American hunters fined $37K for illegally harvesting Yukon sheep after crossing U.S.-Canada border

What was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime for three American hunters has ended with a $37,000 fine in Yukon Territorial Court after they shot two Dall sheep on the wrong side of the Alaska-Canada border. 

Kenneth Eberle, Nathan Eberle and Justin Nagel pleaded guilty last week to one count each under the Yukon's Wildlife Act of hunting without a permit. 

The Eberles also pleaded guilty to one additional charge each of meat wastage, a violation of the same act. 

The charges date to an August 2022 hunt that originally began in Alaska, with details of how the situation unfolded shared in agreed statements of facts read to the court by territorial Crown Kelly McGill and comments by the men's lawyers following their guilty pleas.

Kenneth and Nathan Ereble, a father-son duo who live in Florida and Alaska, respectively, took an air taxi service from Tok, Alaska, on Aug. 6, 2022. They were joined by Nagel, Nathan's friend from college. 

The trio flew to High Culvert Camp in the Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve and near the U.S.-Canada border. Five days later, they hiked approximately two-and-a-half kilometres east and spotted two Dall sheep. 

Nathan shot and killed one of the animals. Kenneth shot the other sheep but hit it in the hind quarter, wounding it. As the trio hiked closer, Nagel pulled out his own firearm. 

"Unfortunately, he made the decision to finish off the one sheep," his lawyer Greg Dunn told the court.

The trio then hiked to the kill site and retrieved the horns, skins and portions of meat from both sheep before heading back to camp. 

Both sheep were 8.3 metres past the international border on the Yukon side, according to Nathan's lawyer, where none of the men had permits to hunt. 

'Unusual and very unfortunate' situation, lawyer says

Yukon conservation officers flew into the kill site on Aug. 14, 2022, and recovered approximately eight kilograms of meat from one sheep and five kilograms from the other, including one full quarter and portions of neck, rib, shank and brisket. There was also some meat that wasn't "recoverable," according to the agreed statements of facts, because it was "bloodshot."

The Eberles and Nagel flew back from their camp to Tok on Aug. 16, 2022. They were met by U.S. National Park Service officers upon arrival, who seized the sheep parts as well as firearms and "electronic communication devices" from the trio. 

Neither the court documents nor proceedings explained how Yukon conservation officers or the U.S. National Park Service learned about the hunt or found the kill site. The Yukon's Environment department declined a request for comment, citing ongoing legal proceedings in Alaska also related to the hunt, while the service's Alaska office acknowledged but didn't follow up on a request for information. 

Yukon justice of the peace Gord Coffin accepted joint submissions from the territorial Crown and defence that the Eberles and Nagel be fined $10,000 each for hunting in the Yukon without a permit. 

He also approved additional $3,500 fines for both of the Eberles on the meat wastage charges. 

All $37,000 will be contributed to the territory's Turn In Poachers and Polluters (TIPP) line. 

The trio have 90 days to pay the fines, and are also subject to five-year-long Yukon hunting bans. 

Lawyers for all three men told the court that their clients, all long-time hunters with clean records, were remorseful and embarrassed by the situation, with Michel Fontaine, who represented Nathan, saying that the hunt was supposed to be the "trip of a lifetime."

"Obviously, it was memorable at the beginning… And it ends as rather memorable for his involvement in the court of the law with his father and his best friend, so he'll never forget this," Fontaine said, adding that the situation was "unusual and very unfortunate." 

Fontaine and Nagel's lawyer also both underlined the fact that the trio were still facing charges in Alaska that will cost them even more in legal fees and potential penalties. 

"They've received the end of the sword in both jurisdictions," Dunn said. 

The U.S. charges, which have yet to be resolved, relate to bringing sheep parts back across the border and allegedly making false statements to law enforcement by initially claiming to National Park Service officers that Nagel did not shoot a sheep.