Minnesota man admits killing 500-pound bear out of season in his backyard

A central Minnesota man who shot and killed a trophy-sized bear out of season behind his home has been sentenced to probation and stripped of his hunting privileges for three years in the state and throughout much of the country.

Michael J. Thielen, 42, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Morrison County District Court to taking and possessing big game out of season — a gross misdemeanor — after killing the bear on July 28, 2021, in his backyard about 5 miles east of Little Falls on Hwy. 27.

Besides serving two years of probation, Thielen was ordered to pay $800 in restitution and $685 in fines and fees.

Judge Leonard Weiler set aside a one-year jail term and dismissed several other counts against Thielen: gross misdemeanor using lights while hunting and misdemeanor counts of wanton waste of a wild animal, hunting without a license, using bait without a license and baiting bears.

Thielen's loss of his hunting privileges extends beyond Minnesota to every state except Massachusetts and Hawaii, according to the National Association of Conservation Law Enforcement Chiefs.

"Minnesota is part of the [association's] Interstate Wildlife Violators Compact, which means he loses privileges in all the other compact states as well," said Joe Albert, a spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Also, the DNR will retain possession of the rifle Thielen used to kill the 500-pound black bear. Assistant County Attorney Elizabeth Ziebarth said the department will auction off the rifle and Thielen would be allowed to bid on it. Ziebarth said the DNR estimated its value at $700 to $800.

Thielen declined Thursday to comment about his agreement to plead guilty and sentence. In an interview with the Star Tribune when he was charged last summer, Thielen said he twice asked the DNR to help him with the bear, explaining that it was killing the ducks and chickens on his property and had caused $2,500 in damage.

According to the criminal complaint:

In early September 2021, the DNR received two anonymous tips that Thielen had shot a bear out of season several weeks earlier. One tipster said Thielen had posted a photo of the bear on Facebook on Sept. 3, 16 days after he bought a resident's surplus bear license.

Thielen told DNR conservation officers that he shot the bear in his illuminated backyard about 1 a.m. before bear hunting season had begun in September.

He wrapped the bear in plastic, went to work and returned about 9:30 a.m. to find it covered in bees. He still managed to get 50 to 60 pounds of meat off the animal "before it became full of maggots." Thielen said he used a skid steer to hoist what was left of the bear into a dumpster, but first he placed the skull outside "to allow the insects to clean it."

After the DNR seized the skull, the agency determined through the authoritative Boone and Crockett scoring system that the bear was considered to be a trophy.