Ontario (Rajeev Sharma): Three American hunters have been handed significant fines and long-term hunting prohibitions in Ontario after conservation officers uncovered multiple illegal moose hunting incidents in a remote region of northwestern Ontario.
According to Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources, the violations came to light following a targeted aerial patrol over the Skinner Lake area, located north of Pickle Lake, in late September 2023. The surveillance operation was launched amid growing concerns about unlawful activity at isolated hunting outposts.
Investigators found that on September 29, two of the men — Zach Droessler and Ben Droessler — fatally shot a bull moose from a moving motorboat, a practice strictly prohibited under provincial hunting laws.
Further examination of evidence revealed an earlier offence on September 25, when Jeffery Gassman and Ben Droessler killed another bull moose while it was swimming, again firing from a motorized vessel. Officials confirmed that Gassman did not hold a valid moose licence at the time of the kill.
The case was heard on May 29, 2025, in Sioux Lookout, where Justice of the Peace Emma Sims imposed stiff penalties following guilty pleas from all three accused.
Ben Droessler was fined $12,000 and barred from hunting in Ontario for a decade after admitting to firing from a motorboat and hunting a swimming moose. Gassman received fines totalling $11,500 and an identical 10-year provincial hunting suspension for multiple violations, including hunting without a licence. Zach Droessler was ordered to pay $4,000 and banned from hunting in Ontario for five years for discharging a firearm from a boat.
Officials say the penalties reflect the seriousness of the offences and are intended to deter illegal hunting practices, particularly in fragile and remote ecosystems.
