MANITOBA CONSERVATION OFFICER RESOURCE ENFORCEMENT UPDATE - May 28, 2021

Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development advises that conservation officers are continuing enforcement to protect Manitoba’s natural resources including compliance checks for fisheries, addressing illegal hunting, and supporting wildfire prevention and suppression.

On Dec. 11, 2020, conservation officers in the RM of Boissevain-Morton received complaints that two individuals following a herd of elk with their truck were observed to enter multiple pieces of private property. Witnesses observed one of the individuals take multiple shots, hitting two elk in the herd. When conservation officers arrived on scene, the two individuals were actively field dressing a cow elk that had been dragged to the edge of a privately owned field, and claimed that they had only shot and killed one elk. Upon further investigation, conservation officers located a second dead bull elk approximately 250 metres from where it had been shot. It was apparent that no attempt had been made to retrieve or search for the second elk that had been shot.

Two individuals, one from St. Malo, Man. and one from Bonnyville, Alta., have each been charged with hunting on private land without permission, failing to retrieve a killed or injured big game animal or game bird, and abandoning, wasting and spoiling edible portions of a big game animal or game bird.

Conservation officers also continue to work closely with their colleagues at the Manitoba Wildfire Service. This includes enforcement of fire bans, travel restrictions, fire investigations and assistance on fire suppression. For information on the status of fires, maps, travel restrictions, burning permit cancellations or other restrictions go to www.gov.mb.ca/wildfire/  or follow the Twitter account at https://twitter.com/mbgovnews.

Manitoba’s recreational angling and hunting regulations can be found in both the Anglers’ Guide and Hunting Guide. Both documents can be found at www.gov.mb.ca/fish-wildlife/.