1 of 4 men accused of illegal bear hunting in northern Dunn County going to trial in December
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by LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — One of the four men accused of illegal bear hunting in the Town of Sheridan in northern Dunn County is taking the case to a jury trial in December.
Brandon N. Guthrie, age 33, of Ridgeland, along with his attorney, Andrew Joseph Harrington, appeared in Dunn County Circuit Court before Judge James Peterson for a hearing June 5.
Harrington indicated to the court that they had received an updated offer from the district attorney’s office the previous Friday but that the agreement previously was for a concurrent sentence but the new offer was for consecutive, according to online court records.
Prosecuting Attorney Megan Kelly said the offer for a plea deal had changed because of a new citation that Guthrie had received.
Guthrie was charged in a Dunn County case on two misdemeanor counts of resisting a conservation warden and illegal bear hunting as a party to a crime for an incident that occurred in September of 2021.
In three separate cases in June of 2022, Guthrie was charged with state Department of Natural resources citations for failure to keep accurate records as required or otherwise providing incorrect information; possessing birds or other species in excess of the bag limit; and validating or attaching a carcass tag to an animal trapped/killed/harvested by another or killed by unlawful means.
In January of this year, he received a citation for hunting, fishing or trapping after revocation.
A final pre-trial conference is scheduled in Dunn County Circuit Court November 17.
Also charged in the illegal bear hunting case were Cody Shafer age 28, of Ridgeland; Hunter Strenke, age 23, of Clayton; and Adam Millermon, age 38, of Glenwood City.
Millermon
Millermon pleaded guilty to a state Department of Natural Resources citation in December of 2022 of validating a carcass tag for a bear killed by another or by illegal means.
Judge Peterson accepted Millermon’s plea, ordered his hunting privileges revoked for three years and ordered confiscation of the bear carcass.
Millermon also was fined $544.50.
Millermon pleaded no contest to a DNR citation of possessing birds or other species in excess of the bag limit, and Judge Peterson accepted the plea, found him guilty, and ordered him to pay a fine of $243.
For a third court file, Judge Peterson dismissed one misdemeanor count of illegal bear hunting, as a repeat offender and as a party to a crime.
Shafer
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 DNR citation, was charged with possessing birds or other species 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 in Dunn County Circuit Court in November of 2022, and Shafer pleaded no contest to obstructing or resisting and also pleaded no contest to possessing birds or other species 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 or other species in excess of the bag limit.
As a result of the conviction, Shafer’s DNR license privileges are revoked for three years.
Judge Peterson also ordered that the bear be confiscated.
Strenke
Strenke is charged with a misdemeanor in a Dunn County case with killing a bear without a license and was issued a DNR citation for possessing, loaning or borrowing another’s license.
He initially was scheduled for a jury trial in April but is now scheduled for a plea hearing in Dunn County Circuit Court on July 19.
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 in the area.
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 saw Guthrie pull into her driveway with a pickup truck with a dog box and that she recognized him from prior contacts.
Millermon
When Lt. Michael Melgaard and Redemann spoke with Millermon on September 26, 2021, Millermon said he had asked who shot the bear on September 10, but no one had responded, so he claimed Guthrie had shot the bear and also claimed to have seen Guthrie rip his tag for the bear, the complaint states.
Millermon said Strenke called him on September 23 and said Strenke had shot the daycare bear. Millermon said he had told the hunting group to talk to a lawyer if they did not feel comfortable talking to the wardens and said that he told them not to lie.
Millermon agreed he had helped drag out the bear shot behind the daycare center and claims no one had any conversation about Strenke killing the bear, according to the complaint.
Millermon told the hunting group he did not want the bear on this truck because he felt something was “shady” and that he did not know the rules about transporting the bear.
Millermon said when Strenke told him Strenke had shot the bear, Strenke had asked Millermon what to do. Millermon told Strenke to give the bear to the wardens, the complaint states.
