Strenke found guilty of illegal bear hunting in northern Dunn County and fined $3,500
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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 has been found guilty of killing a bear without a license and has been fined nearly $3,500.
Hunter J. Strenke, age 23, of Clayton, appeared before Judge James Peterson in Dunn County Circuit Court July 19 for a plea hearing on one misdemeanor count of killing a bear without a license during an incident that occurred in September of 2021.
Prosecuting attorney Megan E. Kelly told the court that Strenke had completed over 50 hours of community service and that the plea agreement included the revocation of all Chapter 29 (general fish and game regulation) privileges, including training hound dogs, the confiscation of the bear that was killed, confiscation of the rifle that was used and a $1,500 fine plus any mandatory surcharges and costs, according to online court records.
Judge Peterson accepted Strenke’s plea of no contest and found him guilty, imposed a total fine of $3,473, revoked Strenke’s Chapter 29 privileges for three years, consecutive to any other revocation from the state Department of Natural Resources, confiscation of the bear that was killed, confiscation of the rifle, and ordered that Strenke’s record would be expunged after completing the revocation of privileges.
Strenke also received a DNR citation for possessing or borrowing the license of another.
Also charged in the illegal bear hunting case were Cody Shafer age 28, of Ridgeland; Adam Millermon, age 38, of Glenwood City; and Brandon Guthrie, age 33 of Ridgeland.
Guthrie
Guthrie is taking his case to a jury trial in December.
Guthrie is 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.
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.
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 ordered Millermon’s 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.
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.
Bear
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 heard a gunshot very close to the daycare.
When Lt. Michael Melgaard and Redemann spoke with Millermon on September 26, 2021, 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.
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.
Strenke
The wardens talked to Strenke on September 23, 2021, who said the only bear shot on September 10 had been shot by Mast. Strenke said he did not hunt with a rifle because he did not have a tag and also claimed he was not in the area of the daycare.
When Redemann said he had pictures of Strenke behind the daycare, Strenke eventually admitted he had killed the bear and that Brandon Guthrie had validated the tag for the bear.
Strenke said Millermon had told him not to talk to the wardens about the investigation. Strenke gave the wardens permission to look at his phone but said he had deleted the picture when he knew the hunt was being investigated, according to the complaint.
Redemann talked to 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.
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.
