Zimmerman Hunter Pleads Guilty to Poaching 13 Deer

SHERBURNE COUNTY - A Zimmerman man has pled guilty to a 2014 case of illegally taking multiple deer from the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge.

On November 1st, 2014, a Minnesota DNR officer found Michael Walz, his wife and their daughter in the Refuge with a recently illegally killed 6-point buck.

The officer then travelled to their home, where he found six mounted deer on the wall and seven antlered wall plaques. Walz then confessed to killing and transporting all 13 deer illegally. He also said that his wife, daughter and father were not with him when he shot any of the deer.

Walz was charged in Sherburne County Court with two counts of transporting illegally taken big game and two counts of soliciting/borrowing the big game hunting license of another person.

Walz was placed on two years probation and received 80 hours of community service. He also cannot enter the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge or Sand Dunes State Forest and had his Minnesota big game hunting privileges revoked for three years.

He was also ordered to write a public apology in Minnesota Outdoor News.