Wisconsin Outdoor News Cuffs & Collars – Feb. 23, 2018

District 1 — Ashland area

Warden Matt Koshollek, of Drummond, was on patrol and driving south on Hwy. 63 near Drummond in January when he noticed a snowmobile had just crashed on a snowmobile trail. Koshollek made sure the snowmobiler was not injured. The operator failed field sobriety and was arrested for OWI.

Warden Koshollek was patrolling on snowmobile trails in Iron County when he stopped a snowmobiler for not stopping at a stop sign at the previous intersection. The male admitted to not stopping and to driving 90 mph during the hours of darkness before not stopping at the sign. The speed limit is 55 mph at night. Enforcement action was taken.

Wardens Amie Egstad, of Bayfield, stopped to have a conversation with a coyote hunter who was sitting inside his truck on a town road outside of Herbster, but parked in the wrong lane. The hunter said he was just hanging out hoping a coyote would wander by on the creek under the bridge/state land area on each side of the town road. The hunter had four long guns in the truck, including two uncased, and a loaded shotgun and rifle alongside him in the front seat. Egstad explained the illegality of loaded long guns in the vehicle as well as the safety concern of firearms going off inside of vehicles. Enforcement action was taken.

Warden John Krull, of Superior, cited the driver of a pickup truck in January after seeing the driver stop the vehicle to then fire a shotgun through the open passenger window at a grouse.

Warden Adam Stennett, of Brule, encountered a trapper leaving a wooded area near the city of Superior. A check of the trapper’s sets found three untagged cable restraints and one of the cable restraints was set using an approximately 8-inch diameter tree as the stake. Enforcement action taken.

Warden Stennett received a complaint of a badger frozen in the back of a truck on Tower Avenue in the city of Superior. Upon arrival, Stennett found the badger was actually a fisher. Stennett worked with Minnesota conservation officer Andy Schmidt, of Duluth, on the investigation of the individual in possession of the fisher. The investigation concluded when it was determined the individual shot the fisher during the Minnesota gun-deer season. Enforcement action was taken.

District 3 — Park Falls area

An individual from Medford was found guilty in a Price County Circuit Court in January of seven violations related to shooting a deer with a rifle during the bow season. The individual was ordered to pay $2,247.25 and all DNR privileges were revoked for three years.

A Phillips resident was found guilty in Price County Circuit Court in January of hunting deer without a license and possessing a firearm as a felon. The individual was ordered to pay $2,219.50 and all DNR privileges were revoked for three years.

District 5 — Lower St. Croix area

Warden Isaac Kruse, of St. Croix County, investigated a complaint of bear being poisoned in Glenwood City. The suspect placed a poison bait for the purpose of killing raccoons he alleged were causing damage to his backyard deck. A large black bear known to frequent the area consumed the bait and began displaying symptoms of severe poisoning. The bear was never recovered, but is believed to have died as a result of the poisoning. Enforcement action was taken.

Wardens Brad Peterson and Kyle Kosin, both of Pierce County, assisted Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks game wardens with interviews related to a mule deer that was shot in Montana without a license. The reports were forwarded to the Montana wardens for their investigation.

While waiting to meet a trapper to register a furbearer, warden Paul Sickman, of St. Croix County, observed a man park and exit his vehicle in retail parking lot. The man then removed a license plate from another vehicle there. Sickman contacted the man about the suspicious activity and determined the man had an active warrant. The New Richmond Police Department responded and dealt with the warrant.

Wardens Jim Cleven and Jamie McDermid, both of Dunn County, along with supervisor Mike Melgaard, were patrolling in early January when they observed where a deer had been dragged out of a swamp. They searched the area and determined a deer had been recently harvested with a rifle. Through further investigation, several hunters were identified who had shot three deer, but had not registered any of them. Also, one of the hunters had over-bagged on deer because he did not have an approval for a deer he shot. Enforcement action was taken.

Warden Cleven received a court case disposition in January from an illegal deer case from the fall of 2016. Cleven and investigator J.J. Redemann had discovered one archery hunter had shot three large bucks illegally during the peak of the 2016 deer rut. The defendant was found guilty and was fined approximately $2,794.

Warden McDermid responded to a call of an injured snowy owl in Elk Mound. McDermid located and caught the injured owl and transported it to the raptor center in Colfax.

District 6 — Eau Claire area

Warden Kevin Christorf, of Cornell, followed up on a complaint in regards to an individual harvesting too many deer. The investigation determined that an individual had shot an antlerless deer illegally near Stanley and transported the deer to a friend’s residence who then assumed ownership of the deer. Christorf also determined the deer was not registered. Enforcement action was taken.

Warden Jake Bolks, of Eau Claire, received a complaint about a felon who potentially overbagged on bucks during the bow season. Bolks investigated the complaint and found that the initial suspect was not the one who killed the deer. Bolks was able to find the individuals who shot the two deer and learned that one individual shot both bucks. This individual also shot an antlerless deer at the same time. All three deer were shot on a farm in Pepin County on the opening day of the gun deer season. The hunter did not possess an antlerless tag for Pepin County and the hunter overbagged on bucks. Enforcement action was taken.

Wardens Bolks and Christorf were asked to find and help a carload of individuals who were stuck somewhere in the Chippewa County Forest. The wardens found the group and observed that they drove their car deep into the woods in deep snow and were unprepared for their trip. The wardens were unable to get the car up one of the steep hills. The wardens transported the two adults, child, and puppy back to their residence in Bloomer.

District 10 — Wautoma area

Warden Jonathan Kaiser, of Waupaca, contacted an individual in January who had been found to have archery hunted – and shot a deer – while revoked in 2017. In addition, the individual borrowed another’s archery deer license to register the deer and was found to have fished while revoked in 2018. Enforcement action was taken.

Warden Kaitlin Kernosky, of New London, and supervisor Ted Dremel partnered with Department of Veteran Affairs’ King Veterans Home and Hunt’s End Ranch, of Ogdensburg, to take a disabled Vietnam War veteran on a hunt. The veteran had a safe hunt, and shot an antlerless deer.

Warden Benjamin Mott, of Wautoma, responded to assist the Waushara County Sheriff’s Department in January with a complaint of vehicles driving recklessly on Silver Lake. After Mott observed two vehicles speeding past him, his investigation determined one of the drivers was going to check his tip-ups on the other side of the lake. Mott found that the individual had three tip-ups that had been left in for more than 30 to 45 minutes while the individual and his daughter went home to eat dinner. The individual had a suspended driver’s license, too. Enforcement action was taken on unattended lines and local law enforcement handled the suspended driver’s license.

Wardens Mott, Kaiser, Kernosky, and John Schreiber, of Green Lake, and supervisor Dremel patrolled ice fishing activities on Lake Puckaway. They checked a shack and found individuals under 21 who had been drinking alcohol. Two other individuals were from a shack over about a quarter mile away and had tip-ups out and admitted to not checking their tip-ups in over 45 minutes. Dremel and Kernosky found multiple unattended lines and an overbag on panfish during a check of that shack. The under-aged individuals were referred to the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Department.

Wardens Benjamin Nadolski, of Montello, Schreiber and Mott addressed complaints of ATVs and snowmobiles exceeding 10 mph within 100 feet of people or fishing shanties on Lawrence Lake during a fisharee. Warnings were issued and enforcement actions were taken.

District 11 — Peshtigo area

Warden Jacob Cross, of Shawano, assisted the Stockbridge-Munsee tribal police with a gunshot victim, who had a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his left leg. Cross assisted other officers and medical personnel with caring for the victim and investigating the incident.

Warden Cross was contacted by the Shawano County Sheriff’s Department to assist with an intoxicated driver operating his truck on Shawano Lake. The suspect ran over ice fishing equipment and hit an ice shack at a high rate of speed. The suspect was eventually stopped and arrested.

Warden Paul Hartrick, of Oconto Falls, assisted the Oconto County Sheriff’s Department in investigating a complaint of suspected coyote hunters trespassing. Hartrick patrolled the area the following day and located a group of coyote hunters. Enforcement action was taken.

Wardens Timothy Werner and Anthony Arndt contacted a snowmobile operator in Stephenson Township. The wardens determined the operator, who had two prior motor vehicle OWI charges, was under the influence of intoxicants. The snowmobile operator was arrested for first-offense snowmobile OWI.

Wardens Werner and Arndt located a lost hunter in the Peshtigo River State Forest/Nicolet National Forest after a 911 call. The 63-year-old grouse hunter had become turned around in the thick forest and failed to return to the cabin. Using a UTV, Arndt and Werner were able to get near the last known GPS location of the hunter. After a short trek through the woods, the hunter was located without issue and returned safely to friends and family waiting at a cabin.

District 12 — Green Bay area and Northeast Operations Marine Unit 

Warden Chris Kratcha, of Sturgeon Bay, introduced the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) to approximately 40 St. John Bosco School students in Sturgeon Bay in January. Instruction included parts of the bow and arrow, use of the equipment, range set-up, range rules, creation/use of the string bow, and shooting the bow.

Warden Kyle Johnson, of Shiocton, contacted an ice fisherman on the Wolf River to check for a fishing license. Upon contact, Warden Johnson noticed a strong odor of burnt marijuana coming from the ice fishing shack. Through an investigation, the defendant was found to have littered his pipe and remaining marijuana into the waters of the Wolf River. Enforcement action was taken.

District 13 — Oshkosh area

No report available.

District 14 — Sheboygan area

Warden William Hankee, of Fond du Lac, followed up with reports of a cougar near the town of Pickett. Hankee met with the owner of the photo circulating locally and viewed the location of the reported cougar sighting. Hankee fielded numerous public questions regarding cougars in Wisconsin. Wildlife staff confirmed trail cam photos of a cougar north of Rosendale on Jan. 5.

Wardens Nicholas Miofsky, of Fond du Lac, and Andrew Starch spent some time on the ice on Kettle Moraine Lake for a high school fishing tournament. There were high school fishing clubs from across the area participating in this one-day event. The wardens enjoyed talking about fishing and the outdoors with the students throughout the day.

District 16 — Racine, Kenosha area

Wardens Mike Hirschboeck, of Waterford, Brandon Smith, of Twin Lakes, Brad Latza, of Racine, and Taylor Meinholz, of Union Grove, assisted with a learn-to-hunt event for deer in Racine County. The hunt was made possible by the Burlington school board, many volunteers, and local DNR conservation wardens. There were 15 students who participated.