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| Release Date: |
October 16, 2007 |
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| Offence Date: |
September 29, 2007 |
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| Item: |
Use of toxic shot, exceed daily bag limit and abandon game bird |
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| Description: |
During the early evening hours of
September 28, 2007 a Riverton NRO
patrolled fields in search of large
numbers of geese that migratory bird
hunters may frequent the next morning.
One particular field north of Arnes held
hundreds of Canada Geese.
Shortly after 5:00 a.m. September 29,
2007 Riverton officers observed hunters
setting up in this field.
The officers traveled by truck then ATV
then finally walking to an area where
they could conceal themselves while
observing the hunters.
As the officers watched the geese fly
into the group's decoys they could
easily see the 7 hunters sit up in their
blinds, shoot and watch the birds fall
from the sky. There was no shortage of
shooting opportunities as flock after
flock came into their decoys.
Approximately 1 hour into the hunt, 3 of
the hunters gathered up a quantity of
geese and walked out of the field. They
dropped the geese off in a nearby area
of tall, wild grass. These persons
returned to their decoys and continued
hunting.
As the officers later drove up to the
hunters, one was observed running around
and picking up items off the ground.
These items were stuffed into his
jacket. The officer approached him
first and found that his pockets were
full of empty lead shot boxes and a
quantity of live rounds of lead shot.
The group was asked to pile all of their
geese so that an accurate count could be
made. This pile contained 13 Canada
Geese and one Snow Goose.
The hunters were asked 3 times as to
whether or not they had more and they
denied that they did. The officers
confirmed that the geese discarded in a
nearby field added up to 27 Canada
Geese. One of the hunters was overheard
saying “I think they found our geese.”
The group was in complete disbelief that
their entire hunt had been monitored by
the officers. They basically threw up
their hands and said “You got us”.
They were charged as a group and all of
their shotguns and geese were seized as
evidence.
On October 15, 2007 Kraig Ketter, Neil
Woodard, Gerald Woodard, Nathan Woodard,
Shawn Woodard and Michael Woodard; all
of Frazee, Minnesota appeared before a
Provincial Court Judge. They pled
guilty and a total of $5100 in fines was
assessed. Each person also received a
one year suspension of migratory game
bird hunting privileges in Canada.
Note: those fines were in Canadian Dollars!
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