A man who was fined and given hunting bans in a joint B.C.-Alberta investigation says he knows hesa国际传媒檚 not without fault.
In a 15-minute video posted to Facebook on Friday (Feb. 9), host of the Alpine Carnivore TV show Michel Beaulieu said he wanted to set the record straight on his recent fines and hunting bans from a joint B.C.-Alberta investigation.
Beaulieu, according to the B.C. Conservation Officer Service, pleaded guilty to allowing his licence to be used by another person. He also received a $4,500 penalty.
His wife, Lynn, pleaded guilty to hunting without a licence and received a $2,000 penalty. Both are banned from hunting in B.C. for one year.
In Alberta, the provincesa国际传媒檚 Fish and Wildlife Enforcement said Beaulieu was convicted of hunting without a licence, hunting in a closed season, unlawful possession of wildlife, unlawful export of wildlife, providing false information, as well as abusing licence requirements in relation to the killing of bighorn sheep, antlered moose and antlered elk within a protected wilderness area.
Alberta Fish and Wildlife Enforcement says it was determined the offences in each province happened between August 2020 and September 2021.
The joint investigation took two years until the spring of 2022, with six locations being investigation throughout B.C., the conservation officer service noted.
There were three search warrants and officers seixed numerous unlawfully killed wildlife from both provinces, as well as a rifle. Multiple pieces of evidence were seized in the B.C. searches, including sheep and moose parts that were later matched by DNA analysis to kill sites in Alberta and shell casings from the sheep kill in Alberta also matched the firearm officers seized in B.C.
sa国际传媒淭hese actions showed a blatant disregard for fish and wildlife laws in BC and beyond. Unfortunately, cross-border poaching is not an unusual occurrence,sa国际传媒 said COS Insp. Kyle Ackles, who oversees the the B.C. Conservation Officer Servicesa国际传媒檚 general investigations section.
However in the Facebook post from Beaulieu, he said the social media post by Alberta Fish and Wildlife Enforcement makes it sound like theresa国际传媒檚 sa国际传媒渄ozens of hunts all over multiple provinces where wesa国际传媒檝e committed offences.sa国际传媒 He said the convictions were related to three hunts: a bear hunt in B.C. and sheep and moose hunts in Alberta, adding the antlered elk charge is sa国际传媒渋ncorrect.sa国际传媒
The sheep hunt, he said, was the sa国际传媒渨orst one.sa国际传媒 In the video, he details the days leading up to when he killed the sheep, adding that it was the first big-horn sheep he ever killed.
When trying to leave the area, he said a man who claimed he was a conservation officer told Beaulieu that he improperly tagged the sheep and drove into an area thatsa国际传媒檚 closed to motorized vehicles. Beaulieu said he didnsa国际传媒檛 know if the man was, in fact, a conservation officer so he drove home and called Alberta Fish and Wildlife to report himself.
Officers came to his home and charged him.
sa国际传媒淎ll that happened and I though, OK, thatsa国际传媒檚 unfortunate but itsa国际传媒檚 still above board sa国际传媒 good.sa国际传媒
It was a year later, he said, that he received notice from Alberta Fish and Wildlife that they were sa国际传媒渞aidingsa国际传媒 his home and that the kill was illegal.
sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 not saying Isa国际传媒檓 without fault sa国际传媒 but I am saying I didnsa国际传媒檛 mean to break the law.sa国际传媒
In the moose hunt, he said being from Ontario originally he was unaware of Alberta laws of who could shoot the animal based on whose name the tage was in.
sa国际传媒淲as I right? No. should I have known better? Yes, but I didnsa国际传媒檛.sa国际传媒
It was a similar situation in B.C. with the bear shot.
sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 truly terrible that all of this has happened and I should know better.sa国际传媒
Hr said all of the incidents happened in his first year of filming Alpine Carnivore, sa国际传媒渨here I [didnsa国际传媒檛] have the knowledge I have today.sa国际传媒
Alpine Carnivore, according to its YouTube channel, is a hunting and outdoors adventure series.
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