2 Sask. men fined $3K for poaching, hunting offences

Two men from the Kamsack area have pleaded guilty to unlawful hunting after being turned into the province’s poacher line.

Ministry of Environment conservation officers fielded a call on Oct. 18, 2015, about hunters using spotlights to hunt at night in an area northwest of Kamsack.  

A few nights later, officers on patrol in the same area observed people in a vehicle shining a spotlight in a field.

The conservation officers stopped the vehicle. The two men reportedly claimed they were exercising their Treaty right to hunt for food. The Ministry of Environment said an investigation determined the men were also hunting on private land without permission.

Anyone using Treaty hunting rights must get landowner permission to hunt on private or Crown land. Saskatchewan also bans the use of a spotlight, except on First Nations.

Kevin Badger, 35, and Mathew Dubois, 29, both of the Cote First Nation, pleaded guilty to unlawful hunting and for illegally using a spotlight to hunt. They were each fined $1,500. Their firearms, ammunition and spotlights were forfeited to the Crown.

Anyone who suspects wildlife violations is asked to call the Ministry of Environment office or Saskatchewan’s toll-free Turn In Poachers line at 1-899-667-7561.