DNR tags 'chronic poacher' for illegal bear hunting

A Minnesota bear guide faces significant fines after pleading guilty in Cook and Faribault County courts to illegally hunting bear, deer and other animals, state natural resources officials said Thursday.

Brandon R. Greeley, 28, a resident of Blue Earth, Minn., and licensed bear guide in Tofte, Minn., is "well known to DNR conservation officers in northern and southern Minnesota as a chronic poacher with previous fishing, trapping and hunting violations," the state Department of Natural Resources said in a statement.

The DNR said when it began investigating Greeley in 2012, "it became apparent that he violated game laws involving bear, deer, furbearing animals and fish. Greeley's illegal activities with clients included reports of not having the proper zone license to hunt bear in a given area, illegally transferring a bear tag, failure to register a bear, and lending a bear license."

Greeley, who was also accused of shooting two bears in 2012 without a license and using a client's bear tag, has been convicted of several gross misdemeanor and misdemeanor charges, fined nearly $4,000, and had his hunting privileges revoked for three years, the department said.