At least four individuals who have filed verified claims to receive compensation from the state of Wisconsin for hunting dogs killed by wolves had prior criminal convictions for hunting-related offenses. These payments, as well as those to individuals with less serious hunting-related forfeitures, are legal.
The four convicted criminals are:
Josh K. Schlosser, 31, of Oconto: 2009 misdemeanor conviction for killing a bear without a license; was fined $2,108 and had his DNR hunting privileges revoked for three years. Filed a claim seeking $4,500 for the death of a hound in 2011; received the maximum $2,500.
The state Department of Natural Resources is now investigating whether Schlosser was hunting without a license in 2011. Schlosser, in an interview, said his wife was doing the hunting when the hound was killed, adding of the DNR, “There’s not a damn thing they can do.”
Rickey J. Nelson, 49, of Loyal, in Clark County: 2002 misdemeanor conviction for killing a bear without a license; he was fined $2,064 and lost his DNR privileges for three years. Nelson also had prior misdemeanor convictions for trapping during closed season and without a license and possessing a deer during closed season, for which he was fined $2,860.
The state has paid Nelson $2,500 for each of two dogs — one killed in 2009, the other in 2012. Nelson said his prior violations “had nothing to do with getting paid on a dog that the goddamn wolves come and killed.”
Kenneth F. Strobl, 66, of Catawba, in Price County: 2003 misdemeanor convictions on one count of killing a bear without a license and one count of unlawful sale of animal parts. Strobl was originally charged with illegally killing two bears and selling 30 bear gall bladders to an undercover conservation warden. He was fined $2,749 and had lost DNR privileges for five years.
Strobl received $2,000 for a hunting dog killed in 2011. He declined comment.
Brandon M. True, 43, of Gillett, in Oconto County: 2009 misdemeanor conviction for being party to killing a bear without a license; he was fined $1,000 and lost hunting privileges for one year.
True is in line to get $2,500 for a dog killed in 2013. He noted, correctly, that this occurred in an area not flagged as a wolf danger zone until afterward. True called the state’s wolf population “out of control.”
— Bill Lueder, Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
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