January 18, 2008 - TOP STORIES
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DNR announces regulation changes for Upper Red
Opening dates announced for 2008 Minnesota hunting seasons
DNR moves Eagles Nest Township bears to new home
Two of six defendants plead guilty to terrorizing campers
Numbers show Turn-In-Poachers hotline works
DNR announces regulation changes for Upper Red
Forty-eight deer taken during ongoing hunt in TB zone
DNR News
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has announced special regulations to address the cleaning and eating of walleye and northern pike on Upper Red Lake.
On special regulation waters, species with protective size limits are required to be kept intact so that they are measurable. On Upper Red Lake, size limits are in effect for walleye (17- to 26-inch protected) and northern pike (26- to 40-inch protected). New legislation includes an exception, allowing fish with protected size limits to be cleaned for a meal on the ice. Specifically, all fish for which special size limits apply must be undressed and measurable when in possession, except when on the ice and a person is in the act of preparing and using the fish for a meal.
These new rules allowing fish consumption on ice will provide more opportunity to harvest walleye on Upper Red Lake where the current daily bag limit for walleye is two fish. Anglers staying on Red Lake for multiple days will be able to catch and prepare a meal of fish one day and harvest additional fish the next, as long as they take no more than two walleye per day and have no more than two in possession at any time.
Rules for Upper Red Lake require anglers to retain carcasses with head, spinal column and tail intact when cleaning a fish for a meal. Carcasses must be kept in a manner in which they can be separated, counted and measured for the remainder of the day in which the fish were consumed. However, anglers will be required to properly dispose of those carcasses before harvesting any additional fish the following day.
TIPS FOR POSSESSING WALLEYE OR NORTHERN PIKE ON RED LAKE:
• do not allow whole fish or carcasses to freeze together in buckets or bags, since both need to be measurable
• pack whole fish or carcasses in snow or ice shavings in a bucket or cooler inside the fish house to prevent freezing
• carcasses count toward a person’s possession limit
• carcasses of fish consumed one day must be taken to shore and properly disposed of in the trash or fish cleaning facility if anglers intend to harvest additional fish the following day
• it is illegal to dispose of fish carcasses on or under the ice.
For a complete copy of the most current fishing regulations, visit www.mndnr.gov or call (651) 296-6157 or toll free 1-888-MINNDNR (646-6367).
Opening dates announced for 2008 Minnesota hunting seasons
The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced opening dates for many of the 2008 Minnesota hunting seasons. The dates are being announced now for the benefit of those who must establish vacation or hunting plans well in advance. Although these dates are tentative, pending final approval in June, it is unlikely they will change.
The waterfowl season opener will not be finalized until the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service publishes proposed migratory bird hunting frameworks this summer. Additional details on season lengths, quotas and bag limits will be announced this summer, after the 2008 seasons are finalized.
SMALL GAME
• April 16-May 29, Spring wild turkey (first season)
• Sept. 13 - General small game opener, including grouse gray partridge, rabbits and squirrels
• Oct. 11 - Pheasant
• Oct. 18 - Prairie chicken opener
• Oct. 15-19 - Fall wild turkey (first season)
• Oct. 22-26 - Fall wild turkey (second season)
BIG GAME
• Sept. 1 - Bear
• Sept. 13 - Deer - archery
• Oct. 4 - Moose - northeast zone
• Nov. 8 - Deer - firearms
• Nov. 29 - Deer - muzzleloader
FURBEARERS
• Oct. 25 - Fox, raccoon badger, opossum
• Oct. 25 (north) - Mink, muskrat, beaver, otter
• Nov. 1 (south) - Mink, muskrat, beaver, otter
• Nov. 29 - Fisher, marten, bobcat
MIGRATORY BIRDS
• March 1-31 - Crow (first season)
• March 1 - Spring light goose
• July 15 - Oct. 15 - Crow (second season)
• Sept. 1 - Mourning doves
• Sept. 1 - Rails, snipe
• Sept. 6 (tentative) - Early Canada goose
• Sept. 20-21 - Take A Kid Hunting Weekend
• Sept. 20 (tentative) - Woodcock
• Oct. 4 (tentative) - Waterfowl
DNR moves Eagles Nest Township bears to new home
The United States' largest outdoor bear facility in Michigan's Upper Peninsula will be the new home for a female bear and her two cubs that were hibernating under a seasonal cabin in Eagles Nest Township near Ely, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
DNR officials with voluntary assistance from staff of the Forest Lake-based Wildlife Science Center located the bears early in the morning on Monday, Jan. 14. The bears were successfully captured unharmed before being loaded on a DNR truck that will transport them about 500 miles to Oswald's Bear Ranch near Newberry, Mich.
"The DNR's goal is to ensure public safety by placing these habituated bears in a situation where they cannot have direct, uncontrolled interactions with people," said DNR Wildlife Research and Policy Manager Michael DonCarlos. "Our work this morning and our transport of the bears to Michigan accomplishes that."
When DNR officials arrived at the property, the bears were no longer hibernating under the cabin but were awake and located nearby. All three showed evidence of severe eye irritation from pepper spray, DonCarlos said.
Enforcement personnel found an empty can of pepper spray on the property, and the area under the cabin where the bears were denned retained a heavy smell of the spray. DonCarlos said DNR enforcement personnel are conducting an investigation into possible criminal activity.
"The capture and loading of the bears was conducted by licensed professionals without incident," he said. "The veterinarian who examined all three bears determined they are in good health and could be safely transported."
Oswald's Bear Ranch contains four large enclosures that allow bears to roam freely in a forested environment. A fence separates the bears from humans.
Concern about the bears surfaced when the property owner asked the DNR to remove the animals. Normally, the DNR does not assist landowners with animal removal. But the female bear had been fitted with a radio collar under terms of a DNR research permit. The bear also had caused nuisance problems and raised public safety concerns by approaching people when looking for food.
Two of six defendants plead guilty to terrorizing campers
TWO HARBORS, Minn. (AP) – Two men who were part of a group that allegedly terrorized campers in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area during a drunken shooting spree have pleaded guilty to reduced charges and agreed to testify against the four other defendants.
Casey James Fenske, 19, of Ely, admitted Monday, Jan. 7 in Lake County District Court he fired about 50 shots into the water from his .22-caliber handgun during the incident on Basswood Lake on Aug. 7.
Fenske will serve at least nine months in jail and three years probation. He was ordered to pay restitution for damage he did to a water-level measuring station and banned from the BWCA for three years.
Travis John Erzar, 20, of Ely, will serve no jail time but will serve three years of probation. He was also banned from the BWCA for three years. Lake County Attorney Russ Conrow said Erzar was among the least culpable defendants. He joined the incident well after it started, did not shoot and claims to have not made any threats.
Three men and one juvenile are also charged. The men have hearings Jan. 22. Conrow said other plea agreements are possible but he expects much stiffer sentences for some of them.
There was evidence the rampage was fueled by resentment in the Ely area over the environmentalism that led to the creation of the BWCA and its ban on motorized recreation in most of the wilderness area.
As they drank beer and shot off guns and fireworks, some defendants allegedly yelled such things as “get the (expletive) off our (expletive) property,” and “go home (expletive) ‘enox’ tree-huggers.” Erzar said “enox” is local slang for “environmentally obnoxious,” said his attorney, Richard Holmstrom.
Numbers show Turn-In-Poachers hotline works
November a record month for TIP calls
DNR News
With the help from calls of everyday residents, Minnesota’s Turn-In-Poachers (TIP) hotline has been a key asset to State conservation officers in their efforts to protect and preserve Minnesota’s natural resources.
A record 508 calls were made to the Minnesota TIP hotline in November 2007. Of those calls a record 479 cases were referred to conservation officers. Those calls resulted in nine (9) Minnesotans receiving a total of $1,100 in rewards for reporting wildlife violations to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
Turn-In-Poachers was formed in September 1981 by a group of concerned citizens and conservationist to initially curb the illegal harvest of game and fish in Minnesota. Calls today also include wetlands, all-terrain vehicle and snowmobile violations.
From 1981-2007, 27,042 TIP calls have been referred to conservation officers leading to 7,896 arrests. TIP rewards paid out since inception total $331,306. Some amazing numbers for an organization staffed by a 20 person volunteer board of directors, 10 TIP chapters around the state and thousands of callers who cherish Minnesota’s outdoors.
TIP, Inc. is a non-profit, privately funded 501©3 organization. Law-abiding outdoor enthusiasts report violations anonymously by calling the 24-hour hotline at 1-800-652-9093 or #TIP on their cell phone. Calls leading to an arrest are furnished cash awards ranging from $25 to $1000, but informantsinformants turn down rewards; they are more interested in protecting and preserving the resources. In addition, the DNR and TIP are providing an online form that people can fill out for tips that are not time sensitive. Check out http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/enformcement/tipreporting.html
“Everyone assumes we are part of the DNR or we receive state funding, but that’s not the case,” said Al Thomas, executive director of TIP, Inc. “As a non-profit we ask volunteers to help us raise funds through banquets and ask the outdoor community to join TIP with a membership. This is how we raise the funds to carry out our programs and supply conservation officers with more eyes and ears in the field.”
A recent TIP call to conservation officers has a Lester Prairie man facing total fine and restitution amounts of $3,000 for shooting and killing a Trumpeter swan on Swan Lake, near Waconia.
“Cases such as these go to show the importance of TIP in protecting and preserving our natural resources,” said Colonel Mike Hamm, DNR Enforcement Chief. “They also show how invaluable TIP, its programs and its volunteers are to our field officers, and the importance of law-abiding outdoorsmen and women willing to make the calls.” Hamm also went on to praise the State Patrol Dispatchers and DNR Enforcement employees who answer the TIP line.
© 2008 Outdoors Weekly Corporation