District 1 – Baudette area
Last updated: 2023-10-02
CO Demosthenes Regas (Blackduck South) reports working small-game, waterfowl and angling activity this past week. Time was spent patrolling area recreational vehicle trails and completing annual online training. Regas monitored trespassing and shining complaint areas. Violations encountered this past week included angling without a license, expired watercraft registration watercraft, PFD violations, federal waterfowl stamps not in possession while taking ducks, taking waterfowl on a waterfowl refuge, transport loaded firearms in a motorboat and wanton waste.
CO Coby Fontes (Warroad South) spent the week enforcing waterfowl-related regulations and following up on miscellaneous cases.
CO Jeremy Woinarowicz (Thief River Falls-West) taught the law and ethics portion of the Two Rivers Sportsman?s Club youth firearms safety class near Halma, conducted an interview for a local radio station?s call-in-with-questions program, and investigated a wanton waste complaint of Canada geese. Enforcement action was taken for no ATV safety training, failure to display current ATV registration, angling without a license, and federal waterfowl stamp violations.
CO Ben Huener (Roseau) checked duck hunters on Thief Lake and grouse hunters in Pine Island State Forest. A dead deer that had been struck by a vehicle was removed from the porch of a residence. Enforcement contacts for the week include hunting in a sanctuary, transporting a loaded gun, and various license infractions.
CO Tony Hams (Warroad North) spent the week checking area anglers and small-game hunters. Hams was accompanied by a local high school student who was job-shadowing for a class.
District 2 – Bemidji area
Last updated: 2023-10-02
CO Tom Hutchins (Crookston) reports checking waterfowl and prairie chicken hunters this past week. Time was also spent working on various hunting related complaints. Anglers were checked on area lakes.
CO Brice Vollbrecht (Bemidji #1) completed a phase of field training with a conservation officer candidate. Time was spent monitoring angling activity on area lakes. The fall bite continues to improve. Vollbrecht attended training at Camp Ripley.
CO Brett Fox (Bemidji #2) spent the week patrolling for ATV, angling, and waterfowl-hunting activity. Fox also spent time focusing on equipment maintenance. Fox also assisted the Bemidji Police Department in their search for a missing person.
CO Andrew Goodman (Perham) worked waterfowl, angling and boating enforcement throughout the week. The warm weekend weather produced a good variety of outdoor activity with paddlers, hunters, boaters and anglers enjoying the area lakes. Water temperatures continue to drop, making life-saving devices on board watercraft especially important. Enforcement action for the week included insufficient PFDs, various waterfowl hunting violations and taking of slot fish.
CO Jake Swedberg (Detroit Lakes) continued field training COC Justin Frisch. With the warm weather, the focus has shifted from primarily waterfowl and small-game hunting to some other recreational activities as well. There were several ATV riders and boaters out enjoying the nice weather. Swedberg and Frisch also joined the Minnesota Trappers Association at a trappers certification class at the Cormorant Lakes Sportsman Club.
CO Al Peterson (Osage) checked waterfowl hunters and worked off-highway vehicle enforcement and ongoing cases.
CO Bill Landmark (Pelican Rapids) spent the week checking waterfowl hunters and anglers in the Pelican Rapids station. Waterfowl hunters are finding fewer birds this week, but everyone was still having some luck. Anglers are finding fish, which are starting to make their way to their normal fall locations. Landmark completed annual online training, attended Leaf Days in Maplewood State Park, and assisted with a firearms safety field day. Landmark also attended drowning rescue and recovery training with Becker County deputies and the Becker County dive team. Enforcement action was taken for illegal-length crappies on a special regulation lake, no life jackets onboard a watercraft, and angling with extra lines.
District 3 – Fergus Falls area
Last updated: 2023-10-02
CO Tricia Plautz (Henning) spent time patrolling area lake accesses for waterfowl hunters and anglers coming off the lakes. Time was also spent on ATV enforcement. Enforcement action was taken for transporting loaded firearms, Class 2 ATV operation with no helmets on youth passengers, failure to display registration, unsigned federal waterfowl stamp, and hunting ducks without a small-game license. A high school class was talked to on the rules, regulations, and techniques of dark house spearing.
CO Ryan Brown (Elbow Lake) reports checking waterfowl-hunting and angling activity throughout the week. Time was also spent investigating a wetland violation and assisting local agencies with a search warrant. Violations encountered this week included no license in possession, transporting a loaded firearm, insufficient life jackets onboard watercraft, and no state waterfowl stamp.
CO Shane Osborne (Evansville) checked duck hunters, ATV riders and anglers. Several questions were received about accessing waters from public road right-of-ways for duck hunting. Osborne reminds duck hunters that not all road right-of-ways are the same and that they should contact the road authority to find the correct right-of-way distance for each individual road.
CO Mitch Lawler (Alexandria) observed some mid-week waterfowl hunting activity, although hunter numbers were rather low. Muskie anglers continue to targets lakes Miltona and Lobster, with several telling of success. A few anglers were cited for not having a valid license, while another had kept a smallmouth bass during the catch-and-release-only season. Enforcement action was taken and the bass was released.
CO Felicia Znajda (Osakis) focused her week on angling, ATV, and small-game-hunting activity. She observed a wide range of angling success and noticed a less busy waterfowl-hunting weekend. Various violations were encountered throughout the week.
CO Hanna Wood (Wheaton) spent the past week focusing on angling and waterfowl enforcement. She attended training at Camp Ripley and district training. Time was also spent on recreational vehicle enforcement.
CO Emily Douvier (Morris) reports working small-game and waterfowl enforcement. Waterfowl-related questions were fielded and numerous trainings were attended.
CO Dan Baumbarger (Glenwood) continued field training with COC Levi Brown. This week they checked compliance among waterfowl hunters at multiple lakes and public lands. Most hunters were in compliance with state and federal laws. A few were not, and those issues were addressed. ATV riders in violation of state statute were also contacted. They also came across multiple archery deer hunters while patrolling the area. All archery hunters checked were legal and had all applicable licenses.
District 4 – Walker area
Last updated: 2023-10-02
CO Michael Cross (Lake George) worked angling, big-game, small-game, migratory waterfowl, and land-use enforcement. Cross also assisted in a multi-agency missing person search. Enforcement action was taken for aquatic plant, angling, waterfowl, and big-game violations.
CO Jordan Anderson (Wadena) continued field training with COC Manteufel. The week focused on following up with bear baits, calls about ATV use and public land access, and illegal use of a hydro jet. Patrols were conducted for off-highway vehicle activity in the Paul Bunyan State Forest and Huntersville State Forest, along with some small-game, waterfowl, and fishing checks. A firearms safety field day was also conducted.
CO Patrick McGowan (Walker) continued field training a new conservation officer candidate. The officers patrolled Cass County for angling, boating and ATV activity. Numerous angling, boating, and waterfowl-hunting violations were addressed.
CO Mark Mathy (Cass Lake) primarily checked anglers and bird hunters. The perch bite continues to be good on area lakes. Mathy responded to an injured-eagle call and issued a permit for a roadkill bobcat. Training items were completed. Enforcement action was taken for angling violations.
CO Corey Sura (Remer) assisted with a firearms safety course for students from Northland Community School. The students had a great learning experience despite the downpour. Thank you to all the great volunteer firearms safety instructors who came out to help, as well as the Thunder Lake Sportsman?s Club! Sura attended training at Camp Ripley, and checked small-game hunters, duck hunters, and anglers. Duck numbers and hunter success remained modest despite continued warm weather.
CO Adam Seifermann (Staples) reports checking small-game, bear, and archery deer hunters. Some enforcement action consisted of operating an ATV in a wildlife management area, unregistered bear bait, expired ATV registration, and youth under 18 without a helmet. He also did a law, ethics and K9 talk for a firearms safety class. He continues to follow up on big-game-related cases.
CO Jacque Johnson (Longville) checked hunting and ATV activity. She also responded to a call concerning an injured hawk.
ATV rec officer vacant.
Bagley vacant.
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