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BRITCOM III
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00:00Conservation officers in District 1 investigate a case where they suspect a logger who won a bid to cut trees on state land harvested more timber than he should have.
00:19At this point, you're prohibited from getting more cutting on this guy.
00:24Look at a warden's videographer participating in a unique weekend that focuses on giving women more skills and confidence to enjoy the outdoors.
00:33And conservation officers in Michigan's District 9 check on deer hunters during the state's hectic firearm deer season.
00:40That took a little too far.
00:41A little too far?
00:42Yeah.
00:43200 acres too far.
00:45You got your licenses on you or no?
00:46No.
00:47It's in the truck.
00:48It's over here.
00:49You gotta have your hunt licenses on you, you know that?
00:52Wild animals and wild places.
00:55They're more than a picture.
00:57They're inspiration, excitement and adventure.
01:01Patrolling and protecting these natural resources is a first class band of peace officers.
01:07These are the wardens.
01:09Dedicated to the preservation of our great outdoors.
01:13Michigan conservation officers protect the resources of the state.
01:38In that role, they are frequently seen monitoring hunters and anglers who are targeting a wide assortment of game and species of fish.
01:46The overwhelming majority of their interactions with the public do not result in citations being issued.
01:52However, animals are not the full extent of everything that they're authorized to protect.
01:57In the state's District 1, Officer Brett DeLong is one of a large team of officers who are gathered to begin a day that many of them have been anticipating for quite some time.
02:08Our hopes are today to go there, search the residence, and then search the logging site to attempt to find any of the paint that he has marked the trees after the fact.
02:19They intend to execute search warrants in a case where they suspect a logger has cut trees on state land illegally.
02:25CEO DeLong has been working this case for more than a year.
02:28We've been on this for a year and a half, I mean, for quite some time.
02:32Special thanks to the Special Investigations Unit and the Forrester because they've all put a lot of time and effort into it.
02:38But essentially what we have is the Forest Division had some suspicions on over-harvesting off their contracts.
02:47And we got together to go out and identify trees that were of high value in a cut that were supposed to be left.
02:55About six to seven years ago, the same contractor had a different timber sale with this department.
03:01And inspecting that at different times, I noticed different paint color.
03:06Well, it was orange paint, but different shade of orange.
03:09And it was different markings on the stump than I put on there.
03:13And with marking that sale myself, I know how I marked it, and it ended up different.
03:19And then after they cut it, it was much more open than what my residual basal area was destined to be when I originally marked it.
03:28What we did, we went out there, we threw in screws, and we did different documentations of the trees.
03:35Overall, we documented a little over 60, 63-ish trees out there that were of high value.
03:41After the Forests did their marking out there, we went and did a site visit and noticed that more trees were marked.
03:49And then on top of that, several of our trees that we had identified that were supposed to be left were marked after the fact.
03:56In our hardwood stands, we slowly, every 15 to 20 years, we go in and mark some.
04:01We mark the mature trees, we mark the poor quality, low vigor, and the trees that we don't determine will make it another 10 to 15 years until our next entry into the stand.
04:11So we're always trying to improve the quality and at the same time, open up some areas to allow new regeneration to occur in the stand.
04:19So you perpetually have a stand with young trees and then mature trees all at the same time.
04:24So it provides many values to wildlife and also the timber industry.
04:28If you guys don't know, this is next to a carnifent natural area, so it's a buffer zone.
04:33Or this is meant to be a buffer zone here, so it's a higher state or higher regulations on the particular cut.
04:41So it's just supposed to be a thinning. As you see when you get out, there's more or less of a clear cut, just about.
04:46Once you get our attention on a topic, especially when it's something to this effect that affects both our natural resources here and as well as people's livelihood and other logging companies, it is not going to go away.
04:59And we will do what it takes to get the right people and as many people as we need to make that come together and bring it to court and get those people charged appropriately.
05:08Hopefully we'll find some good evidence today and be able to take this to court and thank you all for being here and doing this.
05:18We're looking at hopefully finding the paint that he's been marking the trees that we have paint samples that hopefully we can get that paint and match it.
05:28And also get a hold of the receipts for his logs that he's brought to different mills.
05:35When the state of Michigan awards bids to logging companies to cut trees that are property of the state on state land, they mark the trees with paint or some other distinct marking.
05:44The officers believe that this suspect has gotten his own spray can and marked additional trees.
05:49After he made contract or won the contract with the state, our foresters went in, marked the trees that were supposed to be cut during the sale, and then that's it.
06:01He, after he secured that contract, went back in, marked more trees so that he could get his money back because he overbid by roughly $40,000 than what the next competitor was.
06:15For the average person taking a hike through the woods, they may not be able to tell the difference of how trees are marked.
06:21But for those who work in this industry and are experts in forestry, it's sometimes obvious when something questionable is occurring.
06:28Shortly after the contractor got it, we went out there and started our efforts to track and document trees that weren't marked.
06:35And through that, you know, our first timber sale inspection, when the contractor got started on the sale, I noticed right away that there was more paint out there than I did.
06:45It was different directions, different style of marking.
06:49I could tell, you know, within the first 50 feet of walking in the stand that it wasn't what I'd left it as.
06:55With his primary suspect not at the job site, CO DeLong heads to the suspect's residence, which is also his place of business.
07:02Officers stay at the job site to investigate the scene.
07:07There's a loaded handgun in there inside of his lunchbox.
07:10Well, he says it's loaded. We haven't checked the chamber yet, but we want to photograph it before we remove it.
07:16COs find a handgun and cans of spray paint in one of the construction vehicles.
07:21George, take your lunchbox. I'm sorry. Go ahead.
07:25Take it. Yes.
07:26In addition to cutting more trees than the contract stipulated, the type of extra trees that have been cut are not ones that forestry experts would have chosen, even if they wanted more of them cut.
07:36It may have a permanent impact. I mean, not only did he take out the high value trees, the ones that we left to put on some more growth to become better value.
07:47And he left us all the crappy trees that have no monetary value.
07:52They're just not good quality timber value in them.
07:56They offer other benefits, maybe some benefits to wildlife, but no timber value left in the crap trees that he left us.
08:06Because of the extensive damage done to this forest, it will likely take much longer than it should for the area to recover.
08:12That was marked 20 years ago and it filled in to get back to what it looks like behind you.
08:19So, you know, that was cut under our normal practices.
08:23This will probably take decades to recover and maybe never recover from, might end up with a lot of poor quality branched out hardwood trees as a result of this.
08:35Because there's too much sunlight in there.
08:45Fort Wilkins Historic Park in the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan's Upper Peninsula strives to take visitors back in time to a different era in the history of the United States.
08:55The park features interpreters who role play assorted characters that are based on real life people.
09:00The fort basically serves as a stage for our interpretive staff to do the social history of the fort.
09:06So we interpret the lower class through our laundress and our private, middle class through our quartermaster sergeant role,
09:15and the upper class through an officer's wife or our lieutenant.
09:18Each of the costumed role players strive to use the language of the period and convey the job, life, and experience of the characters they're portraying.
09:26Up here, just so far out of it, you know, there's nothing to be guarding up here.
09:30You barely feel like a soldier most of the time.
09:32I mean, I end up with a broom more than I do with a rifle.
09:35So it can take some of the glory out of it.
09:39And you end up just sitting around getting bored.
09:41There's plenty of drinking and gambling here.
09:43It's not permitted, mind you, but it doesn't mean it don't happen.
09:47You know, you have a bunch of men sitting around during the winter and you lose track of things to do.
09:53Hello, I'm Kate Holmes.
09:59It's nice to meet you.
10:00I work as one of the post laundresses and then I'm married to private homes of Company K.
10:05I'm just doing some of the washing today, you know.
10:08I've got my scrub bucket.
10:10So I got soap in here and I got my washboard, you know, for doing the scrubbing on.
10:16And then I got a rinse bucket.
10:18I am also responsible for special drilling of the troops.
10:21That would be sometimes the enlisted men find themselves falling behind in their drill.
10:27And when that happens, I step in and I take them aside for an hour or two of special instruction when their regular duties permit.
10:37So that they do not hold up the company when we do a full company drill on the parade ground.
10:43Fort Wilkins was built in response to the copper rush.
10:46Built in 1844 basically as a police action to keep an eye on the miners and to make sure that there was no conflict between the local Ojibwe tribe and the miners and explorers that were coming up here.
10:59The actors at Fort Wilkins come from various backgrounds and have different reasons for being passionate about educating the public through role playing.
11:06The sort of change over time is what really interests me about history.
11:10What has changed, what hasn't.
11:12So being able to talk to people about that sort of thing, like this is how we do it.
11:17And then of course I can't say this is very different from how we do it now, but it's implied in that sort of exchange.
11:25I've always been interested in history.
11:28I used to go to civil war reenactments and take part in that.
11:31And what I like about working as an interpreter is you get to include people in something you're passionate about because they begin to feel like they're a part of the story or feel like they're a part of the site.
11:46You know, they walk in and I've had people be like, oh, we're walking back in time.
11:51You know, it's always interesting because some people tell me, oh, you've been sent forward in time, yet you're walking around all the period buildings.
11:58I would argue that it's the other way around.
12:01A lot of like just learning how to engage with people and like different kinds of people have different expectations coming into coming into the fort and like I guess what my purpose is.
12:13You know, some people are more interested in watching me do the laundry or asking questions or just tell me your life story.
12:20I recently graduated from Albion College.
12:23I am an education major. I go to Northern Michigan University over Marquette.
12:27There's a program called the Future Historians that does a similar first person reenacting here at the fort.
12:34So I was a part of that group for, I think, nine years.
12:37You know, you do every month there's a local history meeting.
12:41And then in the summer there's several different three day workshops, which is up here, you know, in costume.
12:47So I did that for, I would say nine years.
12:50And so the whole time I was doing that, I was like, I want to be one of the adult role players.
12:54I want to be one of the adult role players.
12:56And well, here I am.
12:57The effort to create a living history is a passion for everyone involved at Fort Wilkins Historic State Park
13:04and is generally well received by the approximately 150,000 visitors that the park has each year.
13:10The best groups I have come in are parents and their children.
13:14And the parents prompt them to ask questions.
13:16And then the kids almost think that it's absolutely real.
13:20And they approach it as such.
13:22I think that that's definitely a special experience that interpretation allows you to have with people.
13:36Michigan Conservation Officer Brett DeLong is one of several officers investigating a suspect
13:41who they believe is cutting more trees than he is allowed after winning a bid to harvest timber on state land.
13:47The officers in the DNR's Law Division, as well as state experts from the Forest Resources Division,
13:53were leery of this lumber contract from the get-go because the bid was significantly higher than other bids for this job.
13:59CO DeLong began his work on this day by going to the job site where he guessed the primary suspect would be.
14:05After not finding him there, he went to the suspect's home.
14:08He didn't find the suspect there either, but did find an acquaintance of the primary suspect.
14:13He also found some evidence for which he was looking.
14:16We're actually leaving the suspect's residence to go to the job site.
14:21Just found out he's going to be, made contact with him.
14:23He's going to be there shortly.
14:25A quick look at the residence in one of the vehicles there.
14:31Actually identified a few of the items that we're looking for that he used to do the marking, the timber marking.
14:39And as in the picture here, I can identify that the board and the backpack and gloves with the orange paint on them
14:47were, looked like it appeared to be in the vehicle back there.
14:50We haven't had to open it up to search it yet, but a quick view shows that it's there.
14:55When he arrives back at the job site, Officer DeLong finds Sergeant Ryan Aho
15:00and other members of the DNR's Law Enforcement Division talking to the primary suspect.
15:05Once we figure this out and the foresters do their job, they figure out what's going on,
15:12then it's going to be, you know, people way above my pay grade that are going to make a decision as to how to handle it.
15:18So, at this point, you're prohibited from getting more cutting on this job.
15:24Sergeant Ryan Aho and Officer Brett DeLong, Mark Liebman, as well as many other members of both the DNR's Law Enforcement Division
15:39and Forestry Resources Division are working a case where they suspect a logger has overcut a forest of state land
15:46for which he won a bid to cut trees.
15:48While searching for evidence at both the job site and the place of business,
15:52the team of investigators has found some evidence for which they were looking.
15:56Eventually, they also find the lead suspect.
15:58Some members of the team talk with him about what they're doing on this particular day
16:02and give him the paperwork involved with the case.
16:05There's things on my end that fell for granted.
16:07I've got a bad situation going on right now that I've got an implant to my back.
16:14Yeah, that's...
16:15Things are, things are not...
16:17Yeah.
16:18Well, no, I can sympathize with that.
16:20And that's, like I said, that's...
16:21You know, a warrant warrant on marking too many trees in the night.
16:24Yeah.
16:25You know, like I said, it's not...
16:27But I try, you know, I mean, it doesn't warrant anything, but I'll, you know, put the roads in here.
16:32Sure.
16:33Better than, better than what they usually would be.
16:36Absolutely.
16:37Absolutely.
16:38No, like I said, it's not like...
16:39You know, not to say that, you know, if I did take some other, some trees or whatever that, it warrants that,
16:45but, you know, I'll try to make up for it to make sure the quality of, you know, the road system in there is...
16:52For sure.
16:53For sure.
16:54A lot better out for it.
16:55Okay.
16:56Yeah.
16:57Well, like I said, I appreciate...
16:58This part right here, I've got about five grand stuck in this part of it.
17:00Oh, really?
17:01Yeah.
17:02The logger shares with the officers that he has been dealing with an injury and that
17:05he feels that he has helped to improve the condition of the roads that he and his logging
17:09crew have been utilizing on the job site.
17:11Like I said, it just comes down to, it comes down to economics, you know, and everybody's
17:15got to, you know, put food on your table, pay your guys in the rig.
17:20So...
17:21Well, very good, sir.
17:22I appreciate it.
17:23Thank you very much.
17:24Upon concluding the searches of the job site and place of business on this day, the investigating
17:29team returns to a local DNR office.
17:32Excellent work by everybody.
17:33It was...
17:34It kind of went like clockwork right up until we were ready to make contact and found out
17:39he wasn't what we thought he was going to be.
17:41But we made the best of it and it all worked out in the long run.
17:44So, nice work by everybody from our side of things.
17:49Mark did a great job being methodical, going through everything.
17:54I think everything is documented very well.
17:57Looking at what Shannon has there.
18:00I would hope that Shannon and Jason did a great job.
18:03I'm glad that we were able to see all the pieces of the puzzle finally come together after
18:08a long wait.
18:09As it's a relief, things went much smoother than I kind of anticipated.
18:14Going into this whole situation today, I kind of expected more kickback or more kind
18:21of just a kickback from our suspect and everybody involved in that.
18:26But other than that, it almost went too good to be true.
18:28But no, I'm glad we finally got it wrapped up.
18:30I know our Forest Resource Division are very pleased and happy with what we've done and helped them out.
18:35I want to thank everybody for helping with this effort.
18:38For the last six, seven years, this contractor has had a number of sales where I've assumed
18:45and I thought that extra trees were being harvested, that were not part of the original timber sale.
18:51And with the culmination of today, there is proof that I knew what I was talking about
18:56and that it was actually occurring with this contractor.
18:59So it is nice to finally put an end to it.
19:02The result of this day is the culmination of a huge team effort by many employees of Michigan's DNR.
19:08It's a fine example of different divisions working together for the betterment of the state's residents,
19:13visitors, and resources.
19:15Some had been suspicious for a long time of what was happening to the state's natural resources.
19:20It was a good team effort for everybody to be, it seemed like it was almost overkill.
19:25Some people may look at it that way, but as we discussed in our debriefing, it really wasn't.
19:30To be able to have that many people at each location was key.
19:34And today, because we showed up, our suspect wasn't there, we were able to touch base with each other and be on scene when he arrived
19:43and kind of not even allow him to make contact with any other suspects or anybody else to maybe get rid of the evidence.
19:50What I was seeing over the course of those years was, I actually was seeing that, you know, that it was nice to actually get proof now.
19:57And it was with the help of the LED conservation officers that we could put something together to actually verify that it was occurring.
20:06In this case, for illegally cutting and removing timber from state land, this man was court ordered to pay the state of Michigan $119,529.40 in restitution.
20:19He also received three years of probation and a suspended jail sentence of six months.
20:25Furthermore, he is barred from bidding on any future DNR logging contracts.
20:29A lot of people do have the thought that if we just don't tell a conservation officer something, they kind of go away.
20:38That's not the case. A little word to those out there that think that we don't give up. Things don't go away.
20:44It may seem like they do go away, but it's probably just we're looking at gathering more evidence and we're probably watching you and you just don't know it.
20:54It's just a matter of getting as much evidence as we can to finally put the final nail in the coffin.
21:01Michigan's firearm deer season is usually the time period that brings the most hunters into the woods.
21:07The state's conservation officers look forward to this flurry of activity and strive to do their duty to protect the natural resources of the Great Lakes State.
21:16In Michigan's District 9, Conservation Officer Joe Deppin has encountered a hunter with her dad who says she just shot a deer.
21:26I lost sight of him.
21:28Okay.
21:29So I, um, I, he was like 50, 60 yards and he ran out of a neighbor's property and he laid down and he was sideways and he was just picking his head up, blood coming out of his mouth.
21:42Yeah.
21:43And dropping, picking him up, dropping. And then he stood up and he had two feet and then the thing is going to get his head back down.
21:48Okay.
21:49So I feel really confident that he's so big. I feel like we need to give him some time.
21:54Yeah.
21:55Okay.
21:56Okay.
21:57Perfect.
21:58All right.
21:59Yeah.
22:00You can put those with you. So when we go over there and find them and do your tag.
22:02Let me find them. I like your attitude.
22:04That's right.
22:05That's good. Thank you.
22:07Uh-huh.
22:09I got a call this morning from a family that I know who hunts up in Lennox Township.
22:13They said they had shot a deer this morning. It's a pretty nice deer, but they think it may have gone onto the neighbor's property.
22:18So they did the right thing. They went over and they just talked to the neighbor, got permission to go track the deer.
22:23I need the adjacent piece. We met them out there. We ended up following them out there to track the deer to the adjacent property.
22:29And, uh, the family is Alyssa and her dad ended up finding a really nice 12 point deer.
22:34Couldn't have asked for a better morning hunting with my dad. Um, this is the first piece of property that I've ever owned.
22:41And, uh, as soon as I saw it, I knew it had potential for a big deer. We were getting small, young bucks on camera up until about three weeks ago.
22:51And this bruiser showed up and I about fell out of my chair when it showed up on my phone, uh, on the cell cam app.
22:58And I was like, Dad, you and I are going to be fighting for this deer.
23:03It was a great moment for her and her family. They've been working on food plots for quite a long time out in that piece.
23:08And, uh, it was a great deer to watch them take.
23:10Neighbor was kind enough to, uh, let us retrieve him on his property.
23:15I couldn't be more grateful. This is by far the biggest deer I've ever had my hands on.
23:20It really makes me really emotional. So wish it was with the boat.
23:28I'll follow you guys out here and I'll get, let you guys get your quad and congrats once again.
23:33Later in his shift, Officer Deppin returns to his truck to respond to a call he just received.
23:38Possibly 500 trespassing on a piece of somebody else's property and hunting.
23:42So we're going to meet, um, Officer Keel and Officer Salori over there in a few minutes.
23:47Officer Deppin meets with CEO Chris Keel to talk to the landowners who have observed people trespassing on their property.
23:54We'll go over there and talk to them and, uh, kind of take it from there. We'll let you guys know.
23:59Now, do you know, um, did you post it right behind their property?
24:04We did post it.
24:05So if they walk onto the property, they have, but they would have had to walk past the sign.
24:09Absolutely. They shoot them.
24:11Alright, so make sure next time you put the signs up, you bring out a ladder or a four-wheeler or something.
24:16So you can stand up on top of it.
24:18A little high.
24:19Put them way up high and then they can't walk by.
24:21No, last year we were walking the property and found all those ground blinds.
24:24Multiple of them were right under trees with the sign right here.
24:28Upon arriving at the property in question, officers Deppin and Keel begin to walk the land in search of hunters who aren't authorized to be there.
24:35They check some empty blinds and consult maps on their phones before contacting a hunter.
24:40Property lanes.
24:41Where's your hunter's orange at?
24:42I came up with the bathroom, but I didn't.
24:43But you got your gun here too.
24:44I got this right here.
24:45It's gotta be orange.
24:46Is that orange?
24:47I didn't know.
24:48I've been wearing orange.
24:49How many years you been hunting?
24:50You got loaded fire or I'm on a four-wheeler?
24:51Uncased.
24:52How many years you been hunting?
24:5332.
24:5432.
24:55I've been here.
24:56And you didn't know you needed orange.
24:57Well, I know I needed orange.
24:58I didn't know it was.
24:59Everybody wears this stuff.
25:00No?
25:01Which piece of property do you think you're on right now?
25:02Mine?
25:03Mine's not an answer.
25:04What property?
25:05What's your property name?
25:06Okay, who else is that?
25:07Wife, son.
25:08And you let them go on somebody else's property?
25:10Well, we were hunting up close and a deer.
25:12So, yes.
25:13See?
25:14Yeah, I guess so.
25:15Because they're right there.
25:16Yeah.
25:17Yeah.
25:18Yeah.
25:19Yeah.
25:20Yeah.
25:21Yeah.
25:22So, yes.
25:23See?
25:24Yeah, I guess so.
25:25Because they're right there.
25:26Yeah.
25:27Yeah.
25:28Yeah.
25:29Yeah.
25:30Yeah.
25:31Yeah.
25:32Yeah.
25:33Yeah.
25:34Yeah.
25:35Yeah.
25:36Right there.
25:37I didn't know.
25:38It ain't posted.
25:39Okay.
25:40Nobody's ever bothered me for 30 years.
25:41Okay.
25:42Well, it was posted and you guys keep ripping the signs down is what I've been told.
25:45Yeah.
25:46And you've had conversations with the landowner before, right?
25:48About not coming back there.
25:49Years and years ago.
25:50Okay.
25:51Did he ever give you permission to go out there?
25:53Or give other people, give you permission to give other people to go on this property?
25:57No.
25:58No.
25:59But we've been, it's a landlocked hunk of land.
26:01And you can tell me.
26:02So you just go wherever you are.
26:03Do you have any other car runs on you?
26:04I've been, I've been here and it's, I've been here so long.
26:07It's all the neighbors.
26:08Stop.
26:09Do you have any other firearms on you?
26:10Do you have any other firearms on you?
26:11No, no.
26:12Little ones.
26:13Little ones?
26:14No.
26:15I said no, little ones.
26:16All right.
26:17I got my gun laying around here someplace.
26:19I've got your gun.
26:20Michigan conservation officers, Joe Deppin, Chris Keel, and Brad Solori are working on
26:33the opening day of Michigan's firearm deer season.
26:37C.O. Deppin started his day by helping a successful hunter drag her buck out of the woods.
26:42Now the three officers, who are all assigned to the southeast corner of the state, are working
26:47a case where they've encountered one hunter on land where he doesn't have permission to be.
26:52He's told the officers that there are more hunters on this piece of land.
26:55The officers believe that they are all trespassing.
26:58Is it possible that anyone is tracking a deer back there at all?
27:01Not even possible?
27:02I haven't.
27:03I've heard shots since I've been up here, but I don't know.
27:06I've heard them coming from all up here.
27:08You're talking about people or deer?
27:09Shooting.
27:10Shooting.
27:11I don't know if anybody's out.
27:12I heard shooting.
27:13I don't know if anybody got anything.
27:15I'm trying to call, but there ain't no good reception out here.
27:18All right.
27:19Well, we don't need to call anymore.
27:20We're going to go figure out what they're doing back there.
27:22I see a quad and I see rope.
27:23I mean, that gives a lot of patience.
27:25Oh, I brought that out this morning.
27:26I dropped it there.
27:27Generally, when people take out a quad and a rope, there's a deer down somewhere.
27:30Well, I just went up and went to the bathroom and got on the quad to ride back.
27:33Okay.
27:34And I've been standing here to give somebody a ride or whatever.
27:37I'm just sitting here waiting.
27:38Sitting here waiting.
27:39The original reason we're here is for trespassing onto this back piece, okay?
27:42And you obviously know your property lines, because when I walked up to you, you said,
27:45hey, I'm on my property right here.
27:46So I know you know the property lines, whether those signs that were here earlier were taken
27:50down or not.
27:51You know where your property line's at and you're allowing your friends to go onto that piece of property
27:54that's not yours?
27:57It's been going on for 30 years.
27:59Doesn't make it right.
28:00Everybody's been coming out here.
28:01I know.
28:02I know.
28:03I'm sorry.
28:04It's just been common practice for 30 years.
28:07The trespass?
28:08Nobody's ever said a word.
28:10Okay.
28:11Well, they're saying words now.
28:12CO Deppin stays with the first hunter they contacted, while officers Kiel and Solori walk
28:17the property and look for the other hunters.
28:19Clear on that.
28:20We'll stand by.
28:21My partner's found one of the guys back there that are going to speak with the other people
28:25in the other lines real quick.
28:26All right.
28:27He's bringing up this four-wheeler quad and rope, and he's saying he doesn't know if there's
28:29a deer down.
28:30So, he definitely shot one, but he can't find us.
28:33That's right.
28:34I don't know where they hunt in the back, but I know my dad, him, and my brother-in-law
28:40were hunting in the back this morning.
28:41Where's the back?
28:42What are you talking about?
28:43Like, further in the back.
28:44Show us where that's at.
28:46Like, it's down by the gas line.
28:49I'm not, I know how to get, I don't know how to get back there personally, because I
28:53never...
28:54Did they walk from right here?
28:55Yeah, I did.
28:56Did they walk from down the road?
28:57No, we walked from down the road.
28:58You walked all in here.
28:59Yeah.
29:00And then you guys split up.
29:01Yeah.
29:02Okay, let's just go that way.
29:03Yeah.
29:04Blood.
29:07Blood there.
29:08I think just...
29:09Okay.
29:10That's the way they tracked it.
29:11He said, I found this doe.
29:12I need help.
29:13So, I'm thinking they're a little bit west of you and north of me.
29:18No, keep them there.
29:19Okay.
29:20Do you want to stay put here?
29:21We'll come with you.
29:22Oh, come with me.
29:23Oh.
29:24This is the first time ever.
29:25What?
29:26First time one?
29:27I understand that, but no reason to lie.
29:28I was standing right next to him when he was telling him on the phone.
29:29That's great.
29:30You shouldn't have brought him out here on somebody else's property though.
29:32That's the problem.
29:33You guys all got permission to be out here?
29:34Yeah.
29:35Like I said, I've been hunting with my uncle.
29:36My uncle lives right on 26.
29:37Wait.
29:38Where did you get the permission from?
29:41Like I said, my uncle lived right on 26 mile.
29:42I just walked out the back of his family.
29:43Dirty juice.
29:44Dirty juice.
29:45Dirty.
29:46Dirty.
29:47Dirty.
29:48Dirty.
29:49Dirty.
29:50Dirty.
29:51Dirty.
29:52Dirty.
29:53Dirty.
29:54Dirty.
29:55Dirty.
29:56Dirty.
29:57Dirty.
29:58Dirty.
29:59Dirty.
30:00Dirty.
30:01Dirty.
30:02Dirty.
30:03Dirty.
30:04Dirty.
30:05Dirty.
30:06Dirty.
30:07Dirty.
30:08Dirty.
30:09Dirty.
30:10I just went on it for years after I'd never posted.
30:12That wouldn't have been on it once too far.
30:14It was posted many, many times.
30:16It had just somebody from the house would rip him down every time.
30:18Gotcha.
30:21Dirty.
30:23He knows better, so he should have been nice, and told you not to go back there.
30:26He seems like a really nice guy.
30:30Them?
30:30You!
30:31Me?
30:32Yeah!
30:33What are you doing out here on other people's property?
30:35I've been hunting this for years.
30:37That doesn't make it right, though.
30:38I understand.
30:39How much are you paying for lease here?
30:41Something like I said.
30:42Right, right, zero, right?
30:43Yeah.
30:44You know how much this would cost if you had to lease it?
30:46I could bet.
30:47Yeah.
30:48All right, well, let's start heading back.
30:50All right.
30:52We'll bring you guys back to the house.
31:00Michigan's DNR encourages all people to get outside and take advantage of the many different
31:08things that are available in the form of outdoor recreation all over the state.
31:13Women are one group that they would especially like to see enjoying the outdoors more.
31:17The DNR offers three-day classes that they call Becoming an Outdoors Woman, or BOW.
31:23Women are looking for more opportunities.
31:26They're looking for more opportunities and a comfort, an area where they're comfortable,
31:32where they're capable of stepping outside of their comfort zone, for sure, and passionate
31:39people.
31:40It's really just about growing and doing something new and learning something new and maybe doing
31:45it later and maybe not.
31:46And that's okay if you don't.
31:47We had one lady today that didn't want to shoot.
31:50She shot one gun and she said, I'm done.
31:52I don't want to shoot.
31:53And I said, just do me a favor and shoot this other gun.
31:55Shoot the semi-automatic and see if you like that.
31:58And so she ended up shooting all of the guns and she did pretty well.
32:01Warden's videographer, Kristin Ojanemi, is taking part in this particular BOW class as
32:07well as videoing it.
32:09Coming into this assignment, I really didn't have any preconceived idea about it.
32:15I was able to pick the classes that I wanted to take.
32:19And so I chose self-confidence because the conservation officers taught that.
32:24You might still be pretty shy inside, but you don't want that person to see that.
32:28You want that person to see that assertive personality.
32:30And you can do that.
32:31Even though that's not really you inside, you can still do that.
32:34You can still project that.
32:36Don't be bashful.
32:37If you're mad about something, that's your target.
32:41And if you hit one of us, it's okay.
32:44It's okay.
32:45But don't intentionally do it, please.
32:46Good.
32:47Good.
32:48Good.
32:49Good.
32:50Good.
32:51And I'm going to do it like this and try to push you.
32:53Now, splay your fingers.
32:56See, it's a little bit harder.
32:58It's important because we're seeing more women to get in the outdoors.
33:02And I think for them to be comfortable doing that, they sometimes may need some more confidence
33:08or just some things to think about while they're out in the woods.
33:11Like anybody, you never want to put yourself in a bad situation.
33:14So this class does as a good idea and not really making you a martial artist or a professional fighter,
33:23but it gives you some of the skills to know what to do and you need to fight to get out of it.
33:27Then I took wilderness survival today.
33:30Also a really good class, I think, for me to learn because I'm very interested in backcountry camping.
33:35I did that for the first time last year.
33:37And I have always relied on other people to start a fire.
33:41So I learned some really good fire starting techniques, which was great.
33:44For a fire to burn successfully, it needs three things.
33:47It needs heat, it needs fuel, and it needs oxygen.
33:50Building a fire when you're in an emergency situation, you want to have something that's going to be easy to use,
33:56that you know how to use, and ideally something like this because it's going to burn for a long time,
34:01and it'll give you a chance to get the fire going.
34:03Just going to practice a couple times, and then once you feel like you've got the hang of it,
34:06you start throwing sparks towards your cotton ball, and eventually, I promise, eventually it catches.
34:13What did that take, like six times?
34:15Yeah.
34:16Sometimes it'll be the first, sometimes it'll be the twentieth.
34:18One of our participants, we had probably ten years ago, who came back and told us that,
34:23thanks to us, she was rescued by the Coast Guard.
34:27And that was because at the beginning of class, we teach how to leave your itinerary with someone,
34:31and she had done that.
34:32That's the best compliment we can get.
34:34And we built like a little primitive shelter to be able to get out of the elements,
34:38and I've never done that before, and I found that really interesting.
34:41We're looking for a really long, somewhat straight log, or, yeah!
34:47Does anyone see something like that?
34:49Anybody?
34:50Anybody?
34:51Nobody?
34:52Oh, good, okay.
34:53So what we want to do is we want to take this hole, and we want to find maybe like a, you know,
35:01crook in a tree, crotch, people call it.
35:03Oh, right there!
35:04How interesting!
35:06Put it through.
35:11There you go.
35:13And try to bring it down, if you can, into the base.
35:17There you go.
35:19So the next thing we want to do is find some long sticks.
35:25The longer they are, the higher up on the pole they go, and the shorter they are.
35:30You're going to put them like down here.
35:31So we put all the vertical pieces in.
35:33Now we're going to start weaving some in horizontally.
35:35Oh.
35:36So now we're going to create like a web.
35:38These will be small ones.
35:39They can even be like...
35:40A web pattern.
35:41Now we're going to grab things from the ground, like piles of leaves.
35:46You're going to get your hands dirty, and that's okay.
35:48But there's all kinds of dead leaves.
35:49Just grab handfuls of them.
35:51Grab the dead...
35:52Or dead ferns.
35:53The dead ferns.
35:54See if you can find some dead pine boughs.
35:56Anything you can find on the ground.
35:58So now that we have our insulation up, what we need is some more sticks.
36:05Yep.
36:06We're going to grab sticks like this, and just start leaning it up against everything again.
36:12Because if it gets a little windy, we don't want all of our insulation to blow away.
36:16Okay.
36:17So I'm going to call this a pretty darn good shelter.
36:22My female friends and family and stuff, we do have, you know, quite a bit of outdoor experience in getting outdoors, but there's a lot we don't know.
36:29And I think a lot of us also rely on our spouses or our boyfriends to kind of help and to do things and, you know, keep us safe.
36:38And I think this would definitely, if, you know, I could get them to, you know, go out backpacking with me, like, or something like that, this would also help them to, you know, get a little bit more confidence in being able to do it themselves instead of, you know, having to rely on somebody else to be there and to help them.
36:52Michigan Conservation Officers Joe Deppin, Chris Keel, and Brad Solori are working on the opening day of the state's firearm deer season.
37:10They've made contact with five hunters who were trespassing on a piece of property that is adjacent to a piece owned by one of them.
37:17Your only mistake was is you didn't confirm that you had permission.
37:22And why would you when you trust your friend, right?
37:26Yeah.
37:27Well...
37:28I'm not happy.
37:30You've been told multiple times by the property owner to stay up.
37:34Multiple times.
37:36Then he puts signs up and then you come out here and rip them down.
37:40What was the first thing you said when we came up?
37:42Hey, I'm on my property right here.
37:44You know where the property line is.
37:46He knows.
37:47He knows.
37:48He knows.
37:49Yeah.
37:50When he was 32 years old.
37:52Yeah.
37:53Which makes it more...
37:56Proves my case better that you know better.
37:58Absolutely.
37:59You got your licenses on you or no?
38:00It's in the truck.
38:01It's over here.
38:02It's a good place for him.
38:03You got to have your hunt licenses on you.
38:05You know that?
38:06Sorry, sir.
38:07Sorry, this is not going to fix the problem.
38:08I mean, what are you going to do if you shoot a deer?
38:09You got to tag it.
38:10You can't run all the way back here.
38:11They did shoot a deer.
38:12One of them have it.
38:13Where's your tags?
38:14Let's go.
38:15We'll get moving here so we can get out about our day and so can you guys.
38:21The officers are now working to sort out what they've observed and who should be issued citations.
38:27We got two no orange and then one no licensed on person.
38:32Loaded firearm on the RV.
38:34No hunters orange on him and then, yeah.
38:37All right.
38:38If you guys want to take those two.
38:40That's a good one.
38:41That's a good one.
38:42In this case, for not wearing hunter orange while hunting, this man pled guilty and paid
38:47a court ordered fine of $115.
38:50I'm not taking your firearm.
38:51It's back.
38:52Don't load it.
38:53I'm going to give you your shells back.
38:54Once we clear the scene, then you can load.
38:56You guys finish out the rest of the day.
38:57If you're going to hunt the rest of the day, hunt on your own property, okay?
39:00All right.
39:01And put on some orange.
39:02Fair enough.
39:03Yes, it is.
39:05In this case, for having a loaded and uncased firearm on his off-road vehicle, the first
39:10hunter the officers contacted pled guilty and paid a court ordered fine of $250.
39:16For not wearing hunter's orange, he also pled guilty and paid an additional $115.
39:22So here's the deal.
39:23You're going to get a citation for possession when you're hunting.
39:27You have to have it with you in the field.
39:30So just like the scenario that you had today, you shot a deer, you started tracking it,
39:37you had no tags on it.
39:38So if you found it, what's the first thing you want to do?
39:41Tag it.
39:42Tag it, correct.
39:43So you didn't have your tags with you.
39:44Yeah.
39:45If you found a deer, you got to tag it immediately.
39:47I forgot it.
39:48It was my fault.
39:49I got you.
39:50That's a big deal.
39:51I'm sorry.
39:52You're going to get a citation for that.
39:53I'll explain it to you in a minute, okay?
39:54In this case, for hunting without a license in his possession, this hunter paid a court ordered fine of $110.
40:01What about you?
40:03Leave the bolt open.
40:04Just make sure you put it on stage.
40:06That's fine.
40:11So you didn't get any citations today, neither did she.
40:16The signs aren't up for the Ruck trespass, otherwise you guys would have all been getting citations for Ruck trespass.
40:21I know you said you trusted him, but he said he's been doing this for 30 years, doesn't make it right.
40:25Yeah, point that in the safe direction.
40:27So, like I said, just learn from this.
40:29You had your orange on, so I'll give you that.
40:31I appreciate you wearing that.
40:32But if you're going to hunt a piece of property, either make sure you know who the landowner is,
40:36or you find someone who's not going to have you go trespass on somebody else's property, okay?
40:40Do you have any questions?
40:41Nope.
40:42All right.
40:43You're all set.
40:44I'm sorry.
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