WEST-CENTRAL REGION Lower St. Croix Team/July Wardens Jaime McDermid and Jon Hagen responded to a call of two PWC operators harassing and running over geese on Long Lake in Washburn County. One juvenile female had driven around the geese, while her friends on a second watercraft drove through the group of geese approximately 12 times. Wardens Joe McMahon and Collin…
NORTHERN REGION Spooner Team/July Warden Dustin Gabrielson, of Webster, investigated an ATV and UTV crash. It was determined the crash occurred because the UTV operator had been operating carelessly and was cited for careless operation. Wardens Gabrielson and Chris Spaight, of Grantsburg, responded to an ATV and pickup truck accident near Devils Lake in Burnett County. The ATV rider had…
SOUTHEASTERN REGION Fond du Lac-Sheboygan Team/June Warden Matt Koepke arrested an individual on an early Saturday morning for a second offense of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. The driver was seen swerving from the shoulder and across the centerline multiple times. Wardens Gavin Keefauver and Koepke responded to a boating accident on Long Lake. The boat was operated too…
WEST-CENTRAL REGION Lower St. Croix Team/June Wardens Joe McMahon and Erik Anderson, of St. Croix County, identified a vehicle parked in a lot after hours at Willow River State Park. They contacted the individuals in the parking lot who were found to be in possession of various drug paraphernalia, marijuana, THC gummies and underage alcohol. Warden McMahon was patrolling Willow…
WEST-CENTRAL REGION Lower St. Croix Team/May Warden J.J. Redemann received a call of bow fishermen shooting suckers below the Eau Galle dam and tossing the fish up on the rocks. The next day, Redemann was able to track down the individuals who were very cooperative. They were warned, educated, and told to go back to the riverbank and clean up…
NORTHERN REGION Ashland Team/May While out on Lake Superior patrol, wardens Lynna Martin and Amie Egstad, both of Bayfield, observed a vessel that appeared to be within the Gull Island Refuge near Michigan Island in the Apostle Islands. Upon contact, the vessel occupants were found to have caught and released 17 fish while spending a large majority of their time…
NORTHERN REGION Spooner Team/May Wardens Dustin Gabrielson, of Webster, and Madeleine Johansen were on ATV/UTV patrol in the Danbury and Webb Lake areas during Memorial Day weekend when they took enforcement action for numerous violations of speeding, illegal operation on a highway, riding off trail, underage operation, juveniles under 18 not wearing helmets, and operating while intoxicated. Warden Gabrielson saw…
WEST-CENTRAL REGION Lower St. Croix Team / April Warden Kyle Kosin, of Pierce County, was checking trout streams and observed an individual fishing. The man had not purchased his license yet. Kosin informed the individual he was getting a citation for fishing without a trout stamp. Warden Kosin wrapped up a deer hunting investigation that uncovered violations, …
NORTHERN REGION Park Falls Team / April Warden Aaron Koshatka, of Hayward, assisted Sawyer County officials with a report of four 911 hang-ups from a location north of Winter on Hunter Lake Road. Upon arrival, he discovered a large wild fire approximately 6 acres in size. Koshatka assisted DNR fire staff with traffic control, the investigation, and interviews after the…
NORTHERN REGION Ashland Team / March Wardens Amie Egstad, of Bayfield, had received a report of a tribal member harassing/killing a seagull on Lake Superior. The information was turned over to a tribal warden who interviewed the person and enforcement action was taken. Wardens Matthew Koshollek, of Drummond, and Phil Brown, of Iron River, took enforcement action against a crossbow…
NORTHERN REGION Woodruff Team / February The Woodruff team with Nick Webster, recreation warden, and Marty Stone, off-highway vehicle administrator, hosted snowmobile operations and enforcement training for 22 recently hired wardens. Warden Matt Meade, of Boulder Junction, responded to a call with the Iron County Sheriff’s Department of an intoxicated snowmobiler who had left the scene of the accident. Meade…
NORTHEAST REGION Peshtigo Team / February Wardens Jacob Cross, of Shawano, and Mark Schraufnagel, of Clintonville, located the responsible party of an illegal feeding operation. Warden Cross contacted a group of hunters hunting with hounds during the wolf season in the town of Fairbanks. Upon making contact Cross found that two of the hunters had loaded firearms in the vehicles….
NORTHEAST REGION Peshtigo Team / January Wardens Paul Hartrick, of Oconto Falls, and Gaven Brault, of Green Bay, responded to a complaint of two bucks locked at the horns. The wardens arrived and observed a large buck dragging a dead buck through the woods. Hartrick placed a catch pole on the buck’s antlers and pulled him to the ground. Brault…
WEST-CENTRAL REGION Lower Chippewa Team / January Wardens Jake Bolks and Chad Ziegler received information about a two people who left a bar late at night and shot and killed a deer near Fall Creek. Upon investigation, the wardens found the two people had shot the deer with a .40 caliber handgun from the road at night, while using the…
SOUTHEAST REGION Racine-Kenosha Counties / December Wardens Taylor Meinholz and Brandon Smith followed up on a complaint of hunting and harvesting a deer over bait. It was found that the person harvested one buck over bait in 2020 and one buck over bait in 2019. Warden Strehlow, of Milwaukee, while working at Lake Shore State Park, contacted two individuals who…
NORTHEAST REGION Peshtigo Team / December Warden Jacob Cross, of Shawano, received a call from a concerned citizen regarding a deer that was stranded on the ice on Pella Pond. Wardens Cross and Schraufnagel, along with DNR Bureau of Wildlife staff members, came up with a plan for the rescue. Cross and Schraufnagel took a canoe onto the ice, breaking…
NORTHERN REGION Ashland Team / November Wardens Phil Brown, of Iron River, and Dave Sanda, of Gordon, contacted an individual to register a bobcat. It was discovered: the cat had not been tagged correctly; the tag was not validated; the cat was trapped with a cable restraint, which are illegal to use until Dec. 1; and, the individual had illegally…
SOUTH-CENTRAL REGION Rock River Team / November Dodge-Jefferson-Rock Counties Warden Ryan Mannes was patrolling the east side of Horicon Marsh when he observed a tractor traveling on the roadway. There was a dead deer in the bucket of the tractor and the operator was wearing blaze orange and in possession of a rifle. Mannes made contact and asked the operator…
SOUTHEAST REGION Waukesha-Walworth Team / October Warden Marcus Medina responded to snagging complaints regarding the salmon run while on patrol. He found two men snagging salmon using spoons and plain treble hooks. The two violators had also been found guilty of similar activities in the same year. Warden Medina contacted an archery hunter found hunting over illegal bait and on…
NORTHERN REGION Antigo Team / November Warden Curt Butler assisted the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department and Pine River Fire Department with a report of a missing hunter. Warden Butler was able to assist the search team using his knowledge of the area to eventually locate the hunter, who was in fine shape. Warden Kelly Crotty, of Florence County, concentrated on…
NORTHERN REGION Park Falls Team / September Wardens Dan Michels, of Park Falls, and Joe Paul, of Prentice, responded to a complaint of littered deer carcasses on private property near Lugerville. Michels and Paul discovered the person who dumped the carcasses had been harvesting antlered deer with a crossbow and registering them under others’ deer harvest authorizations. Five citations were…
NORTHERN REGION Ashland Team / October Warden Phil Brown, of Iron River, investigated a case in which a bear had been harvested by an individual who did not have a bear hunting license, and who had not completed hunter safety. The investigation determined the individual used the bear harvest license of another person. Enforcement action was taken. Warden Brown was…
NORTHERN REGION Spooner Team / September While working ATV/UTV patrol on the Wild Rivers Trail in Washburn County, wardens Jon Hagen, of Spooner, and Jesse Ashton, of Luck, were approached by a man who stated he was in an accident. An ambulance was called and the man was transported to the hospital due to his injuries. The wardens assisted the…
NORTHERN REGION Antigo Team / September Wardens Brad Dahlquist, of Antigo, and Brad Burton, of Beaver Dam, investigated a complaint regarding an undersized black bear illegally harvested in Oconto County. Following investigation, it was found a hunter had illegally harvested a legal size bear, failed to register the harvest and illegally dumped the carcass on public land. Law enforcement action…
WEST-CENTRAL REGION Lower St. Croix Team /August Warden Kyle Kosin, of Pierce County, responded to multiple reports of car-killed bald eagles on Pierce County roadways. Bald eagles commonly scavenge on vehicle-killed animals, putting them at risk of being struck by passing vehicles. Warden J.J. Redemann, of Dunn County, and the Dunn County recreation deputy were on boat patrol on the…
NORTHERN REGION Park Falls Team/July Warden Aaron Koshatka, of Hayward, responded to a two-boat crash on Lac Courte Oreilles Lake. Koshatka learned that the operator of the ski boat was watching the skier in the rear view mirror while making a wide turn. The ski boat had a total of six passengers on board. During the turn the ski boat…
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