1 of 4 men accused of illegal bear hunting in northern Dunn County found guilty
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — One of four men accused of illegal bear hunting in northern Dunn County has been found guilty of obstructing a conservation warden and of possessing birds in excess of the bag limit.
Cody Shafer, age 27, of Ridgeland, was scheduled for a plea hearing in Dunn County Circuit Court November 8 before Judge James Peterson.
Shafer did not appear in court, but instead, was represented by his attorney Mandy Lynn Caffee, according to online court records.
Shafer was charged in a Dunn County case with obstructing or resisting a conservation warden and illegal bear hunting as a party to a crime, and in a separate state Department of Natural Resources citation, was charged with possessing birds in excess of the bag limit.
As part of a plea agreement, the charge of illegal bear hunting as a party to a crime was dismissed, and Shafer pleaded no contest to obstructing or resisting and also pleaded no contest to possessing birds in excess of the bag limit.
Judge Peterson accepted the plea of no contest and found Shafer guilty.
The judge ordered Shafer to pay a fine of $330.50 for the obstruction charge and a fine of $243 for the citation issued for possessing birds in excess of the bag limit.
As a result of the conviction, Shafer’s DNR license privileges will be revoked for three years.
Judge Peterson also ordered that the bear be confiscated.
Other hunters
In addition to the charges involving Shafer, Hunter Strenke, age 22, of Clayton, is charged with one misdemeanor count of killing a bear without a license.
Judge Peterson has scheduled a four-day trial in April for Strenke.
Adam Millermon, age 37, of Glenwood City, is charged with one misdemeanor count of illegal bear hunting as a repeat offender and as a party to a crime.
A plea hearing is scheduled for Millermon on December 16 in Dunn County Circuit Court.
Brandon Guthrie, age 32, also is charged with resisting a conservation warden and illegal bear hunting as a party to a crime.
A pre-trial conference is scheduled for Guthrie in Dunn County Circuit Court December 22.
Daycare
According to the criminal complaint, a Dunn County deputy notified state Department of Natural Resources Conservation Warden J.J. Redemann on September 16, 2021, of a bear hunting incident that occurred on property along 1420th Avenue in the Town of Sheridan.
A landowner who owns 38 acres told the warden that on September 10 multiple bear hunters had trespassed on his property and other properties in the area.
The property owner said he believed the bear had been killed near a daycare.
Redemann spoke to a daycare owner, who operates a daycare out of her residence.
The daycare owner said on September 10, she could hear hounds coming through the woods behind her house around 10:30 a.m., so she brought the daycare children who were playing outside into the house, according to the complaint.
The daycare owner said she had not given anyone from the group permission to shoot on her property.
Shafer
DNR wardens spoke to Cody Shafer, who said he was hunting with Brandon Guthrie on September 10 and initially denied being on the property behind the daycare, according to the criminal complaint.
Shafer told the wardens that Brandon Guthrie had called him earlier in the day on September 16 and told him to tell the wardens that Brandon did not kill the bear on September 10, the complaint states
Shafer told the wardens they had used a GPS unit to track the location of Millermon’s dogs, and that brought them to the property behind the daycare. Brandon Guthrie was the first person there and ran to the creek bottom with his rifle. Shafer said he heard Brandon Guthrie shoot a minute or two later, and when Shafer arrived, Guthrie was there with the bear and his rifle. Brandon Guthrie validated the bear with his tag, and Shafer helped drag the bear out, according to the complaint.
When the wardens talked to Brandon Guthrie again, Guthrie said he had shot a bear on September 15 but was adamant that was the only bear he had killed.
The wardens showed Guthrie the picture of a bear shot on September 11, and then Brandon Guthrie admitted he had killed the bear in the picture at a property in Barron County but had forgotten to register it until September 16 and admitted that he had lied to the wardens.
Brandon Guthrie then admitted he had lied about being on daycare property on September 10 but said he did not go down by the dead bear and continued to claim he did not know who had killed the bear, the complaint states.
Guthrie showed the wardens pictures on his phone, including a picture of two bears timestamped September 10 at 5:45 p.m.
Guthrie said one bear had been killed by Trenton Mast on September 10, but that he did not know who had killed the other bear.
Redemann learned later that the picture had been taken in Millermon’s shed.
Guthrie admitted he had provided false information to the wardens and apologized, but he continued to say he never left the driveway at the daycare property and had never dragged a bear from the creek bottom, according to the complaint.
Mast
Redemann talked to Trenton Mast by telephone, and Mast said he had shot a 264 pound bear (field dressed weight) on Shafer’s property on September 10 and was hunting with Nate Buss. Mast said two bears were killed that day and that Hunter Strenke had killed the second bear, according to the complaint.
Mast said Strenke shot the bear to stop the dogs because the dogs were heading to another property where they had been in trouble for trespassing earlier in the week.
Brandon Guthrie “tore the tag” for the bear, which refers to the way bear tags are validated, and Brandon Guthrie was the only hunter who had a bear tag. Mast provided a photograph of four individuals dragging the bear out from behind the day care, the complaint states.
The bear Strenke shot weighed 325 pounds field dressed. Millermon told Mast not to tell people what had actually happened because Strenke did not have a bear tag, and they had trespassed.
Mast said that was why no one had posed for a picture with the bear.
The bear was taken to Millermon’s residence on the back of Millermon’s truck. Mast, Buss, Strenke, Shafer and Millermon processed the bears at Millermon’s residence, according to the complaint.
