Minnesota DNR stole my trail camera !

[Swampthing]

Walked out to check one of my trailcams today. It's a 3/4 mile hike from any road. Got to with-in 50 feet of camera ( where it use to be ) and saw a yellow blob of dead leaves. Thought that was kinda weird. I get closer and realized the yellow blob was a dead tree. The tree my trailcam was mounted in. They just cut the whole da** tree down to get my camera. So I just stood there in SHOCK ! Hoping that I was at the wrong tree , this can't be happening i thought.
Then I see the tire tracks .( 5 ' track width) . Whatever it was must have had a hefty front bumper. Cause this thing drove right over 3" and 4 " trees.I followed the tracks and they led me out to a property line where the state land meets private. And I see something that was'nt there before. The DNR put up new signs marking the area as a public WMA area. For years I always wondered why there was'nt sign posts at that corner. I followed the tracks back the other way to another sign post that had laid over years ago. And sure enough another new sign had been placed there as well.
So there you go everybody. It ain't just your neighbors and theives you gotta worry about. The Minnesota DNR will rip you off as well. I,m pretty sure I have about a 1% chance of ever getting my trail camera back. But I sure as heck , am gonna raise some holy at the DNR headquarters . So if anyone reads about a guy getting arrested for causing a disturbance at the Minnesota DNR his name will surely be one you might know.

[Bowhunting Brian]

let us know what happens.

[DEERSLAYER]

It seems like they would have left some kind of an official tag or note behind. Maybe someone else followed the trail and spotted the camera?

[kenn1320]

I dont know the rules of your state, but if you were doing nothing wrong, Id take pics of the tree "they cut", the tree's they drove over, the new signs they posted, and follow up with not only the local department, but the state headquarters. Its likely they did a few things wrong that higher ups might like to be made aware of.
That being said, if your 3/4 mile off the road and somebody can just drive up to your spot with a sport utility vehicle, doesnt sound very remote to me. You obviously see some big deer or you wouldnt have a camera back there. Im jealous.

[Swampthing]

It seems like they would have left some kind of an official tag or note behind. Maybe someone else followed the trail and spotted the camera?

Yes, if the camera was placed on a shelf back at the DNR office. But not if the guy brought it home for his personnel use.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Edcyclopedia]

How was it attached? In my state no metal attachments. If it were one of those lock boxes and spiked to the tree you might not have a chance, possibly a fine also...

Hopefully they see it your way though!

[ Post made via Android ]

[Swampthing]

It waz attached with nylon strap. NO tree damage. And then it was secured with a python cable lock.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Czabs]

Yikes! . I'm glad I live in Wisconsin..

[Brad]

Good luck getting it back, and hopefully they didn't ruin your spot.

[MN Legacy]

Dang that sucks I was planning on putting out one of my cameras on a piece on Minnesots public land. Now I don't know if I want to now. I hope you get your camera back.

[dan]

Any updates? Did you contact the police or DNR ?

[Stanley]

Keep us posted.

[Badger]

To bad you didn't have another camera up they didn't see and caught them red handed. I would like to see justice done to who ever ripped you off and trashed a bunch of tree's doing it. Good luck