Fines totalling $9,500 for hunting bear in northern Ont. near a garbage dump, other offences

An outfitter in Kenora, Ont., and two individuals have been fined a total of $9,500 for bear hunting offences, including abandoning a bear they shot and using it as bait to hunt another bear. (File)

An outfitter in Kenora, Ont., and two individuals have been fined a total of $9,500 for bear hunting offences, including abandoning a bear they shot and using it as bait to hunt another bear.

They were also found guilty of hunting a bear within 400 metres of a waste disposal site, which is illegal in Ontario.

The Ontario Court of Justice in Kenora heard that in August 2022, Sherif Aboutabl of Ottawa used Halley’s Camps in Kenora to hunt bear.

"Aboutabl harvested a bear and failed to invalidate the tag," the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry said in a news release Friday.

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Louis Halley, an employee with Halley's Camps, and Aboutabl took the meat from the bear and disposed of it at a baited tree stand on the property to use as bait for a second bear.

"Aboutabl continued to hunt at Halley’s Camps intending to harvest a second bear which he did not possess a tag for," the MNRF said.

"It was also determined that Aboutabl hunted in a tree stand provided by Halley’s Camps that was within 400 metres of a waste disposal site registered to the Halley’s Camps Corp."

Justice of the Peace Daphne Armstrong heard the case remotely in the Ontario Court of Justice, Kenora, on Feb. 7, 2024, and July 3, 2024.

Halley’s Camps pleaded guilty to abandoning black bear flesh suitable for food and hunting black bear within 400 metres of a waste disposal site. The corporation was fined a total of $2,500.

Halley pleaded guilty to abandoning black bear flesh suitable for food and was fined $1,500.

Aboutabl was convicted of hunting black bear without a licence, abandoning black bear flesh suitable for food, hunting bear within 400 metres of a waste disposal site and failing to immediately invalidate a tag.

He was fined a total of $5,500 and is prohibited from hunting in Ontario for five years.

To report a natural resource problem or provide information about an unsolved case, call the ministry TIPS line toll-free at 1-877-847-7667. To remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.

For more information about unsolved cases, click here.