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Four Manitoba men are facing $4,000 in fines after pleading guilty to night hunting with a spotlight near Glenboro, Man., in December 2016. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
Manitoba men caught spotlight hunting fined thousands, lose hunting gear
Conservation officers and police used air surveillance to catch hunters
CBC News Posted: Feb 09, 2018 12:08 PM CT Last Updated: Feb 09, 2018 12:08 PM CT
Four Manitoba men have been fined thousands of dollars after being caught using a spotlight to hunt at night in southwestern Manitoba over a year ago.
With the help of aircraft surveillance, Manitoba Conservation officers and police caught the four men "spotlighting" on Dec. 12, 2016.
* What does it take to catch a night hunter?
The practice sees hunters shine a powerful and focused artificial light into the eyes of animals such as moose, elk and deer, causing the prey to stop moving and therefore making it easier for them to be killed.
This photo shows the aerial surveillance of the four hunters using a spotlight to hunt at night near Glenboro, Man., in December 2016. (Submitted by Manitoba Sustainable Development)
A news release from Manitoba Sustainable Development Friday says officials were responding to numerous complaints of night hunting in the area when they spotted the hunters in a pickup truck on a municipal road near Glenboro, Man., shortly before 2:30 a.m.
Officers followed the truck from the air and watched as a spotlight was used a number of times to light up a privately owned field in an area very near to homes.
When officers on the ground tried to stop the vehicle, it sped off, but the driver lost control of the truck after a short chase and ended up stuck in a ditch.
The four men were arrested at the scene.
Three men from Portage la Prairie, Man. — ages 25, 31 and 44 — and a 34-year-old man from Sandy Bay, Man., pleaded guilty Oct. 30, 2017 to hunting vertebrate animals at night with lights.
The four men face fines totalling $4,000. A 1995 Chevrolet Silverado and various hunting equipment, including a rifle, were seized and forfeited as part of the investigation.
Indigenous people with Indian status have the right to hunt for sustenance purposes throughout the province, including hunting at night, provided those areas don't have any restrictions.
Spotlighting is illegal in many provinces, but is technically legal for Indigenous people in Manitoba on Crown lands or on private land where they have the right of access. Last fall, however, Manitoba Metis Federation members voted to ban spotlighting.
* Manitoba Metis Federation bans spotlighting
* Respecting treaty rights: Night hunting lessons from former Saskatchewan legislator
Spotlighting became a flashpoint of controversy after reports of spotlighting near farms in February 2016. In January 2017, Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister came under fire for saying divisions between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people over hunting at night were "becoming a race war."
The Manitoba Wildlife Federation's Nigh####ch campaign has called on the provincial government to ban spotlighting altogether and work with hunters to create a new hunting policy that is safe and sustainable.
* Night hunting 'becoming a race war,' says Premier Brian Pallister
* Night hunting debate delivers Manitoba reeves to minister's door
* Manitoba to step up enforcement after huge increase in night, dangerous hunting
* Night hunting practice of spotlighting has 'got to end,' says Manitoba Wildlife Federation
* Manitoba Wildlife Federation takes aim at nighttime hunting
* Night hunting practice of spotlighting has 'got to end,' says Manitoba Wildlife Federation
* Manitoba cracks down on illegal night hunting, arrests 7 people
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Four Manitoba men fined for using spotlight during night hunt
The Canadian Press
February 9, 2018 - 1:09 PM EST
CARBERRY, Man. — Manitoba Sustainable Development says four men have been fined thousands of dollars for using a spotlight to hunt at night.
Their hunting gear and vehicle were also seized.
Officials say the men were arrested in December 2016 in the Carberry area of southwestern Manitoba following numerous complaints of night-hunting.
An aerial-assisted patrol by police and more than a dozen conservation officers observed the men using a spotlight several times to light up a privately owned field.
The men tried to flee when officers on the ground moved in, but were arrested after their vehicle got stuck in a ditch.
The suspects pleaded guilty last October and have been fined a total of $4,000.
They are Mitchel Mousseau, 34, of Sandy Bay and Joshua Roulette, 25; Joseph Spence, 31; and Baron Kakewash, 44 — all from Portage la Prairie.
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