Two Manitoba residents are facing almost $14,000 dollars in fines after appearing in Swift Current Provincial Court recently.

Maurice Sala of East Selkirk and Curtis Thunder of Buffalo Point both pleaded guilty to several offences under The Wildlife Act. Sala pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of wildlife, unlawful export of wildlife and wasting wildlife, and was fined $10,960. Thunder pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of wildlife, unlawful hunting and driving off of trails in a former PFRA pasture and was fined $3,020. Both men also received two-year hunting suspensions.

On November 12, 2022, Shaunavon conservation officers received a tip, including a vehicle description, about Manitoba residents unlawfully hunting south of Cadillac. Responding officers found a mule deer buck that had been shot and left to waste.  Officers from Shaunavon, Assiniboia, Moose Jaw and Regina, along with a K9 unit worked together and located the vehicle pulling an enclosed trailer on Highway 13 west of Assiniboia.

Officers found the three vehicle occupants in possession of numerous wildlife, despite having no provincial hunting licenses. Officers arrested all three individuals and seized the trailer, along with the wildlife, hunting equipment and cell phones. Using DNA, conservation officers were also able to link the three individuals to the wasted mule deer discovered earlier. The three were charged, with Sala and Thunder ultimately pleading guilty. The third individual passed away before the matter went to court.