An article with a little more detail.
http://w ww.whitehorsestar.com/auth.php?r=45767
Man fined, prohibited from hunting
By STEPHANIE WADDELL
An Alberta man has been banned from hunting in the Yukon for seven years and ordered to pay $1,500.
Territorial court Judge John Faulkner made the order today after Richard Graves’ lawyer, Ed Horembala, changed his client’s plea from not guilty to guilty on a charge of hunting grizzly bear in a zone where he wasn’t permitted.
Graves, a resident of Wetaskawin, Alta., was not present in court this morning.
Further Wildlife Act charges around the incident dating back to last May were stayed.
Crown prosecutor Lee Kirkpatrick brought forward an agreed statement of fact reached by the defence and Crown.
Kirkpatrick told the court that last May, Graves was being guided on a hunt by a Yukoner in an area where there was another designated outfitter for the zone.
Outside residents aren’t allowed to hunt there without the outfitter.
On the way back to Whitehorse, Graves and his guide placed the Yukoner’s hunting tag on the grizzly in case they were stopped, Kirkpatrick said.
They later put Graves’ tag on the bear and reported the kill to the territorial Department of Environment offices, although officials were told it happened in another zone.
Graves paid a $500-trophy fee for the kill.
In bringing forward the joint submission for the fine and prohibition, Kirkpatrick noted that Graves had entered an early guilty plea and hadn’t sought the return of the grizzly bear carcass.
Horembala also indicated Graves was willing to abide by a seven-year prohibition on hunting in the Yukon.
The total fine was set at $4,000 in total, taken from the $500-trophy fee, the value of the gun and scope forfeited at $2,000 and the remaining $1,500 to be paid immediately.
It was also agreed there would be no victim surcharge in the case.
Horembala noted Graves is 46 and a fifth-generation Alberta farmer, though he now works in bullet-making.
He is also married with two children, one who is attending university and another who is in Grade 12.
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