District 5

CO Troy Fondie (Orr) reports monitoring area forest roads for small-game and ATV activity. Summer-like weather yielded little in the way of success for grouse hunters. Public access sites were visited. Resort owners were visited with, and angling activity was monitored.

CO Aaron Larson (Tower) worked primarily angling, small-game, ATV, and waterfowl-hunting enforcement. Time was spent checking anglers primarily on Lake Vermilion and other smaller lakes. Waterfowl hunters seemed to be having poor success over the opener weekend. Violations were related to boating safety equipment, fishing licenses, and angling with extra lines. He also encountered violations of ATVs operating on the highway.

CO Shane Zavodnik (Virginia) spent time fielding waterfowl-hunting, nuisance-beaver, and trespass questions over the week. Duck opener weekend was quite busy in the Virginia station, and many hunters had fair success despite the warm weather. Enforcement action taken over the weekend included unplugged shotgun, no federal duck stamp, no state duck Stamp, motorized use on a restricted lake, and insufficient life jackets on board watercraft. One hunting party was also found harvesting a pied-billed grebe, thinking it was a coot.

CO Duke Broughten (Aurora) spent the week monitoring hunting, fishing, and ATV activity. Grouse hunters continued to report limited success. Few waterfowl hunters were encountered over opening weekend. Waterfowl hunters reported seeing few ducks. Bags consisted mostly of a few wood ducks and teal. Anglers reported moderate success.

District 6

CO Sean Williams (Ely #1) reports hunting activity was again slow in the Ely area. Warm and dry weather made ideal conditions for ATV riding and many of the trails had almost constant traffic. Violations included failure to display ATV registration, failure to transfer ATV registration, and juvenile ATV passengers without helmets.

CO Brent Ihnen (Ely #2) monitored deer-, waterfowl-, and small-game hunting activity this week. He also checked anglers and watercraft operators. Additional time was spent patrolling for ATV and OHM riders.

CO Anthony Bermel (Babbitt) worked waterfowl opener weekend. He also checked anglers and grouse hunters throughout the week. success was seen for ducks than grouse. Grouse numbers seem way down in the area this year. Enforcement action was taken for no state or federal waterfowl stamps, unplugged shotgun, toxic shot, no walk-in access validation, ATV violations, and traffic violations.