during the Labor Day holiday. Regas reports that while on patrol he came across a captive white-tailed deer that had escaped and was running wild with its ear. Efforts continue to locate the deer and determine where it may have come from. Violations found and addressed in the past week include unregistered bear baiting and a group of ATV drivers operating on a state highway to avoid a muddy section of trail designated for ATVs.
CO Nicholas Prachar (Blackduck North) reports that the bear season opener is busy. Some lucky hunters filled tags despite the warm weather. Enforcement action was taken for numerous offenses related to off-road vehicles.
District 2 – Bemidji Area
Last update: 2022-09-06
CO Tom Hutchins (Crookston) reports that he worked the first few seasons of teal and goose. Several groups were contacted during the first weekend. He also spent time controlling bear hunters and fishermen. Several waterfowl-related violations were found.
CO Brice Vollbrecht (Bemidji #1) worked a busy Labor Day weekend. Bear and goose hunters were brought under control. Area lakes and ATV trails were patrolled.
CO Chris Vinton (Perham) reports that he continued to work on a background investigation of CO Prep and responding to calls from the station. The pigeon, early goose and teal opening was relatively quiet due to the warm weather. He contacted a couple of groups of goose hunters while collecting and they had some success. Fishing activity has slowed down. A shore fisherman was reminded that he could not transport his live fish in a bucket of water that was drawn from the infested water. Vinton coordinated with members of the DNR Aviation Enforcement Unit about flying into a place of interest. Calls of bear sightings were taken and rice beds were monitored for rice-forming activity.
CO Steve Chihak (Moorhead) spent the week working on sport fishing, pigeon hunting and ATV enforcement. He also took time over the weekend to work on the early seasons of teal and goose. Scouting and arriving early at his installation site was key to the success of most of the hunters who participated in the teal season. Goose hunters were finding some birds, but numbers appear to have decreased in the area. Violations found were no small game license, no federal duck stamp and unplugged shotguns.
CO Angie Warren (Mahnomen) conducted a patrol for ATV and ATV activity. Fishermen and boaters were checked for compliance with the regulations. Areas were checked for bear hunting activity. The activity of the wild rice harvesting areas was monitored and controls were carried out. AIS compliance was worked on. The first goose/teal areas were worked.
CO Bill Landmark (Pelican Rapids) spent the week continuing to track wetland violations and issuing resource protection notifications on newly discovered violations. He also spent some time managing the teal hunters, the early goose hunters, the bear hunters, and helping out at the CO Academy. Both teal and bear hunters were happy and had the opportunity to harvest animals. Early goose hunters, on the other hand, had little success. Calls from the public included reports of dogs chasing deer and questions about upcoming hunting seasons. Enforcement action was taken for placing fill in a public water, dogs chasing deer, poorly signed bear baits, and no HIP certification.
District 3 – Fergus Falls Area
Last update: 2022-09-06
CO Andrew Goodman (Fergus Falls) reports working a busy holiday weekend with primary efforts focused on boating and waterfowl safety enforcement. A large number of teal hunters were controlled with limits the first two days of the season, while the first controlled goose hunters were almost skunks. Angling remained slow in the area, but the number of boaters rivaled that of the 4th of July. Regulatory compliance was generally good and enforcement action was taken for license violations and lack of personal flotation devices.
CO Tricia Plautz (Henning) worked the opening day of the first goose and teal seasons. Hunters were found to have some success with pigeons and several fishermen were observed bringing home limits of fish. A special regulation lake was monitored for overshoots and double triggering. Plautz handled ATV infractions, is working with a local government unit on wetland infractions, and also spent time teaching trapping techniques to conservation officer candidates at Camp Ripley.
CO Ryan Brown (Elbow Lake) reports seeing a decent number of hunters during early teal and goose seasons. Most of the groups he found were lucky enough to have harvested their daily limit. He also monitored angling activity in the area and some violations were noted during the week.
CO Shane Osborne (Evansville) checked out anglers, boaters, and teal and goose hunters. Violation rates were high for the teal season, including early shots, unplugged shotguns, no licenses or stamps. Bowhunting questions were received and answered.
CO Mitch Lawler (Alexandria) reports busy lakes around the Douglas County area over the holiday weekend. Many fishermen and boaters were policed and enforced for fishing without a license, minor alcohol consumption, and navigation lights not turned on. Also, early seasons for geese and teal are underway with several hunters in check.
CO Hanna Wood (Wheaton) attended firearms qualifications and a hunter education/firearms safety instructor class this week. He also worked on his background investigation and verified the hunters who participated in the early seasons of goose and teal. There weren’t many hunters and those that were had mixed success. He also worked the angling app.
CO Emily Douvier (Morris) reports that she worked early on fishing enforcement and hunting goose and teal. Violations found included taking wood ducks out of season, not having federal or state waterfowl stamps, not being HIP certified, and using unplugged shotguns. A complaint of pigeon hunters shooting on the city limits was also addressed.
CO Daniel Baumbarger (Glenwood) reports that the week’s enforcement efforts focused on controlling fishermen, waterfowlers and dove catchers. He spent extra time answering questions about access to water and early teal season.
District 4 – Walker Zone
Last update: 2022-09-06
CO Jordan Anderson (Wadena) dedicated time to a variety of activities throughout the week. Few duck hunters were seen participating in the early teal season, and even fewer teals were seen in the bag. Unfortunately, ATV violations were all too frequent and enforcement action was taken for violations including, but not limited to, prohibited operation on highway right-of-way, allowing illegal operation by youth, not wearing youth helmets, not showing registration, operating an ORV in the roadway, operating an OHM in the roadway, too many passengers, and multiple open alcohol containers.
CO Michael Cross (Lake George) worked ATVs, angling, recreational boating, early teal and geese, and bear hunting. The week was very busy as people headed out for Labor Day weekend. The investigation of the case and the background investigation were also carried out throughout the week. Enforcement action was taken for numerous off-road vehicle violations.
CO Mark Mathy (Cass Lake) reports that it was a very busy holiday weekend. Bear hunters, ATV drivers, fishermen and boaters were primarily reviewed. He spent some time working on existing public water disturbance and big game cases. Enforcement action was taken for many ATV, boat, and angling violations.
CO Jacque Hughes (Longville) responded to an ATV accident and a motorcycle accident. Enforcement measures were taken for transporting loaded firearms, fish of illegal length, juveniles without helmets on ATVs, expired registration, and transporting aquatic plants.
CO Patrick McGowan (Walker) patrolled Cass County for boating and hunting activities throughout the week. Numerous early teal hunters were reviewed. They had limited success and fish bites remain slow in the area. Coercive measures were taken for numerous violations.
CO Adam Seifermann (Staples) reports an influx of visitors to the area over the holiday weekend. He spent time working on early teals, early geese, bear hunters, and ATV activities/complaints. The enforcement action consisted of a variety of ATV-related offenses. He also reports that he assists other agencies and assists with the ongoing CO Academy at Camp Ripley.
Vacant ATV Recreation Officer.