Group fined $5,400 for deer hunt violations in northwest Ont.

Four people from Dubreuilville, Ont. have been fined for deer hunting violations in November 2022 in a remote part of northwestern Ontario.

The hunt took place Nov. 20 in Nestor Falls, located between Kenora and the U.S./Canada border involving three Dubreuilville residents: Sylvain Bernard, Chantal Bernard and Felix Bernard.

“During the investigation, conservation officers determined that Sylvain Bernard and Chantal Bernard were hunting together when they shot and killed two deer which they did not have adequate tags for,” the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry said in a news release Friday.

While the deer was shot in Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) 10, the hunters only had one tag and it was for WMU 9A.

“Sylvain Bernard, in an effort to conceal the extra deer, placed the whole deer in a garbage bag and put it in the back of an enclosed trailer,” the MNRF said.

“He then placed the internal organs of the same deer in a garbage bag which was later disposed at the Nestor Falls landfill. Upon returning to their accommodations Felix Bernard validated his antlerless WMU 9A tag for the deer shot in WMU 10.” Sylvain Bernard pleaded guilty to unlawfully possessing illegally killed wildlife and was fined $1,300.

Chantal Bernard pleaded guilty to hunting big game without a licence and was fined $1,800.

Felix Bernard pleaded guilty to unlawfully invalidating a tag to an animal killed that was not the same species type specified on the tag and was fined $1,500.

Sebastien Bernard of Dubreuilville pleaded guilty to failing to immediately invalidate a tag with respect to a deer killed by another person and was fined $800.

Justice of the Peace Daphne Armstrong heard the case remotely on July 19 in the Ontario Court of Justice in the District of Kenora.

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To report a natural resource problem or provide information about an unsolved case, members of the public can call the ministry TIPS line toll-free at 1-877-847-7667.

You can also call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS. For more information about unsolved cases, click here.