a day ago
Durham men charged in illegal hunting incident
Two Durham men have been charged in an illegal hunting incident that took place in West Grey.
According to the Ministry of Natural Resources, one man pleaded guilty to unlawfully claiming to have killed a deer, which was killed by another hunter, and providing a false statement to a conservation officer.
As a result, he is facing a fine of $2,500 and is suspended from hunting antlerless deer for two years.
The second man pleaded guilty to hunting deer without a license, hunting deer with a centerfire rifle in an archery and muzzleloading guns season only, and gun hunting without the proper firearms licensing accreditation.
As a result, he is facing a fine of $6,000 and is suspended from hunting antlerless deer for two years.
A news release read that on Dec. 4, 2024, a conservation officer was working in the Municipality of West Grey and contacted the men when they were leaving a rural property.
Through an investigation, it was revealed that the men enacted a premeditated plan to falsely represent their hunting activity. One man had a muzzleloading firearm, claiming he just shot an antlerless deal.
The other man claimed he was not hunting and didn't have any firearms, and had an antlered only deer tag.
When the officer went to the kill site of an antlerless deer, he said he found a loaded centerfire rifle in a nearby hunting blind. It was determined the man who claimed he didn't hunt killed the deer with the rifle. The man wasn't licensed to hunt antlerless deer or have guns.
After the deer was killed, the Ministry said the man who killed the deer contacted the other man, asking him to help cover up the illegal hunt. The man wasn't hunting at the time of the kill.
