Three men have been charged in the February 2013 killing of three cow elk in the Ruby Lake area, the BC Conservation Officer Service (COS) announced last week.
Kristopher Nichols, 36, of Pender Harbour was charged with six counts under the Wildlife Act, while two Powell River men — Bryn Foreman, 32, and Kyle Bessette, 31 — were each charged with one count under the Act.
“The Crown alleges the elk were shot at night, off a public highway, in an area closed to hunting and the discharge of firearms,” the COS said in a press release issued July 17.
The release said Nichols was charged with hunting wildlife out of season, hunting at night, hunting with the aid of a light or illuminating device, discharging a firearm in a no-shooting area (within the road allowance of Highway 101), hunting without reasonable consideration for the lives, safety or property of other persons, and possessing dead wildlife without authorization under a licence or permit, or as provided by regulation.
Foreman and Bessette were each charged with a single count of possessing dead wildlife without authorization under a licence or permit, or as provided by regulation.
The three accused are scheduled to appear in Sechelt provincial court Aug. 20.
A person who commits a first offence under the Wildlife Act is liable to a fine of not more than $100,000 or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both, the COS release said.
After being wiped out by hunting in the early 1900s, Roosevelt elk were reintroduced to the Sunshine Coast about 25 years ago and are managed as a seed herd to re-establish elk populations in historic ranges on B.C.’s south coast.
