A Hunting We Will Go

There's blaze-orange in the woods of Lake Country — hunters watching for deer and DNR conservation officers watching for hunters. Things can get a little wild out there. And we're not talking about the deer.

Minnesota DNR Conservation Officer (CO) Reports from the 2007 Firearm Deer Season Opener

CO Joel Heyn (Rochester) reports one hunter was lucky he didn't get shot since he left his blaze-orange in the truck. To make things worse, he was using a deer decoy and carrying the decoy across an open field with other hunters nearby.

CO Scott Fritz (LaCrescent) received a report of a cougar sighting. A hunter saw the cougar thirty yards away on a tree limb. She watched the cat for about ten minutes. When a buck came toward her deer stand, the cat attempted to take it. The incident has shaken her nerves enough that she will not go back out hunting.

CO Jeff Koehn assisted the Itasca County Sheriff's Office with a lost seventy-three-year-old hunter. At about midnight, with assistance from other COs and the use of his ATV, Koehn located the hunter in a wooded area more than a mile from the hunter's tree stand. The hunter was so happy when found he said, "Now I suppose I have to kiss you." The kiss was declined, but an ATV ride through the woods to his waiting family was accepted.

CO Jim Tischler (Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area) came upon a hunter standing in the middle of a trail facing toward a hill. Another member of her party was about three hundred feet away on the trail facing the same hill. Tischler asked if someone was doing a drive for them; she said there was. Tischler did a quick check of her license so as not to interfere with the drive, when down the hill came a four-wheel-drive pick-up truck!

CO Ed Picht (Montevideo) observed three deer hunters standing in the middle of a road. As he drove toward the hunters, one of them pulled up a shotgun and pointed it toward the patrol vehicle. When he questioned the hunter about his actions, the response was: "I wanted to see who you were." There was a scope mounted on the shotgun. The hunter was charged with negligent handling of a firearm and asked to remember the basics of firearm safety: "Never point a firearm at another person."

CO Mark Fredin (Aurora) reports a hunter wasn't being too careful in his illegal activities when a bag of fresh whole corn appeared to open up and spill out as he drove down a Forest Service road on his ATV. Fredin was able to follow the corn trail from a group of campers, down the road, and up to a ladder stand were a label identified as "Whole Corn" was found on the ground.

CO Mike Lee (Isle) reports the nicest deer he saw all weekend was one that was hit by a car. The individual that struck the deer stated, "Do you think my wife will be as excited about this twelve-pointer as I am?" Officer Lee said he didn't know. The individual then stated, "Well, I suppose I won't be able to have it mounted now." When Officer Lee asked, "Why is that?" The individual stated, "Because I'll have to use that money to have her car repaired."