Warden Wire: Achilles hunter, tree stand made for valet & more keep wardens moving
November 25, 2012
By: Joanne M. Haas/Bureau of Law Enforcement
DNR wardens see case variety on 2012 gun-deer hunt
Warden Wire continued its ride-along/tweet-alongs in Southeast and Southcentral regions late this week, where conservation wardens remained busy handling public tips, and greeting and helping hunters as the 2012 Gun-Deer Hunt entered its final four days.
Warden Bob Lee of Washington County
Thanksgiving Day was spent with Warden Bob Lee, who has been serving Washington County for 22 years. Lee says the latter half of the season is often busy in the county as hunters stay close to home running deer drives after spending opening weekend in the north.
Lee did his share of greeting hunters at roadsides, hearing stories of success and plans to keep trying. “Deer registrations were up 30 percent on opening weekend in Washington County over last year,” Lee said, adding Ozaukee County also recorded the same increase.
Never give up, Never surrender
Lee stopped to speak with one pheasant hunter after he emerged from a marsh. Standing near his car while his dog waited in the back seat, hunter Brian was all in orange with the lower half of one leg covered in a plastic bag. “I ripped my Achilles,” Brian said, adding the walking cast hidden by the plastic bag was his third cast. Not happy with his lack of success at that marsh, Brian wasn’t about to let a little thing like a ripped Achilles stop him. So he asked Warden Lee for other places to try. “Just down the road,” Lee told him. Hunter Brian smiled and thought that sounded like a good next step – with his torn tendon, walking cast and plastic bag.
Near the road? More like on the road
When Lee got the complaint about the person hunting too close to the road, he never thought the tip meant on the road. But that’s the way it looked when he drove down one Washington County highway and spotted the stand in the tree that was inches from the road’s asphalt. It would have been possible for this hunter to be dropped off and picked up at the base of the tree without having to walk even a few feet from the comforts of a private vehicle.
Lee’s day started by teaming with Warden Supervisor Joe Jerich to check on a complaint of a person hunting on public land that was closed to hunting. After surveying the area on foot, the wardens returned to the parking lot to find the car of the person of interest gone. But this hunter was found later in the day. Enforcement is pending.
Warden Dave Youngquist of Iowa, Sauk and Dane counties
The day after Thanksgiving, Warden Wire jumped in the truck with Warden Dave Youngquist who covers all of Iowa County and portions of Sauk and Dane. He’s been serving this Southcentral area since 1999.
Youngquist had a pile of public complaints to attend to – including road hunting. And it was the case of the bearded hen turkey the day before that had Youngquist singing the praises of one non-hunter witness who acted fast – and it made all the difference.
Quick-thinking witness & road hunters
Youngquist said the Thankgiving case of the two road hunters and the smart witness made for quick work of one case. The witness saw a suspected incident of an illegal shooting of a bearded hen turkey from the vehicle on the road. When the car took off, so did the witness until the license plate could be read. Then, the witness called Youngquist who took it from there. “That witness made all the difference. The witness was able to provide the license plate,” Youngquist said, stressing how important the public’s help and calls to the Hotline (1-800-TIP-WDNR) are when it comes to protecting the natural resources.
Youngquist’s work list for the day included follow-up on public tips about possible tree stand violations (including cutting down trees at one public area), late hunting and deer carcass dumping. In the case of dumped deer carcasses, the hunter who reported it also took time to meet Youngquist at the site. The hunter told the warden this type of littering, that could bring a $200 fine to guilty parties, is troubling.
After 13 hours of darting from one end of Iowa County to the other, Warden Youngquist called it a day.
Warden Wire will end its five days of tweeting warden ridealongs during this 2012 gun-deer season with a Sunday ride with Warden Mike Young of Outagamie County. Sunday’s ride, as the previous four, will be covered in a series of tweets sent to the DNR’s Twitter account. To view the day’s happenings as they happen, visit www.twitter.com/WDNR.