A Thunder Bay man has been fined $7,250 for shooting a bull moose north of the city last fall when he lacked a proper game tag.
According to a provincial investigation, John Poleschuk was moose hunting in the area of Pakashkan Lake on Oct. 16 when he shot a moose but was unable to immediately locate the felled animal.
The next day, the investigation found, Poleschuk “located the moose he shot and determined he had shot a bull, which he was unlicensed to hunt,” a provincial news release said.
“Rather than reporting the mistake to a conservation officer, Poleschuk sought out another hunter . . . to conceal the illegal harvest,” the release added.
“Poleschuk then contacted the investigating officer and falsely informed the officer he had been unable to locate the moose,” the news release said.
In April, Poleschuk appeared in Thunder Bay court and pleaded guilty to hunting bull moose without a licence, knowingly making a false statement to a conservation officer and being party to the offence of unlawfully invalidating a (game) tag with respect to an animal killed by another person.
According to the same news release, Napanee, Ont. resident Joshua Stevenson was fined $2,500 in connection to the illegal bull-moose hunt. Stevenson pleaded guilty to unlawfully invalidating a (game) tag with respect to an animal killed by another person and for possessing illegally killed wildlife, the news release said.
Provincial officials reminded hunters to be clear on what they’re targeting before they fire their rifles.
