Continued Enforcement Against Illegal Hunting
Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development advises that conservation officers are continuing enforcement against illegal night hunting and illegal hunting in moose conservation closure areas.
On Dec. 20, 2020, conservation officers in the Ashville area heard rifle shots and encountered a truck exiting a field with three occupants. Officers stopped the vehicle and a female passenger indicated they were hunting and that she had shot at some elk in the field. Officers located two dead bull elk in the field. Through an investigation, it was discovered the occupants of the truck did not have permission to hunt on the property. The female, from Grandview, was charged for hunting on private land without permission, fail to notch the game tag immediately after killing the elk, and killing a greater number of species than permitted. Her fines totalled $2,268 and restitution of $7,500 was applied.
On Jan. 8, conservation officers received a call at the Pine Falls office from a member of the public to report a possible incident of moose poaching in GHA 26. While attending the location indicated by the caller, officers spotted a truck in the area with a tarp covering the contents of the truck box. Officers stopped the vehicle and noted a moose was located under the tarp. Through an investigation, it was determined the moose had been shot inside the closure area and then dragged out of the area with the truck and gutted on a roadway. All three occupants of the vehicle are from Fort Alexander and were charged under the Moose Conservation Closure Regulation and for possessing illegally taken wildlife. The moose was donated to elders in a nearby First Nation. Restitution notices were serviced totalling $6,000 for the illegally harvested moose.
Conservation Officers continue to conduct patrols to enforce Manitoba’s new Wildlife Amendment Act (Safe Hunting and Shared Management), resulting in:
• the issuance of 50 Serious Wildlife Offences to 39 individuals,
• warnings issued to 19 individuals for night hunting without a permit or for hunting in a moose conservation closure,
• charges issued to 14 individuals for possessing illegally taken wildlife,
• seizures of 10 vehicles,
• seizures of 20 firearms, and
• Serious wildlife offence restitution orders totalling $29,000.
All fish and wildlife restitution orders handed out from April 1, 2020, total $164,854.
On Oct. 10, 20 20, the Wildlife Amendment Act (Safe Hunting and Shared Management) took effect with the goal of ensuring a safe hunting environment. Night hunting is now illegal in Manitoba on all private land. The act also allows the establishment of shared management committees, which can be an important tool for improved wildlife conservation including for moose.
The province has implemented a permit system to allow opportunities for rights-based hunting on some Crown land, with different requirements for northern and southern Manitoba based on extensive Crown-Indigenous consultations that contributed to the development of the legislation.
In northern Manitoba, Indigenous hunters may hunt at night on Crown land and do not need to apply for a permit, though it is subject to a three-kilometre safety buffer around occupied sites and provincial roadways.
In southern Manitoba, night hunting is prohibited except with a permit that allows rights-based hunting on Crown land, subject to terms and conditions establishing where it can be done safely.
Anyone with information on illegal activities is asked to call their local Manitoba Conservation and Climate office or the Turn In Poachers (TIP) line at 1-800-782-0076.
Source : Manitoba