GORE BAY—An Ingersoll man was fined a total of $2,500 as well as having his deer hunting licence suspended after a provincial offences court hearing last week in Gore Bay.
Derek Hance was convicted after the hearing last week in Provincial Offences Court in Gore Bay pertaining to an incident that occurred during last fall’s annual deer gun hunt on Manitoulin Island.
Dan Williams, prosecutor for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF), told Justice of the Peace Darlene Hayden that the Crown and defence (with Mr. Hance pleading guilty and representing himself in court) were putting forward a joint submission, with charges being: unlawfully hunting on land he did not have permission to hunt on and careless use of a firearm. To both these charges Mr. Hance pleaded guilty. A third charge of having discharged a firearm down a travelled roadway was withdrawn.
Court heard that the incident occurred on November 21, 2016 in Allan Township. On that date MNRF conservation officer (C.O.) Mitch Turcotte conducted an investigation on Tucker’s Road in Allan Township of a ground blind on the edge of the road.
While there was no one present at the time Mr. Turcotte undertook his investigation there was one rifle cartridge on the road. It was explained a deer had been harvested 65 yards from the blind on private property, which the accused did not have permit to hunt on. Mr. Williams explained, “when Mr. Turcotte met up with Mr. Hanse the latter admitted shooting the deer on the roadway and not having permission to hunt on the property he took the deer on (across the road). Court heard the deer had been shot in the middle of Tucker’s Road, an area where people would be driving and walking up and down.
“We see other similar cases like this on Manitoulin Island where hunters lose perspective of their surroundings in trying to harvest a deer,” said Mr. Williams. “It is like they have tunnel vision when they put their hunting gear on. Here on Manitoulin Island you have hundreds of hunters walking and driving up and down the road during the deer hunt season.” He said it was fortunate there was no one driving or walking on this portion of Tucker’s Road when the accused shot the deer. He noted as well the blind had been set up to shoot alongside the road.
Mr. Hanse had removed the deer from private property and gutted it on his own property, Mr. Williams told court.
The Crown was seeking a total fine of $2,500 on the two charges indicated the accused hunting license should also be suspended-and Mr. Hance would have to take the hunter safety course to qualify for a future license.
J.P. Darlene Hayden noted to Mr. Hance that “when hunting on Manitoulin Island hunters need to be sure they have landowner’s permission around to hunt on their property. In my experience, I’ve seen and heard of quite a few hunting blinds being set up on or near roadways. I don’t like to see this, as it is an accident or a charge waiting to happen.”
Mr. Hance was fined a total of $2,500 and had his hunting licence cancelled.
