A northern Vancouver Island property owner will have to pay up.
He was caught hunting without a license.
He pleaded guilty on Sept. 19 in Port Hardy Provincial Court to hunting without a licence, contrary to the B.C. Wildlife Act.
The charge of making a false statement to obtain a licence was stayed.
On Oct. 1st, the man was sentenced to pay $2,501 with all but a dollar of it going to the Habitat and Conservation Trust Fund.
The man owned property on Northern Vancouver Island but still maintained a business and access to government services in Alberta.
He continued to hunt in Alberta as a resident as well, the Conservation Officer Service (COS) noted in a Facebook post.
“The criteria to be considered a B.C. resident under the Wildlife Act is strict and is based on several factors, such as status in Canada, location of primary residence, and duration a person is physically present in B.C.,” the COS noted in the post.
“It is the responsibility of each hunter or angler to know whether they are considered a B.C. resident in accordance with the Wildlife Act.”