Field reports: State laws ban hunter harassment

OUTLAW – Hunting and fishing aren’t just pastimes and passions in Minnesota – they’re a constitutional right.

Anyone who tries to get between hunter and hunted on public lands risks a ticket and misdemeanor citation for hunter harassment. For several years, citations have been on the rise, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports.

More than a dozen people ran afoul of Minnesota’s hunter harassment laws last year – and not for the reasons you might expect.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources officers have issued one ticket and 16 warnings for interference with someone attempting to hunt or fish on public lands.

“You really can’t interfere in any way with someone lawfully taking game,” said Greg Salo, operations manager for the DNR’s division of enforcement. The agency hands out a smattering of harassment citations every year.

While Minnesota quietly issues tickets, neighboring Wisconsin is stepping up its battle against perceived hunter harassment. Proposed legislation makes it a crime – punishable by up to nine months in jail or a $10,000 fine – for animal rights groups to snap photos of hunters, even from a distance.

Rep. Adam Jarchow sponsored the bill at the request of bear hunters unnerved by animal welfare activists who they said were trailing them from their homes with cameras – an activity not covered by the state’s existing hunter harassment law.

Opponents of the legislation argued at an earlier public hearing that people with cameras have just as much constitutional right to be on public land as people with guns do. The Hunter Rights bill could head to the Assembly floor early this year.

In Minnesota,

hunter harassment is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000. A ticket issued in the field runs $300 plus court costs, although officers can reduce that to a warning if the culprit seems unlikely to repeat the offense. New computer software makes it easier for agents in the field to check for repeat offenders.

“We take it pretty seriously,” Salo said. “We put a lot of effort into providing public land to hunt, one-eighth to three-eighths make it accessible for everybody. To have someone come out and try to interfere with that right? We’ll write the ticket.”

Winter outings led

by Scotchmans group

GROUP TRIPS – A range of winter group treks, from easy to strenuous, is being offered by the Friends of the Scotchman Peaks Wilderness based in Sandpoint.

The hiking, skiing, and snowshoeing treks are led by volunteers to introduce people to portions of the 88,000-acre proposed wilderness northeast of Lake Pend Oreille.

The first trek is a moderate-rated snowshoe hike near Lightning Creek on Saturday followed by another moderate trek through the ancient Ross Creek Cedars on Jan. 31.

See the complete list of excursions and preregister online at scotchmanpeaks.org.

Skiers take note

of critter tracks

WINTERSPORTS – A free program on animal tracks in the snow will be presented by biologist Jenny Taylor at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Avondale Golf Club, 10745 N. Avondale Loop Rd in Hayden Lake, sponsored by Panhandle Ski and Snowshoe Club. Info: (208) 755-2575