A 17-year-old was arrested by Manitoba Conservation and Climate officers for illegal night hunting Friday.
Just before midnight on Nov. 27, officers, with support from an aerial patrol, noticed a vehicle shining its headlights across a field in the Mars Hills area northwest of Beausejour.
They watched as it repeated its tactic and were able to intercept on Provincial Trunk Highway 11.
A GMC truck, two rifles, ammunition and a whitetail deer head were seized.
The teen was given an appearance notice and released to a parent.
Since Oct. 10, conservation officers have conducted patrols to enforce Manitoba’s new Wildlife Amendment Act (Safe Hunting and Shared Management), resulting in:
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• charges or appearance notices to 45 individuals for serious wildlife offences;
• warnings to 19 individuals for night hunting without a permit or for hunting in a moose conservation closure;
• charges to 11 individuals for possessing illegally taken wildlife;
• seizures of nine vehicles;
• seizures of 18 firearms, and;
• restitution orders totaling $20,500.
The act took effect on Oct. 10 with the goal of ensuring a safe hunting environment.
The act also allows the creation of shared management committees, which is an important tool for improved wildlife conservation, including for moose.
In Manitoba, night hunting is now illegal on all private land.
The province has also imposed a permit system allowing 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.
Indigenous hunters can hunt at night on Crown land in northern Manitoba.
Night hunting is prohibited in southern Manitoba as well, except with a permit that allows rights-based hunting on Crown land, subject to terms and conditions establishing where it can be done safely.
While Indigenous hunters don’t need to apply for a permit, it’s subject to a three-kilometre safety buffer around occupied sites and provincial roadways.
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