Canada: B.C. man fined $4,500, banned from hunting for 2 years after poaching pregnant moose

https://www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/article/bc-man-fined-4500-banned-from-hunting-for-2-years-after-poaching-pregnant-moose/

05/03/2025

A B.C. man has been fined $4,500 and banned from hunting in the province for two years after poaching a pregnant cow moose in March 2023.

Willem Tuijtel pleaded guilty this week in Vernon provincial court to killing wildlife outside of open season, the B.C. Conservation Officer Service said on social media Friday.

The BCCOS said the investigation that led to the Wildlife Act charge against Tuijtel began with a call to the provincial Report All Poachers and Polluters line two years ago.

The caller reported “a moose potentially killed out of season in the Cherryville area,” the BCCOS said in its post.

“Conservation officers investigated the reported site and located a gut pile and the fetal calf of a moose.”

Officers saw snowmobile tracks leading to a nearby residence and secured a warrant to search the property. When they did so, they seized a moose carcass and a rifle and ammunition that they determined had been used to kill the animal, the BCCOS said.

As a result of his guilty plea, Tuijtel is prohibited from hunting or being in the company of hunters anywhere in B.C. for two years, according to the conservation officer service.

He forfeited his gun and the moose carcass and has been ordered to retake the Conservation Outdoor Recreation Education (CORE) course, the service said.

“We’d like to thank the public for reporting this incident to the RAPP line,” said Conservation Officer Ken Owens, in the post.