A man has been hit with a $6,000 fine and a hunting ban after he used his crossbow to shoot two mule deer bucks in the middle of residential downtown Princeton.
BC Conservation Officer Service says the incident took place in October 2020. A Lower Mainland man was spotted by a witness walking through the residential area around midnight holding the crossbow.
Naturally concerned, the witness called RCMP.
Conservation officers took over the investigation, and found one dead deer and later found a second with a crossbow bolt lodged in its chest. It was humanely put down.
The man pleaded guilty in Princeton Provincial Court to hunting without reasonable consideration for the lives, safety or property of other persons, hunting during a closed season and hunting during prohibited hours; all offences under the BC Wildlife Act.
He will pay a $6,000 fine, most of which will go to the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, and will not be allowed to hunt for five years. He will also re-take the CORE hunter education program.
"Unsafe hunting practices, especially in the dark in a residential area, can put people at significant risk," reads a statement from the COS.
"The Conservation Officer Service hopes this notable penalty will deter others from similar activities."
