Illegal outfitting investigation nets more than $71,000 in fines for four men

A two-and-a-half year investigation into illegal outfitting activities has resulted in more than $71,000 in fines and five-year court orders for four men from the North Battleford area.

In October 2013, a hunter in the Hazlet area came across three men in a truck — two from Saskatchewan and one from Texas. Sensing something fishy, he eventually reported the encounter to a conservation officer in Spiritwood a week later, who then reported it to a conservation officer in Leader.

Leader conservation officers conducted a patrol in the Hazlet area and found two vehicles, with each vehicle containing two of the accused — Charles Meechance, Gerald Meechance, Neal Meechance and Steven Pritchard.

“At the time there were no hunters with them, but there was blood in the back of the truck,” said Kevin Harrison, a conservation officer with the Ministry of Environment.

A few days later, the accused applied for a permit to export a set of mule deer antlers they claimed came from Red Pheasant First Nation. The request was granted because at the time there was no evidence to suggest anything illegal had transpired, said Harrison. However, he said that a few days after that, the conservation officers noticed the same mule deer buck on a Facebook page with some corrals in the background of the photo. The officers located the corrals quite a ways away from Red Pheasant First Nation, leading them to believe the men had lied.

An investigation followed which included Saskatchewan Conservation officers from Leader, Spiritwood, North Battleford and the Ministry of Environment’s Investigation Unit. Charges were laid against the four accused in October 2016, and later one pleaded guilty and three were found guilty of illegally outfitting and guiding two hunters from Wisconsin.

They were assisted by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Wisconsin Conservation Officer Service and the two American clients who were interviewed as witnesses. U.S. counterparts were involved on and off from February 2015 until the end of the investigation. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducted a search warrant in a Wisconsin residence and interviewed the clients as part of the investigation.

“At the time we did not know if they were aware,” said Harrison about the American clients. “But in the end it turned out they did know.”

But the names of the pair from Wisconsin cannot be released because they were never charged, said Harrison. The antlers were sent to a university in Ontario for forensic analysis and identified as mule deer buck antlers.

According to a Ministry of Environment press release, Charles Meechance, 59, pleaded guilty to unlawfully acting as a guide, unlawful hunting and providing false information. He was fined $10,920 and was issued a five-year court order restricting him from being in the company of anyone involved in any aspect of hunting other than on First Nations land. He must also provide information on animals killed while outfitting to the Ministry of Environment, ensure all clients attend a Ministry of Environment office in person and swear an affidavit that all information regarding the hunt is true and obtain an export permit for every animal hunted by his or her client.

The other three accused stood trial on May 18 in Leader Provincial Court. Gerald Meechance, 37, Neal Meechance, 43, and Steven Pritchard were found guilty of unlawfully acting as guides, aiding and abetting, providing false information and falsifying an export permit. Gerald was fined $33,800, Neal was fined $15,820 and Pritchard was fined $10,920. They were issued the same five-year court order, with one extra condition — to not be in any vehicle in which there is an unencased firearm except on First Nations land in Saskatchewan or in the company of another treaty person hunting for subsistence.