DNR: Four Men Charged Following Deer Poaching Investigation

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – DNR officials said four men face charges following a five-year investigation that ended with 37 guns and 28 deer antler sets being seized.

Authorities say the guns and antlers were taken last October after conservation officers executed a search warrant at a home in Dawson belonging to 37-year-old Joshua Liebl. They also searched Liebl's pickup truck after he was pulled over near his home.

At the home, officers seized 37 guns and 28 deer antler sets, including 11 shoulder mounts. They also found four sets of elk antlers, one set of mule deer antlers and a fully intact and untagged piebald deer in a freezer.

In the truck, they found a freshly killed eight-point whitetail buck along with shining equipment, guns and ammunition.

Liebl has only registered four deer since 2004, DNR officials said. Also, his hunting privileges had been revoked following a deer shining conviction in South Dakota in 2013.

Liebl is now charged with transporting illegally taken big game, use of an artificial light to take deer, hunting during a prohibited time, trespassing, and two counts of failing to register deer.

His truck was seized during the investigation, DNR officials said. It will be auctioned off, with the proceeds going to the department's Game and Fish Fund.

The DNR said that evidence in the truck led to charges being filed against three other men: Kevin Martinson, 58, of Plymouth; Nate Viesman, 32, of Watson; and Daniel Lien, 33, also of Dawson.

Martinson is charged with illegally borrowing/lending a deer license. Viesman faces charges of illegally borrowing/lending a deer license, being over the deer limit and failing to register deer. Lien is charged with aiding and abetting illegal transportation of big game. He was in the truck when Liebl was pulled over.

The DNR said the investigation was the result of many Turn In Poachers (TIP) complaints from the public.

You can make a TIP complaint by calling 800-652-9093.