Two Harbors woman accused of illegally shooting two trophy bucks
November 28, 2011 at 6:00 pm in Duluth News Tribune
The two deer had been seen frequently this fall at a local golf course. The woman allegedly used bait to draw them to her stand, a practice which is illegal. Continue Reading
This woman sounds like a true outdoorswoman! Who would have thought you could go deer hunting on the golf course?
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What could she possibly dispute on any of the charges? They could have given her a ticket for not wearing orange as well. I live in WI and know you can’t bait deer in MN. She completely disregarded so many laws this is unreal, send her to jail.
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How does one every year get a trophy buck…a trophy bear? Check out her Facebook page!
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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Hopefully the folks from PETA find her. That would be worse than any punishment the State gives her. Not a fan of PETA but in this case I hope they pay her a visit(s).
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The law is to lenient, they should confiscate her firearm and deny her right to hunt big game in the future. The woman sounds pretty ignorant to me or feels she is above the law. Make her an example to those slob hunters who feel they are above the law.
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I think she knew exactly what she was doing.
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Really?
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I checked out the Facebook page after reading this piece. Yeah, we don`t have much of a sports person here do we. BUT…..
If the DNR can get the state laws changed, so the Lutson ski resort can take more water out of a trout stream, and allow years of violations from them go unpunished, why bother this violator? Let`s face it. The DNR is as crooked [as are the politicians who signed the bill in Lutsons favor] as this lady is.
I`d say she`s guity of what she is accused of, but so is the DNR on what I accuse them of.
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She has been hunting for years and doesn’t know the laws? Get real Val! I hope the DNR isn’t that ignorant and believes her as an innocent lady in the woods! As for wearing only camo during rifle season? Thats just plain stupid and asking to get hurt or she didn’t wanna be seen!
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She should go to jail and not be able to hunt again. What a disgrace. This woman gives all law abiding sportsmen and women a bad name.
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As the saying goes, “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.” This gal should have her hunting rights taken away for life. She should pay restitution with her loss of firearms, vehicle used to transport, all future rights to hunt in any other season. There is a booklet provided EACH season for hunting regulations. These are the RULES all law abiding hunters follow. We teach our kids to follow the laws, rules, and bag limits, but this gal seems to make a mockery of the rules. I say the “bucks stop here!” Throw the book at her. Some of us wait years to take a nice buck legally. Then there are people who think they are above the law and do things like this. I’m eager to hear what you feel is just punishment for this lawless gal. Shameful, dishonest, and really, how much meat do you need? I hope the meat goes to some family that really needs it – obviously this gal is greedy too!
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I hope the person who called this one in gets a nice reward out of it!
This ‘hunter’ should lose all outdoor privileges for life and get some jail time to boot.
If more people would take the five minutes to call the TIP line when they witness something like this, maybe some of these crooks would think twice.
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I don’t know about you, but I get the hunting regulation pamphlet every year when I get my deer license. It states pretty clearly that hunting over a baited area ia illegal. It’s not ignorance of the law, It’s ignoring the law.
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Forgive me, but that picture makes me want to stuff a bunch of carrots in her mouth.
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Let’s get our terms right. Valery Vawn Wright is NOT a hunter. True hunters do not throw down carrots, do not hunt over feed, do not fail to wear blaze orange, and do not hunt in a frickin’ golf course! Valery Vawn Wright is a criminal POACHER, not a hunter, and should be treated as such.
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What an incredible redneck! I would be SO proud if she were my Mother, Wife, Sister or Daughter.
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Is she your wife? Or mother? Is it a gene pool kind of thing?
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She’s not a hunter, she’s a slob who craves attention by bragging.
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Her facebook pictures are awful. She should have her hunting privileges revoked for life. What she is doing is damaging to the herd and to all of our natural resources.
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What’s to brag about? Any idiot can shine a deer or use dynamite to bag that big walleye. If you can’t/don’t/won’t do it by the book, it’s poached, and about the onliest thing I like poached is my eggs. The real problem here is the apparent lack of shame displayed by Ms Wrong.(sorry. I just couldn’t resist that play on words)
What’s become of our society when it doesn’t matter how you do something, as long as you get it done? When did the ends really start to justify the means? What’s right isn’t right anymore, and what’s wrong is the now the new normal. Am I alone in thinking this way? Or am I just getting too old for it to matter? If we don’t right our societal ship soon, we’ll have tilted beyond recovery.
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Hugh, this is one of the rare times I agree with you.
And, as much as it goes against my grain, I’ll refrain from taking any shots against your second paragraph. Since there are some parts of it I do agree with…you’re not alone in thinking this way, you just have a different perspective than I do.
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Sadly dear baiting has become out of control. See interesting article on the DNR website
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/volunteer/sepoct08/bait.html
A couple of ugly excerpts: ‘Some officers report that nearly half the deer stands they check have evidence of illegal baiting — a violation seldom seen a decade ago.’ ‘I’m seeing baiting everywhere I fly, even in the farm areas,’ said Lt. Tom Pfingsten, a conservation officer-pilot who patrols much of the central portion of the state. ‘[In one case] they dumped corn in the corner of a plowed field, right in front of a deer stand.’
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There is no possible way she could be ignorant of the laws on baiting, unless she had been confined to a cave for the past dozen years.
She was using a firearm inside city limits. She was wearing camouflage and not a trace of orange – or even red – anywhere. She was one buck over any legal limit.
She is not a hunter, just a shooter – and gives legitimate hunters (and Two Harborites) a bad name.
And then, having the chutzpah to brag of her exploits, besides!
The DNR should throw the book at her!
tom koehler
of Two Harbors
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http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.120708751312855.17201.100001211913603&type=1
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Looks like that page has been taken down, s.
While I don’t know what all the neg. thumbs are about, it do make me wonder what the page was about. Unless that was her fb page?
If so, could it be they were concerned about having her photo and location?
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I can still access the page. It is a link to her Facebook pictures of her massive bucks and bear from the past few years.
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This woman is clearly not the brightest bulb in the pack given she’s left her fb page up for the whole world to see even while she is under very public criminal investigation. Oh and killing baited deer – there is another clue to her dim-ness. And hunting without a license…..
In her defense, her photos do show her wearing a little blaze orange, so maybe there is a little hope for her.
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And to all of us SPORTSPEOPLE who put in the time scouting and locating deer sign before season, who spend hours in a stand waiting for that one good shot, who teach our future generations of hunters how to safely and properly hunt and to obey the laws… This is a disgrace…I hope she spends the next two years behind bars eating SPAM instead of venison.
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Truth is she’ll pay a fine and that’s about it. If she has the money(and it sounds like she does), a big fine won’t make any difference to her. What would make a difference are game laws with some teeth – take the gun, take the truck, take the ATV, AND TAKE AWAY HER HUNTING PRIVILEGES. If MN law allowed taking away the ability to hunt, then people like this would think twice before breaking the law – the way things are now she’ll pay the fine and start looking for her next trophy . In any case, she has very poor judgement.
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MN already does have laws that allow for confiscation of every bit of equipment involved and loss of hunting privileges. Depends on the judge, not the DNR.
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More deer should be LEGALLY harvested – I couldn’t agree more.
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Cootah, rather than rant about deer, how about addressing a far more destructive invasive species to the northland……US! If you aren’t willing to stay OUT of nature, then you’ve got nothing to say on the matter.
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I like all the outrage from people pretending not to understand how incredibly common a crime this is, and easy it is to get away with. Everybody who hunts knows people who regularly get away with stuff like this.
If baiting, going over your limit, or hunting without a license really bothers you so much, maybe you should consider turning in your friends that do it all the time.
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Seriously Vune? I’m an avid outdoorsman. I’m very aware of how common of a crime this is, but none of my friends or relatives do this at all. In fact, we’re the first to call the DNR if we observe any violations. In addition, you make it sound like we’re not allowed to be outraged because we “pretend” not to understand how common this is. I think you’re more than a little off base on your assumptions.
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Same here, Kodiak!
I’d love to be in a position to call the TIP line and rat out some shiner or other miscreant. Haven’t so far, but it’s just a matter of time.
Not so much for the reward, but the satisfaction.
I beleive any reward can be donated to any of several wildlife funds?
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Right on bac! I do set out a deer feeder once muzzleloader season is done, as it’s nice to have the deer closer to watch them. But I have absolutely no respect for anybody that doesn’t follow the rules and regulations. We have these for a reason – it’s called fair chase. Even if it were legal to bait deer for hunting, I could never bring myself to do it. It just takes away from the accomplishment.
And yes, any reward can be donated, whether it’s a wildlife fund or not.
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Baiting is actually legal in Wisconsin. Would like to think this presents an ethical decision to those who employ this method. But using bait can never be called hunting, only shooting. Whether rifle, bow or crossbow, all the person does is pull the trigger – there is no hunting involved with this particular harvest.
Just saying…
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Kind of like shooting sparrows off your birdfeeder, isn’t it?
Never have been able to understand that about Wisconsin…..
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I have always said,,,,”deer are the most destructive, chaoutic animal ever created”.
Smashed up cars…. drunks in the hunting shacks,,,,, people accidently shot, killed and injured.
City-its running around in our woods.
Dogs getting shot.
Buildings getting shot.
Cougars and Timberwolves getting shot.
And the DNR LAUGHES ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK !!!!!
Hot debate. What do you think?
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well, cribmaster, maybe you are being sarcastic and I can’t detect it. It seems to me that the deer are responsible for none of the ills you write of. You forgot to include cows and horses getting shot, too. heh. Good observations, tho.
tom koehler
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There’s potential for lots of smashed up cars or worse on I35 in west Duluth…lots of deer feeding right next to the driving lanes on both sides of the highway. Apparently it’s ok with the State Patrol since they drive by there all the time…
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Kinda hard to give a ticket to a whitetail. And what would they pay the fine with?
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Ticket them with a .40 cal…
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Right…then we’d be having state troopers brought up on charges for hunting out of season w/o a license.
You really do have no clue, do you, 3bot?
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I’m sure the law makes provision for law enforcement officers to eliminate animals that present a hazard to the public…not exactly “hunting w/o a license”. The food shelf could make good use of the meat…what’s the problem with that?
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Well, deer, being non-predatory, hardly present a danger to the public. Unless it’s some yahoo who ignores the ‘deer crossing’ signs, and is incapable of seeing large animals near or on the roadway. Or people who are ignorant of the fact that most animals will freeze when blinded by headlights, and only bolt when they can actually hear the approaching vehicle.
And, whatever meat is salvageable from roadkills does go either to the foodshelves, the person who hit them, or to anyone in line on a list of people who sign up for roadkill.
Also, I doubt law enforcement personell would be all that happy to have to fill out all the paperwork they have to, every time they fire their weapon, over an animal that wasn’t already crippled.
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