Wild Turkeys Killed in Alleged Hit-and-Run Near Thief River Falls

Conservation officers with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources are investigating what they describe because the intentional killing of a number of wild turkeys alongside a roadway in northwest Minnesota.

The incident occurred Feb. 20 close to one hundred and tenth Avenue NW exterior Thief River Falls. In keeping with the DNR’s weekly enforcement report, a number of birds had been discovered useless in what officers consider was a deliberate act reasonably than an unintentional car collision. Conservation officers are asking for suggestions from the general public as they work to establish these accountable.

Whereas car collisions with turkeys aren’t unusual in rural areas, particularly in late winter when birds group up alongside plowed roads, officers indicated this case appeared completely different. The positioning of the birds and the scene proof led them to categorise the incident as malicious.

No prices have been filed as of this week.

For a lot of hunters, the apparent query is whether or not the state of affairs would have been authorized if the people had stopped, tagged the birds, and brought them house.

Beneath Minnesota law, wild turkeys might solely be harvested throughout established looking seasons and with the suitable license and tag. Capturing from a car, deliberately operating over wildlife, or taking recreation exterior of the authorized season are all violations. Even when the birds had been struck by accident, possession shouldn’t be mechanically authorized.

Salvaging large recreation like deer sometimes requires notifying authorities and acquiring a possession allow. Turkeys don’t fall underneath a broad roadkill salvage provision in the identical manner, and taking them with out correct authorization might nonetheless end in citations.

Briefly, even when somebody had loaded the birds into the truck, it could not have made the state of affairs lawful if the act itself was intentional or exterior of season.

Anybody with details about the incident is inspired to contact the DNR’s Flip In Poachers hotline at 1-800-652-9093.

Suggestions may be reported anonymously, and knowledge resulting in prices might qualify for a reward.

Keith Lusher

Keith Lusher is an award-winning outside journalist who resides in Covington, Louisiana. He owns and operates NorthshoreFishingReport.com and writes a weekly outside column for the Slidell Unbiased Newspaper. He additionally writes for the St.Tammany Parish Tourism Fee’s VisitTheNorthshore.com. He’s the previous host of The Northshore Fishing Report Radio Present and is on the board of the Louisiana Out of doors Writers Affiliation. Keith contributes to quite a few publications each on-line and in print and prides himself on selling South Louisiana’s distinctive fishery. To contact Keith e-mail: keithlusherjr@gmail.com