Manitoba residents fined almost $14,000 after hunting offence near Cadillac

Two Manitoba men were handed hunting suspensions and fines totalling $13,980 in Swift Current Provincial Court recently.

On November 29, 2023, 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, about 65 kilometres south of Swift Current. Responding officers located a mule deer buck that had been shot and left to waste. Working together, officers from Shaunavon,

Assiniboia, Moose Jaw and Regina, along with a K9 unit, quickly 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 was concluded in court.