A Kelowna, B.C., man received a $7,001 penalty and six-year hunting prohibition for shooting a mule deer buck with a crossbow during the closed season while in a residential neighbourhood.
“Poaching of any kind, especially in urban areas, is completely unacceptable and in this case endangered the lives and safety of the public,” Kelowna Conservation Officer Ken Owens said in a press release.
“We hope this notable penalty will deter others from similar activities.”
In a statement, the B.C. Conservation Officer Service said it was February 2021 when the man baited and shot a mule deer buck on Lakeshore Road, an area with homes, beach houses and walking trails nearby.
“The injured deer ran off and the man and two others tried unsuccessfully to track it down,” the B.C. Conservation Office wrote in a press release.
“The next morning, a child found the deer shot and left to rot in a flower garden by their residence and called the Report All Poachers and Polluters (RAPP) hotline.”
The man pleaded guilty in Kelowna Provincial Court to hunting without consideration for the lives, safety or property of others and the wounding or killing of wildlife out of season, offences under the WLA.
The majority of the penalty will go to the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation.
The man was also ordered to retake the CORE hunter training program and was further ordered to write letters of apology to several families, including children, impacted by the incident.
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