NEWS RELEASE
MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES
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Four northeastern Ontario men have been fined a total of $10,000 for an illegal night hunt.
Denis Gendreau, Michel Gendreau and Bobby Raymond, of Kapuskasing, and Yvon Fortin of Moonbeam, each pleaded guilty to offences contrary to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act.
Each man was fined $2,000 for night hunting and an additional $500 for possessing illegally killed wildlife.
Each man was also banned from hunting for two years.
The court ordered permanent forfeiture of two hunting rifles and an illegally killed deer.
A seized eight-wheel amphibious all-terrain vehicle (ATV) and a side-by-side ATV were ordered to be returned once all fines are paid.
Court heard that during the opening week of the deer hunting season in Wildlife Management Unit 10 in the rural area west of Fort Frances, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry conservation officers and two specially trained ministry pilots tracked down individuals targeting deer at night.
In the early hours of November 8, 2013, officers spotted suspected jacklighting in Dewart Township north of Stratton.
Officers moved in and intercepted four individuals coming out of a wooded area on two ATVs.
Both vehicles were equipped with high intensity spot-lamps.
The amphibious ATV also had a custom-made tower affixed to its roof in which a person could stand and look for game.
The tower was rigged with a signaling light that could be used to alert the vehicle’s driver when game was spotted.
When stopped by the officers, both the person in the tower and a passenger riding in the amphibious ATV were found with uncased rifles that had flashlights taped to their barrels.
A freshly killed deer was recovered from the back of the vehicle.
Denis Gendreau, Michel Gendreau, Raymond and Fortin were arrested at the scene.
Both the amphibious and the side-by-side ATVs were seized along with three hunting rifles and associated hunting gear.
Justice of the Peace Bernard Caron heard the case in the Ontario Court of Justice, Thunder Bay, on October 8, 2014.
For further information on hunting regulations, please consult the Ontario Hunting Regulations Summary available at ontario.ca/hunting.
To report a natural resources violation, call the MNRF TIPS line at 1-877-847-7667 toll-free any time or contact your local ministry office during regular business hours.
You can also call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
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