More than $50,000 in fines have been levied after an investigation into unsafe hunting practices connected to a lodge north of Red Lake.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry on Friday announced six individuals and one business — Geary's Sportsman's Lodge — had pleaded guilty to charges relating to illegal and unsafe moose hunting.
The ministry said evidence was gathered over a 21-month period as part of a joint investigation with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
In October 2019, a conservation officer stopped two of the individuals on Highway 105 south of Red Lake. It was determined they were hunting at Geary's Sportsman's Lodge, and that the moose was shot from a boat and in the wrong wildlife management unit.
A subsequent investigation into hunting practices at the lodge between 2017 and 2019 was launched, which led Ontario conservation officers and U.S. fish and wildlife agents to determine that several moose had been shot at from boats while hunters were being guided.
The lodge was fined $24,000, while fines for the individuals ranged from $1,000 to $10,000. Four of the individuals, who were from Minnesota, were issued hunting suspensions ranging from two to seven years.
In addition to the fines, victim surcharge fines amounting to more than $12,000 were also charged.
The cases were heard by various justices of the peace sitting with the Ontario Court of Justice in Red Lake.
