Last week we told you of a man charged after firing a rifle across a highway at a decoy deer.
See: Deer decoy placed by conservation officers lures hunter into shooting across a road
Now we learn that other hunters have been convicted after hunting wild turkey out of season, trespassing and unsafe hunting practices last fall in Huron County near Goderich.
Three men this week were fined a total of $7,000 for a variety of offences.
According to the MNRF, on the afternoon of September 25, 2018, the OPP were contacted by a landowner who had seen a hunter shooting near him as he was walking on his property. The landowner then saw men running from his property dressed in hunter orange, and was able to describe the vehicle they got into.
OPP officers who were in the area stopped the vehicle, and conservation officers arrived to take over the investigation.
The conservation officers seized a shotgun and ammunition during the investigation.
Officers also found a turkey that had been dropped by the hunters as they fled the scene. With the help of the Centre of Forensic Sciences, conservation officers were able to match evidence left at the scene to the ammunition that was seized from the hunters.
Mohmed Rizwan Ingar of Cambridge pleaded guilty to:
- trespassing for the purpose of hunting and
- making a false statement to a conservation officer.
He was fined $1,300 for the two offences.
Kasim-Ismail Patel of Toronto pleaded guilty to:
- hunting wild turkey during the closed season and
- making a false statement to a conservation officer.
He was fined $1,000.
Ashifiqbal Patel of Scarborough pleaded guilty to:
- hunting wild turkey during the closed season,
- discharging a firearm from a vehicle,
- using a firearm carelessly to hunt,
- trespassing for the purpose of hunting and
- making a false statement to a conservation officer.
His total fines for the five offences were $4,850. He also received a one-year hunting licence suspension as a result of the careless hunting conviction.
The ministry is looking for your help in solving some of its cold cases.
We need your help to solve cases. Visit Ontario.ca/mnrftips to view an interactive, searchable map of unsolved cases.
