Sask. big game outfitter admits illegal hunting of wild deer, moose

An investigation has found a Saskatchewan outfitting company was luring wild deer into its enclosure for clients to illegally hunt.

Allen Morhart, the owner of Hartland Whitetails Ltd., has pleaded guilty to four charges connected to illegal outfitting, after an investigation that started in 2023.

A news release from the provincial government said that Moose Jaw conservation officers received a report in late 2023 that a wild moose had been harvested inside Hartland's game farm enclosure near Briercrest, Sask., and that wild deer were being baited into the fenced area. Briercrest is about 55 kilometres southwest of Regina.

The ensuing investigation took a year and a half, and found that three European clients attended Hartland's game farm in September 2023. The news release said Morhart outfitted one client without the required licence, which led to the illegal killing of a wild moose and a wild mule deer.

The two animals were taken to a taxidermist, where investigators "found a Saskatchewan resident moose licence seal had been improperly supplied by an employee of Hartland Whitetails Ltd.," the news release said.

An agreed statement of facts between Morhart and the Crown said deer were being baited into the enclosure and that a wild moose had entered the fence, which was never reported.

A captive wild mule deer found inside a second Hartland enclosure was euthanized and tested positive for chronic wasting disease, the news release said.

Morhart pleaded guilty last month to unlawfully acting as an outfitter for a moose and a deer, allowing his licence to be used by another person and unlawfully possessing six wild mule deer.

The fines total more than $35,000, and Morhart's hunting licence is suspended for five years.

Erich Mueller, an Austrian hunt broker, was also convicted of aiding and abetting unlawful hunting and outfitting without a licence, in connection to the same offences. He was fined more than $6,000 and handed a one-year hunting licence suspension.