MN DNR Conservation Officer

District 1 – Baudette area

CO Ben Huener (Roseau) and COC Calli Oberg continued working the firearms deer season. Deer activity stayed steady, and many hunters reported having multiple opportunities to harvest a deer. Enforcement action taken this week included hunting deer over bait, transporting loaded firearms, failure to validate a tag, unregistered deer, DWI, and gross misdemeanor shining, which involved two deer being illegally taken.

CO Tony Hams (Warroad North) spent the week checking area deer hunters and following up on various complaints. Violations encountered were no blaze orange, shooting from the roadway, shining, trespassing, and an unsecure load.

CO Coby Fontes (Warroad South) reports a busy week of predominantly egregious after-dark violations. Two separate illegal shining and shooting cases were made, one of which involved alcohol. Additional violations encountered were second-degree DWI, driving after cancellation inimical to public safety, open bottle violations, reckless use of a firearm, failure to register deer, and illegal big-game transport.

CO Nicholas Prachar (Baudette West) reports mixed success through the second weekend of the firearms deer season. Time was spent working big-game and ATV activity. Prachar worked with CO Fontes on an illegal shining case where the suspects shot from the road. Other enforcement action was taken for illegally possessed big game, reckless driving, and driving while intoxicated.

CO Jeremy Woinarowicz (Thief River Falls West) continued to monitor deer-hunting activity. Enforcement action was taken for discharging a firearm at big game in the roadway, untagged deer, failure to validate a deer site tag, unlawful party hunting, allowing a juvenile to commit a game and fish violation, failure to register deer, and transporting a loaded firearm in a motor vehicle.

CO Sarah Jahn (Thief River Falls East) spent time working the busy firearms deer season and handling TIP calls. Time was also spent working shining complaints and a detail was worked with area officers resulting in enforcement action being taken for five juveniles shining deer. Other enforcement action was taken for a second-degree DWI, transporting loaded firearms, non-validated tags, and transporting untagged deer.

CO Nick Bruesewitz (Karlstad) spent the week patrolling the area for deer hunters. Enforcement action was taken for hunting deer over bait, transporting a loaded firearm in a vehicle, shooting after hours, and gross misdemeanor shining.

CO Brice Vollbrecht (Blackduck North) spent time working deer-season activity. Complaints of shining activity continue to come in and were worked. He responded to complaints of trespass and completed a deer farm inspection.

Baudette East vacant.

Blackduck South vacant.

District 4 – Walker area

Last updated: 2024-11-18

CO Landyn Saewert (Wadena) reports the week saw a slow start with a few successful hunters contacted. Several TIP reports were fielded throughout the week. An outreach event was attended at the New York Mills Library. Enforcement action this past week included failure to register deer and no license in possession while hunting.

CO Patrick McGowan (Walker) worked Leech Lake throughout the week for waterfowl-hunting and angling activity. He also worked the firearms deer season. McGowan continues training Conservation Officer Candidate Megan Franzen. Time was also spent checking deer hunters around the area. Enforcement action was taken for numerous waterfowl-hunting and deer-hunting violations.

CO Michael Cross (Lake George) focused primarily on the firearms deer season throughout the week. Cross saw decent success overall, with many groups having at least a few deer harvested. Enforcement action was taken for deer-hunting, feeding and attractant ban, and ATV violations.

CO Mark Mathy (Cass Lake) primarily checked deer hunters. A complaint of hunter harassment was investigated and led to enforcement action being taken. A baited area was also checked. Enforcement action was taken for deer-hunting violations.

CO Corey Sura (Remer) continued to check firearms deer hunters throughout the week. Sura assisted partners with deer cases and investigated new complaints. Enforcement action was taken for blaze orang/pink violations, transporting loaded firearms, non-validated tags, and no site tags attached to deer.

CO Adam Seifermann (Staples) reports a slower second weekend for the firearms deer hunt. He reports utilizing K9 Jet for big-game and trespass complaints. Seifermann also reports a significant increase in car-deer crashes at night and has issued several permits for consumption purposes.

CO Jacque Johnson (Longville) checked deer-hunting activity. She investigated multiple complaints of carcasses dumped illegally. Enforcement action was taken for hunting over bait.

CO Nick Baum (Park Rapids) patrolled the area for big-game hunting activity. Baum observed varying success in the area among deer hunters. He urges people to utilize the Turn in Poachers hotline for possible hunting violations. Baum took enforcement action on various violations.

ATV rec officer vacant.

District 2 – Bemidji area

Last updated: 2024-11-18

CO Tom Hutchins (Crookston) continued to field train a new officer this past week. Most of this week was spent working deer-hunting enforcement. Also, various trespass and shooting from the roadway complaints were received.

CO Andrew Ladzinski (Bemidji #1) spent time patrolling for hunting activity. He followed up with ongoing big-game cases and TIP calls. Enforcement action was taken for operating an ATV on a non-motorized trail, transporting a loaded firearm, and untagged deer. He worked a late-night shining detail with other area officers.

CO Andrew Goodman (Perham) reports his primary focus of the week remained on deer-hunting activity. Various conditions reduced deer movement, and thus hunting success during the later parts of the week. Waterfowl numbers greatly increased over the weekend, but few hunters were checked. Assistance was provided to other agencies and general calls for service were handled. Goodman would like to remind hunters to register their deer within 48 hours of take or before processing or leaving them with a taxidermist.

CO Jake Swedberg (Detroit Lakes) spent the week checking deer, duck, and small-game hunters. Swedberg also responded to a call of an overlimit of walleyes. Enforcement action was taken against the individual involved. He also assisted with several deer-hunting cases with surrounding officers and investigated several complaints of trespassing and shooting from the road.

CO Jordan Anderson (Osage) reports increased activity as the deer firearms season ends. Anderson and COC Bobby Stringer observed some success with harvests, as the weather cooperated until the end. Both officers want to remind hunters to register their deer and ensure camps are cleaned up prior to departure. Enforcement action for the week included not removing watercraft plug during transport, failure to register deer, hunter harassment, and harvesting forest products without a permit.

CO William Landmark (Moorhead) spent the week working deer-hunting activity. Hunter success varied depending on where hunters focused their efforts. Those who hunted areas where larger tracts of woods were present had better luck than those hunting the prairie. Multiple big bucks were observed harvested by hunters. Calls from the public included questions regarding public lands and complaints of law violations. Enforcement action was taken for numerous deer-hunting violations, including the gross misdemeanor transport of illegally taken animals, deer overlimit, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of an occupied dwelling, unregistered big-game animals, and more.

CO Angela Warren (Mahnomen) focused on firearms deer season hunting activity. Fewer hunters were observed, and hunters reported fair to poor success rates. Assistance was provided to White Earth Tribal conservation officers with possible trespass issues. ATV, off-road vehicle, angling, and waterfowl-hunting activity was worked.

CO Brady Manteufel (Bagley) continued to check deer hunters during the week. Overall, reported and observed activity was slow. He followed up on baiting tips and addressed a trespassing issue. Assistance was provided on a highway accident and property left on public lands was addressed. Manteufel would like to remind people that property left on public lands is not OK to take and turn in if you think a violation has occurred. Please contact the DNR first. Questions about CWD and licenses were answered while visiting deer camps throughout the week.

CO Jamus Veit (Bemidji #2) spent time checking hunters during the firearms deer season. He worked with area conservation officers on multiple nights patrolling for shining activity, and assisted Beltrami and Clearwater counties in attempting to locate a subject who fled from officers into the woods. Enforcement action was taken for transporting a loaded firearm.

Pelican Rapids vacant.

District 3 – Fergus Falls area

Last updated: 2024-11-18

CO Tricia Plautz (Henning) worked deer hunters through the week and weekend, finding scattered success. Complaints investigated include trespass, hunter harassment, untagged deer, hunting over bait, litter, and a possible wetland violation.

CO Ryan Brown (Elbow Lake) spent most of his enforcement efforts on the firearms deer season this past week. Complaints regarding shooting from the road and trespassing were received, with enforcement action taken. Other enforcement action this week included no blaze orange during the firearms deer season, untagged traps, and taking antlerless deer without a permit.

CO Shane Osborne (Evansville) checked deer and waterfowl hunters. Several complaints were received of dumped deer carcasses and garbage on public hunting areas. Transporting loaded firearms was encountered too many times over the week.

CO Jake Homan (Alexandria) spent the week patrolling Douglas and Traverse counties for big-game, small-game, waterfowl-hunting, and fishing activities. Limited success was seen due to the mild and foggy weather. Time was spent following up on TIP calls and complaints in the station. Enforcement action was taken for a DWI, failure to register deer, and other game and fish violations.

CO Felicia Znajda (Osakis) spent a busy deer season checking numerous successful hunters. Many complaints consisting of dogs chasing deer and trespassing were received. Multiple violations were encountered, including but not limited to hunting with the aid of bait, untagged deer, failure to validate, failure to register, discharging firearms within 500 feet of a dwelling, shooting and shining deer at night, and negligent discharge of a firearm.

CO Emily Douvier (Morris) reports working firearms deer and recreational vehicle activity throughout the past week and weekend. Overall, checks found high compliance levels. Enforcement action was taken for violations of transporting deer while not accompanied by the licensee. Multiple TIP calls were investigated.

CO Daniel Baumbarger (Glenwood) reports enforcement efforts for the week were concentrated on checking deer hunters, ATV operators, and trappers. Additional time was spent investigating complaints of trespass, late shooting, and deer baiting.

Wheaton vacant.