Never in my life, or any stories I have ever heard of. The DNR warden do not go looking for deer or hunters before dawn. Any body will know that walking in the wood is death man walking.
Another reason is why would the warden take him walking around the forest? No DNR warden has ever taken me else where.
DNR game wardens have the same authority as peace officers (police). As long as they are on duty, as long as it's within their jurisdiction, they can approach whomever they want and when they want. FYI, if any of you don't know yet, in order to be considered for game warden employment, you need to have the POST which is the same thing city police officers have to test.
First thing is first: the warden stated to Kong Peng the reason that he was approached that morning is because his stand was pre-installed before hunting day is illegal in Minnesota. Kong Peng even acknowledges and admits that he did have his stand up before opener. In these cases, this is how the warden issues citations. They see an illegal stand, note the location, and return at a time when the owner of the illegal stand is most likely to be present (this would be the morning of opening day).
Here's the thing. Kong Peng stated that complying with the warden and getting down from the stand, he snuck the walkie-talkie and quickly radioed his party, most likely in Hmong, that "There is someone here so I am getting off my stand." Imagine you are that warden and a Hmong person sneakily radios in a language you don't understand. What will your reaction be? Of course he is thinking "Oh shit....could he be planning to harm me with other people?"
I am going to be honest and say I would think that too, if I was a white warden and some guy I am checking up on just radios a message in a different language. It's not being racist or insensitive. It's called a dangerous line of work. Everyone you deal with has a tool for hunting which can turn into a deadly weapon in 1/60th of a second.
This is just another case of shit gone wrong because of cultural barriers and misunderstandi
ngs. It sucks because this is what it turns into; accusations of racism and further misunderstandi
ngs (example: Kong Peng: "...he let his dog loose so that if I shot it, he would have reason to shoot me."). The adrenaline, the fear, the unknown, just makes the shit get worse, and worse, and worse. I'm sure the warden just wished it was just a typical citation as well.