A conservation officer saw two individuals sitting in their truck strategically located in order to observe the decoys with binoculars. The conservation officers placed the stationary moose decoys along the travelled portion of a maintained and travelled forest resource access corridor. After a period of time, one of the individuals got out of the truck and opened fire twice at the decoys without taking into account that he was shooting in an area where he was not able to see the oncoming traffic. The second individual exited the truck and shot at the decoys four times from the road. The shots were again fired in the direction of a blind corner with no sight of oncoming traffic. On October 25, 2014, the two men appeared in Court and were fined $3,000 each for careless hunting, are not allowed to hunt in Ontario for a period of two years, and must successfully complete the Ontario Hunter Education Course prior to being issued another licence. See http://www.siouxbulletin.com/mnr-report-march-25-2015.
In a similar situation, in June of this year two men pleaded guilty to shooting a moose decoy placed along a road by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. On October 13, 2015 conservation officers placed a moose decoy along a road in an area east of Ignace, Ontario. Confused by the decoy, two men left their vehicle and shot at the decoy. Neither of the men possessed a bull moose tag nor did they meet party hunting requirements.
One of the men, who had prior convictions and unpaid fines for hunting offences, was fined $3,000 for careless shooting on a public road and $2,000 for moose hunting without a licence. The other was fined $2,500 for careless shooting and $1,500 for moose hunting without a licence.
Both men received one-year hunting suspensions and are required to complete the Ontario Hunter Education Course prior to obtaining a new hunting licence. See http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/hunting-decoy-fine-1.3665692.
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