WEYBURN, Sask. – Three men have been fined a total of $14,600 for illegally hunting deer, moose and pheasants in Saskatchewan.
Two of the men pleaded guilty to a number of hunting-related infractions in Weyburn Provincial Court earlier this month.
During an investigation, conservation officers found one man had unlawfully shot multiple animals around Weyburn, Sask. in 2013. Another man disposed of the carcasses and was in possession of illegally-taken wildlife.
Forty-year-old Roger Brenton, from Macklin,Sask. was fined $8,360 for unlawfully hunting moose and white-tailed deer, exceeding possession of pheasants, shooting from a road at night and not having a hunter’s safety couse. He is also suspended from hunting for three years.
Zach Payne, 32, from Ignace, Ont. received a $2,800 fine for aiding and abetting Brenton. Payne received one-year hunting suspension.
At an earlier court date, Dave Bessette, 27, from Weyburn, pleaded guilty to possession of illegally taken wildlife and one count of aiding and abetting Brenton with unlawful harvest of moose and white tailed deer.
Bessette was fined $3,500 and also received a one-year hunting suspension.
In addition to the suspensions in Saskatchewan, the three men are also not allowed to hunt in Alberta, Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
A gun used in the hunting offences and the meat seized was forfeited to the Crown. The meat will be donated to a local food bank.