Poached deer kicks up
fury
By Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star - November 21, 2007
A Coldstream neighbourhood is up in arms after a poacher killed a deer early Tuesday morning.
The whitetail buck was making its way across a private pasture in the 10000 block of Coldstream Creek Road at about 6 a.m. when someone shot it with a crossbow.
"It's not ethical and it's not right," said a neighbour, who asked that his name not be used. Beyond the illegality of the killing, there are also safety concerns.
"A bow is a dangerous weapon at night when you don't know where the arrow is going," said Josh Lockwood, a conservation officer.
A neighbour first became aware of the situation when he heard a truck driving up and down the road. "I looked down at the field and saw a hand-held light going across the field," said the resident who went outside.
As he neared the road, he saw somebody climb into a truck. "By the time I got down there, I couldn't see the licence plate number," said the resident.
The animal wasn't dead and had to be put down by a neighbour.
It's believed the poacher would have taken the animal if they hadn't been scared away by the neighbour. "This is a deliberate act," said Lockwood of the killing.
Under wildlife legislation, it is illegal to hunt at night, to trespass or to shoot from a road. You also can't use a light or hunt in a cultivated field.
And while this area is not covered by Coldstream's hunting ban, municipal bylaws say firearms - including bows - can't be fired within 100 metres of a building.
Permission is also required from the property owner.
The Ministry of Environment is seeking public assistance to determine who is responsible for the shooting. It's believed the suspect was wearing a ball cap with white flames on the side.
Observed at the scene was a white crew-cab truck with a tubular boat rack. "It's an extremely noisy vehicle and it has writing, like a construction company sign, on the door," said Lockwood. A dark blue mini-van was also seen in the area. The arrow will be checked for fingerprints.
Hunting at night can lead to a fine of up to $100,000, six months in jail and a minimum five-year suspension from hunting.
"We are dealing with multiple offences here," said Lockwood. Anyone with information, is asked to call 1-877-952-7277.
- Disturbing
poaching case in Coleman
By Bryan Passifiume - Crowsnest Pass Promoter
Friday
December 14, 2007
Fish and Wildlife officers in the Pass discovered the body of a Bighorn Sheep
ram near Crowsnest Lake last month, a ram taken out of season and much too
young.
The young ram was discovered on Nov. 8, well over a week after hunting season
for male Bighorn Sheep ended.
The ram, according to Fish and Wildlife Office John Clarke, had a hunting arrow lodged in its left shoulder. The ram, in a weakened state from the injury, fell to its death from a cliff.
"The wound was fresh
enough that it occurred after the hunting season had ended," Clarke said, noting
that the wound had not developed any infection or necrosis indicative of a
long-time injury.
Apart from the out-of-season hunt for the ram, the animal itself was much too
young to be hunted. Depending on where you hunt in the province, the ram's horns
must either present a full curl of four fifths of growth before it can legally
he hunted. A full-curl ram would be approximately seven years old. According to
the curl of its horn, the dead ram was around three.
"This one is so small, it doesn't make sense," Clarke said. He suspects that the culprit was younger, so in the course of his investigation he interviewed local bow hunters with a sheep licence to try and find out who committed this act.
He is hoping that exposure through the media will help the Fish and Wildlife office determine who wounded the animal out of season. Clarke says the brand and type of arrow used is very unique in the bowhunting world.
Ross MacDonald, of the Hillcrest Fish and Game Club expressed disappointment in what appears to be a very obvious disregard for the rules.
"When you're bowhunting, you've got to be close to the animal," MacDonald said. "That means you're close enough to know it wasn't legal."
MacDonald says that any hunter would know that the ram was too young to do anything with, and that the incident certainly wasn't accidental.
Macdonald also expressed dismay that such acts paints all hunters in a negative light, bowhunters especially.
Pit-lamping of pregnant deer horrifies conservation staff
Clare Ogilvie
The Province
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
WHISTLER -- It was a case that horrified the conservation officers -- three
Richmond men who under cover of darkness used high-intensity spot-lamps to shoot
dead two female deer, one of which was pregnant with two fawns.
"It was emotional," said conservation officer Dave Jevons.
"It was very tough at the time."
The three men were caught with the dead deer in their minivan at 2 a.m. in a
CounterAttack RCMP roadblock in Whistler on June 14. They pleaded guilty in
North
Vancouver provincial court to four counts under the Wildlife Act, including
hunting out of season.
Deer season runs from mid-September to the end of November. Female deer can
never be legally hunted.
Police found high-powered spot lights and a loaded semi-automatic rifle in the
van.
Fifty-year-old Bing Tom Xie was fined $7,000, banned from hunting for two years,
and from possessing wildlife or hunting weapons. He also forfeited his two
rifles.
Zhi Wei Jie, 48, and Dong Pang, 49, pleaded guilty to one count each of unlawful
possession of wildlife and were each fined $1,000 and ordered to forfeit their
firearms.
The necropsies determined that one of the deer had recently given birth and the
other would likely have given birth in about 48 hours, said Jevons.
Police forensics matched a bullet found in the fetal sac surrounding the two
unborn fawns to one of the rifles found in the minivan.
The fact that the deer were not gutted suggests that they may have been targeted
because they appeared to be pregnant, he said.
Fetal fawns are used medicinally or as a delicacy in some Asian cultures.
"We couldn't prove this, but we believe they were deliberately targeting deer
and they were likely after the fawns," said Jevons.
- Appalling practice
Thursday, December 20, 2007
I was appalled to read about the men caught poaching female deer in Whistler.
The belief of conservation officers that they were mainly interested in the pregnant doe's dead fetuses is even more disgusting -- not to mention the fact that the hunters involved are getting off with not much more than a measly fine.
This is unacceptable to those of us who respect wildlife and nature. These hunters must pay for these atrocities.
They were allegedly following cultural behaviour that they have practised for untold generations.
We do not abide or accept such practices here in Canada.
Carl Fuller, - Burnaby