Weekly CO report
District 1 – Baudette area
Last updated: 2026-09-08
CO Nick Bruesewitz (Karlstad) spent the weekend checking early teal and goose hunters during the opener. Nuisance animal calls were handled during the week.
CO Tony Hams (Warroad North) spent the week checking area anglers, checking early goose/teal hunters, checking bear hunters, monitoring local ATV traffic, and following up with various complaints. Violations encountered were no license in possession, unregistered bait, loud exhaust, fail to transfer, expired registration, and no insurance.
CO Coby Fontes (Warroad South) spent the week monitoring bear, goose, and early teal hunting activities, along with boating and fishing activities on Lake of the Woods. Enforcement action was taken for operating an unregistered boat, transporting aquatic macrophytes, and operating a boat after sunset without navigational lighting.
CO Bobby Stringer (Thief River Falls West) reports bear, early goose/teal, and dove hunter success throughout the area. Stringer also noted an increase in Walleye numbers as anglers’ wet lines on the Red Lake River. Overall, the seasons are off to a great start with no safety related incidents reported. Although that was the case, please ensure you know your target and what is beyond! Enforcement actions for the week included no angling license, operating a class II ATV while cancelled-IPS, trespass, abandonment of trail cameras in WMAs, and a variety of bear bait and ATV violations.
CO Sarah Jahn (Thief River Falls East) time was spent working security and the info booth at the state fair. Call regarding the new licensing system were taken.
CO Nicholas Prachar (Blackduck #1) reports a successful beginning to the bear season. Many hunters are finding success in the woods.
Baudette #1 – vacant.
Blackduck #2 – vacant.
Baudette #2 – vacant.
District 2 – Bemidji area
Last updated: 2026-08-31
CO Jamus Veit (Bemidji #1) spent the week working security at the Minnesota State Fair, checking bear baits, checking individuals harvesting wild rice, and monitoring ATV activity.
CO Andrew Goodman (Perham) worked angling and wild rice activity on area lakes and rivers. Rice is still green on most lakes, but patches of ripe rice can be found in the rivers and on smaller bodies of water. Angling success has been limited, but substantial rainfall has water flowing again after a month of stagnancy. Questions regarding the upcoming hunting seasons were fielded.
CO Jake Swedberg (Detroit Lakes) spent the week checking bear baits and talking with bear hunters about the upcoming season. Many questions were answered regarding the new licensing system. Swedberg and K9 Axel also performed several demonstrations at the State Fair, along with other members of the DNR K9 unit.
CO Curtis Jepson (Osage) spent much of the week focused on bear baiting and wild rice activities. Time was also spent at the State Fair on a security detail. Numerous electronic licensing related calls were fielded.
CO Angela Warren (Mahnomen) spent time on angling and boating activity. WMAs, waterfowl production areas, and state forest areas were worked for bear baiting activity. Wild rice and leeching areas were monitored, and patrol was conducted for ATV activity.
CO Bill Landmark (Moorhead) spent the week working on a background investigation.
CO Grey Corbus (Pelican Rapids) spent the week monitoring angling activity, fielding various wildlife-related complaints, and working pre-season bear baiting. Corbus worked the Kratz Family Outdoors Outdoor Experience Day, where many people shared the excitement of upcoming fall hunting seasons.
CO Brady Manteufel (Bagley) checked public lands for activity and followed up on bear baits and registration. A report of an animal attack on livestock was investigated. Manteufel also worked the first two days of the DNR information booth at the Minnesota State Fair, where he enjoyed meeting people from around the state and answering questions.
Bemidji #2 – vacant.
District 3 – Fergus Falls area
Last updated: 2026-09-08
CO Tricia Plautz (Henning) spent time with customers assisting them in purchasing hunting licenses, stamps, and registering bear harvest. Invasive species enforcement was conducted, goose and early teal hunters were checked having limited success.
CO Ryan Brown (Elbow Lake) checked angling and ATV activity during the week and focused mainly on Waterfowl hunters over the weekend. Hunting success was high with most filling their bag limits.
CO Shane Osborne (Evansville) checked fishermen, boats, ATVs, ORVs and early teal hunters. Violation rate for early teal hunters was high again this year, with shooting early and taking of waterfowl during the closed season. AIS violation rates were high during AIS saturation event.
CO Jake Homan (Alexandria) spent the week patrolling Douglas and Traverse Counties for ATV, angling, and waterfowl activity. Additional time was spent participating in an AIS detail. Enforcement action was taken for a variety of waterfowl violations and ATV violations.
CO Felicia Znajda (Osakis) reports a slower weekend than expected for early teal and goose hunters. Although many hunters were checked, she didn’t see many birds in the bags. Several early shooting complaints were investigated. Various enforcement action taken throughout the weekend.
CO Emily Douvier (Morris) reports working fishing, recreational vehicle, and early teal enforcement. Enforcement action was taken for various license and stamp violations, transporting waterfowl without a fully feathered wing attached, and no PFD’s on board watercraft. An AIS detail was also worked and violations found included transporting aquatic macrophytes and failure to remove boat plug.
CO Andrew Ladzinski (Glenwood) dedicated his time towards angling and waterfowl enforcement. He spent the holiday weekend checking anglers and waterfowl hunters during the early teal & goose season. Foggy conditions and warm weather kept the ducks in possession quite low, while other hunters had luck with taking geese in fields. Enforcement action was taken for watercraft violations and shotgun plug violations.
Wheaton – vacant.
District 4 – Walker area
Last updated: 2026-09-08
CO Nick Baum (Park Rapids) patrolled the local area for Bear and Migratory Waterfowl Hunting, Recreational Vehicle, Boating, and Angling activity. CO Baum found many Bear Hunters having early season success. CO Baum found a few hunters attempting to harvest Migratory Waterfowl during the Early Teal and Goose Season. CO Baum attended a meeting for the upcoming ATV Event in Park Rapids and attended a meeting at Mantrap Valley Conservation Club to recruit Firearm Safety Instructors for the area. CO Baum assisted Hubbard County with a Watercraft Accident on Long Lake. CO Baum took enforcement action for various recreational vehicle violations.
CO Landyn Saewert (Wadena) spent the first part of the week assisting with the security detail at the Minnesota State Fair. Time was also spent working the teal opener, and minimal success was observed. With the warm weather fishing remains slow in the area.
CO Patrick McGowan (Cass Lake) worked ATV and boating activity throughout the week. CO McGowan also assisted at the MN state fair. Enforcement action was taken for several boating and angling violations.
CO Jack Lien (Walker) patrolled and enforced a variety of outdoor activities this week. Bear baits and anglers were checked, and he spent time looking for early teal/goose hunters but saw little numbers of those hunters in his direct area. A shift was worked down at the Minnesota State Fair working the DNR information booth. There, his assignment was based around greeting the public and answering questions they may have had in their passing by the streets of the fair.
CO Corey Sura (Remer) worked hunters participating in the early teal season. Success amongst hunters was relatively low. Enforcement action was taken for hunting without a small game license, and no required PFDs for a waterfowl boat. Sura investigated a bear hunting complaint. An ATV operator was stopped when he was operating on a county road well after sunset with no headlights or taillights on his machine. The driver also did not have a valid driver license to operate a motor vehicle on a public roadway.
CO Levi Brown (Staples) observed a busy week of bear hunters baiting sites early in the week followed by many hunters reporting success on the opening days of the bear season. Over the weekend, Brown focused on migratory bird hunters during the opening days of Early Goose and the Teal seasons. Brown took enforcement action for big game related violations to include unregistered bait sites and game cameras on Wildlife Management Areas.
ATV rec officer – vacant.
Comments