Warden Blotter: Peshtigo & Madison area warden teams
November 20, 2012
By: Bureau of Law Enforcement
Peshtigo warden team
Northern Marinette County
Wardens Dave Oginski Jr. and Jeff Lautenslager received a complaint of illegally placed traps prior to the season opener. Fourteen illegally set 220 conibear traps were located on Marinette County Forest Land. The traps were set before the season and were not checked every 24 hours as required by law. The traps and boxes were seized, along with an opossum and raccoon. The trapper was located and enforcement action was taken.
Wardens Oginski and Lautenslager worked a trap theft complaint in the Town of Middle Inlet. A trapper was observed checking traps and removing a mink from a trap. Upon investigation it was found that the trapper had an untagged trap and did not have a valid trapping license as required by law.
Southern Marinette County:
Warden Matt Meade of Crivitz gave a presentation and attended a Learn to Hunt Pheasant event at the Lake Noquebay Sportsmans Club. Approximately 12 kids attended the event.
Warden Meade settled a criminal bear hunting case in October. A plea deal was reached with a Marinette County resident who illegally guided an Indiana bear hunter in 2011. The man received two years revocation of all DNR privileges and was found guilty of guiding bear without a license and loaning/borrowing a Class A (kill) tag. The bear was seized by Indiana Conservation Officers and was retrieved by Wardens Meade and Paul in Indiana. The meat from the bear was also seized and distributed to a needy family in Marinette County.
Northern Oconto County:
Warden Joe Paul of Lakewood investigated an after-hours cabin shooting case in the Townsend area. Warden Paul made contact with the subject at his residence and seized a crossbow, camera, and 2 illegal deer. Several citations will be issued and loss of hunting privileges for three years will be sought.
Southern Oconto County:
Warden Mike Stahl of Oconto Falls received a Hotline call from an individual who saw two people dumping deer carcasses along County Line Road. The carcasses were located and suspects contacted and they admitted to throwing out the carcasses of a vehicle killed deer and one deer shot. Citation for littering issued.
Warden Stahl recently had a case from the 2011 deer season adjudicated. In this case, the individual was convicted for hunting deer without a license, which is a crime with fines and court costs of $2,268. In addition, all hunting and fishing privileges were revoked for three years. At the time of the contact, this person had an injunction against him prohibiting the possession of a firearm. He was also found guilty of that charge and a three-year prison sentence was imposed -- and stayed with probation and community service ordered. This charge was a Class G Felony.
Eastern Shawano County:
Warden Mark Schraufnagel of Shawano responded to a call in the City of Shawano of a black bear in a tree. Because of safety concerns for the public, wildlife staffers were called and the bear was safely tranquilized and released in the Navarino Wildlife Area.
Western Shawano County:
Warden Jim Horne, along with Wardens Schraufnagel, Ryan Propson, and Deputy Warden Romback, assisted with the Wolf River Game Farm Learn to Pheasant hunt with approximately 24 participants.
Madison area
Warden Mike Dieckhoff of Janesville assisted with a Learn to Hunt (LTH) Pheasants event that was planned and sponsored by the Beloit Izaak Walton League where there were 27 participants involved with the program.
Warden Ryan Ellifson of Jefferson investigated a complaint of a Fort Atkinson resident shooting birds of prey. The investigation revealed the suspect had shot two hawks with a .22 rifle in an effort to protect his pigeons and the purple martins nesting in his yard. A citation was issued for shooting a protected animal.
Poynette
Wardens John Buss of Sauk City and Wade Romberg of Adams investigated several deer shining cases. The first instance had the subjects shining and shooting deer with a .22 rifle at night. The second investigation had two people shining after 10 pm. Citations were issued in both cases. A third shining investigation had Wardens Buss and Romberg issuing 18 citations to three individuals that shined and shot two deer.
Warden David Horzewski of Reedsburg assisted the Town of La Valle Police Department with a timber theft investigation. Warden Horzewski cited one suspect for timber theft after he cut down and drug out a 125-year-old red oak tree off private property. The property owners are looking at pursuing recovery of loss for the tree that was cut down.
Warden Paul Nadolski of Columbia County responded to a train derailment south of Portage. Sixteen coal cars ran off the tracks and spilled into a wetland area, but due to dry conditions, no major environmental damage occurred.