Joshua Loining, a DNR game warden in Barron County, was checking skins and paperwork at a local taxidermy shop when he came across two otter skins, each with two holes in it. Loining suspected the holes were made by bullets.
The taxidermy was in Barron County, but the otters were caught in Washburn County by a county resident. Loining’s plan was to work with Jon Hagen, a DNR supervisor stationed in Washburn County.