BRIERCREST — An investigation by the Saskatchewan Conservation Officer Service has resulted in penalties against two people for unlawful outfitting and possession of wild animals inside a game farm.
The Saskatchewan government says the investigation began in December 2023, when officers received a tip that a wild moose had been harvested inside the Hartland Whitetails game farm enclosure near Briercrest, and that wild deer were being baited into a fenced area.
A news release says three European clients went to the game farm three months earlier and the owner outfitted one of them without the required licence.
It says a wild moose and a wild mule deer were also taken to a taxidermist, where investigators found a resident moose licence seal had been improperly supplied by a Hartland Whitetails employee.
Another captive wild mule deer found inside an enclosure was euthanized and tested positive for chronic wasting disease.
The owner of Hartland Whitetails faces more than $36,000 in penalties and a five-year hunting licence suspension.
He pleaded guilty to allowing his licence to be used by another person, unlawful possession of six wild mule deer and two counts of unlawfully acting as an outfitter.
An Austrian hunt broker was convicted of aiding and abetting unlawful hunting, as well as outfitting without a licence.
He received almost $7,000 in fines and a one-year hunting licence suspension.
The Canadian Press
