It's the slow season for Conservation Police Officers around the area.

During the times when they are not as busy, Officer Ray Wichus says while the major hunting seasons are all but complete for the year, they still do have hunters out for some of the less popular seasons. He says this will occupy a little bit of their time, but not nearly as much as muzzle-loader, firearm, and archery deer seasons, leaving them time to do follow ups from those seasons.

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Maybe the most common complaint received by DNR Officers are 'hunting without permission'. Wichus explains the complaints they can only follow up on are complaints from the owner of the property. Wichus notes, in some circumstances, the property owner can even dictate if the hunter will receive a warner or citation.

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While it is not a complaint, DNR CPOs will investigate 'point of sales' on their permits. Wichus explains they may have a case of a hunter purchasing a permit and then checking a deer in five minutes after the purchase. He say they will look into those cases to see if they were hunting without a permit, shot a deer, and then purchased a permit before checking it in.

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Wichus says when not many hunters are out, they can begin to follow up on some of the complaints they have. With not many Officers in Central Illinois, he says they may not get to all the complaints they have, but they try to get to as many as possible, especially before spring months because things begin to pick up around that time again.