The Minnesota DNR conservation officer phone number depends on why you’re calling. To report poaching or another game and fish violation, call the Turn In Poachers (TIP) line at 800-652-9093, which is staffed 24 hours a day. For non-emergency questions or to be routed to the officer assigned to your area, call the DNR Information Center at 888-646-6367 (also listed as 888-MINNDNR) or 651-296-6157. From a cell phone, you can also dial #TIP to reach the poaching hotline.
Which Number to Call
Minnesota routes most wildlife and natural resource calls through a small set of numbers. Pick based on urgency and whether you need enforcement or information.
- Turn In Poachers (TIP) line, 800-652-9093. Use this for poaching, illegal harvest, and any other game and fish violation, whether it’s happening now or already happened. It runs around the clock. You can also key #TIP from a cell phone.
- DNR Information Center, 888-646-6367 or 651-296-6157. Use this for regulation and permit questions, or to ask the DNR to connect you with the conservation officer who patrols your area.
- 911. If a life is in danger or a violent crime is in progress on state land, call 911 first. Conservation officers are licensed peace officers, but dispatch will send whoever can get there fastest.
The TIP line is the right choice for almost any violation. The Information Center is better when nothing needs to be enforced and you just want an answer about a season, boundary, or rule.1Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Contact the Minnesota DNR
Finding the Officer Assigned to Your Area
Every conservation officer covers a specific patrol area, and the DNR publishes an interactive map that lets you look up yours. On the Conservation Officer Patrol Areas page, enter a city or ZIP code and the map zooms in. Patrol areas show in red; click one to see contact information for the officer who covers it.2Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Conservation Officer Patrol Areas
This is most useful for non-emergency questions aimed at a specific officer, such as regulations on a particular lake or clarification on hunting boundaries in your county. If the map doesn’t give you what you need, the Information Center at 888-646-6367 can connect you.1Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Contact the Minnesota DNR
Reporting Online or Through the App
If you’d rather not call, the DNR takes tips through the tip411 online form and the MNTip app. When you submit an online tip, the system generates a six-digit anonymous ID code. Save it. You can log back in within 24 hours to see whether the assigned officer has follow-up questions, and answer them without giving up your identity.3Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Turn in Poachers (TIP) in Minnesota
The form asks for the county and nearest town, the identity of the violator if you know it, and whether an officer may contact you. The DNR notes that for full anonymity you should use the phone line or the MNTip app rather than the web form, since the form includes optional contact fields.3Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Turn in Poachers (TIP) in Minnesota
What to Have Ready Before You Call
The quality of your report affects how quickly an officer can act on it. Location is the single most important detail. GPS coordinates are best, but a county, nearest town, road intersection, or a clear landmark like a boat landing or trail marker will work. Without a location, even a good tip is hard to follow up.
Note the time of day, how long the activity lasted, and what you actually saw. “Someone was netting fish” is less useful than “two people were gill-netting walleye from a boat near the public landing on Lake X around 7 p.m.” If you can safely observe details about the people, vehicles, or boats, include those too, along with any license plate or registration numbers.
Identify the species if you can. An officer heading out to an illegal deer harvest brings different equipment than one investigating dumped hazardous materials. You don’t need to be certain; your best description is enough.
What Happens After You Report
Once a report is in the system, an officer reviews it and decides whether to go out. Active violations reported through the TIP line can draw a quick response, since officers patrol state lands and waterways daily. For tips about past activity, the officer may inspect the scene for physical evidence such as biological remains, tire tracks, or abandoned equipment.
If you reported through tip411, check back with your anonymous code within 24 hours. Officers sometimes post questions in the same system asking for clarification on locations or descriptions.3Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Turn in Poachers (TIP) in Minnesota
Tips that lead to an arrest may qualify you for a reward of up to $1,000. An impartial panel sets the amount based on the seriousness of the violation. You remain eligible even if you reported anonymously; the TIP program is built to keep your identity separate from the enforcement process.