Minnesota DNR investigating deer believed drowned by pontoon driver

[Kentucky Windage]

Innocent until proven guilty, but if it's true, that guy is a total tool.

 

[Downrigger]

Agreed:;:exactly

 

[guywhofishes]

This is NDA.

Guilty. Get a rope.

 

[Bed Wetter]

Let's not jump to conclusions. This is actually much safer than how they usually hunt deer. #blazeorangebulletproofvest

 

[Pinecone]

Well shit, can't blame this one on the sconies:;:huh seriously I agree with guywhohastherightidea

 

[savage270]

Well shit, can't blame this one on the sconies:;:huh seriously I agree with guywhohastherightidea

Don't clear the sconies yet. The article I read said the person driving the pontoon was visiting the pontoon's owner. They didn't release his name or where he was from.

Here's the article:

DETROIT LAKES, Minn. — The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is
investigating the death of a large buck that grew tired and eventually drowned
after being followed and harassed by a pontoon driver.

The incident happened Sept. 6 on Tulaby Lake, which is in both Becker and Mahnomen
counties in northwest Minnesota.

“It was out swimming in the lake, towards the north end of the lake
on the Mahnomen County side,” said Ray Thorkildson, who sits on the Tulaby Lake
Association Board.

“The (guy) gets between the deer and land to block it and it turns away. Ultimately he ends up chasing it, according to a witness, and
it ends up drowning — a beautiful big buck.”


Thorkildson said his son was able to drag the deer’s body to shore, where they helped load it into a
pickup truck driven by DNR Conservation Officer Angela Warren, who confirmed there is an active investigation into the case. She could not be reached for further comment.

“I’m really upset and I sure hope something is done to the perpetrator,” Thorkildson said.

The owner of the pontoon is known, he added, and it’s also known that the person who chased the buck was visiting the
owner of the pontoon. He declined to release any names, but says the information was given to the DNR.

Thorkildson said several people witnessed the incident and were sickened by the sight.

“One guy went out there and confronted the guy, asking ‘What are you doing?’ He got a photo of the pontoon
and the registration number.”


Col. Ken Soring, DNR Law Enforcement Division director in St. Paul, said he could not comment on the specific case
until he reviewed the file.

But in general, in addition to whatever fine is imposed in district court, restitution for an illegally killed deer is $500,
and that doubles if it is found to be a trophy animal according to the Boone and Crockett Club score chart, he said.

“It had a rack on it,” Thorkildson said. “It was just absolutely a gorgeous buck.”

Animal harassment incidents are unusual in Minnesota, Soring said.

“It’s more of a rare occurrence; it’s not real common,” he said.

 

[Pinecone]

my greatest apologies;:;bowdown Should have known lol

 

[wildeyes]

good deer drowns because of a idiot, yea use old rope so it breaks the first time .;:;banghead I got a dark side.

 

[Rowdie]

Native Minnesotans = 1/2 sconnie

 

[Duckslayer100]

Sounds like plenty of first-person accounts and even photographs. The idiot is screwed.

 

[Coyote Hunter]

I hope they throw the book at this guy. That was a nice buck.

 

[johnr]

Well I hope they at least use the meat.

I had a cousin shoot a moose during deer season about 20 years ago, he called the game warden on himself with his mistake. They had him help drag it to the G&F vehicle, gut it, and help load it. From there they had it butchered and the meat was donated to a food pantry or something like that.
He then lost his hunting privileges for 4 years and paid a hefty fine when the court case was all said and done. Not really a good way to get an honest guy to be honest, but as far as I know he never shot a moose accidently during the deer season again.

 

[Kickemup]

That was a nice deer. If found guilty I think they should tie a rope around his ankle and take him for a drive behind a boat.

 

[Bed Wetter]

That was a nice deer. If found guilty I think they should tie a rope around his weener and take him for a drive behind a boat.

Fixed it for you.

 

[Pinecone]

So Slim, you gonna be the one that ties the knot?

 

[Enslow]

Takes a special kind of blue plater stupid to pull something like this.

 

[BDub]

Public flogging needs to be legalized.

 

[freiday31]

I just don't understand sometimes. What did this guy think the positive outcome would be? Don't most people act with at least a perceived positive outcome for someone/something? This is just pure stupidity.:;:huh

 

[Rizzo]

They should charge him with poaching, using a motorized vehicle, take his hunting/fishing privileges for 5 years, etc. Then put him in the lake and make him tread water for an hour with no life jacket. If he sinks.......

 

[Bed Wetter]

Early reports suggest the perpetrator is a dentist. The deer was named Percival, or "Percy" by the locals who loved him.