November 16, 2020
Manitoba Conservation and Climate Enforcement Update
– – –Continued Enforcement Against Illegal Hunting
Manitoba Conservation and Climate advises that conservation officers are continuing enforcement against illegal night hunting and illegal hunting in moose conservation closure areas. On Nov. 15, conservation officers in the Dauphin area conducted an operation with a decoy white-tailed deer on private land.
Conservation officers observed a truck pull up to the location of the decoy and a shot was fired from the truck. The truck was stopped without incident and the passenger, from Ebb and Flow First Nation, was charged with hunting on private land without permission, and discharging a loaded firearm from a vehicle and a rifle was seized.
On Nov. 15, aircraft patrol in the Interlake region observed a vehicle night hunting in the Fraserwood area. Officers on the ground were able to locate the vehicle, which contained a loaded firearm, in a yard. Charges are currently pending against the vehicle owner for a having a loaded firearm in a vehicle and unsafe storage of a firearm in a vehicle.
Since Oct. 10, conservation officers have conducted patrols to enforce Manitoba’s new Wildlife Amendment Act (Safe Hunting and Shared Management), resulting in:
• charges or appearance notices to 27 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 four individuals for possessing illegally taken wildlife,
• seizures of six vehicles,
• seizures of 13 firearms, and
• restitution orders totalling $14,000.
On Oct. 10, 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.
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