Man charged in illegal bison-hunt scheme

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This article was published 17/10/2024 (416 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man is facing charges after he allegedly posted an online ad to hunt bison that didn’t belong to him and were later shot and taken away.

Russell RCMP were contacted Monday afternoon after six bison were shot and removed from a farm property in the Rural Municipality of Russell-Binscarth.

The landowner told officers he noticed the locks to the gates of a pasture were removed and replaced with locks that did not belong to him, and that the bison were missing.

RCMP said a review of the numerous trail cameras set up in the area showed four people drove in with a pickup and several off-road vehicles, shot the bison and removed them.

The next day, the victim told RCMP they had seen a social-media notice advertising a bison hunt at the location for $1,000 per animal. The man said he had posted on social media about the theft and that some of the people who shot the bison responded.

Investigators were contacted by three people who had responded to the ad and said they were under the impression the hunt was legitimately organized by a fourth person.

A warrant for arrest was issued for Gerald Sean Gebler, 52, of Portage la Prairie, on Wednesday, and he turned himself in later that day. He is charged with theft over $5,000 and mischief over $5,000, and more charges are likely, RCMP said in a news release Thursday.