Three North Bay-area men have been fined a total of $8,000 for moose hunting violations.

Paul Dorval of Tilden Lake and Vittorio Rizzo of Redbridge pleaded guilty to hunting a cow moose without a licence, transporting illegally killed wildlife and trespassing to hunt. Each was fined $3,000 and banned from hunting moose for two years.

Francois Claeys of Callander pleaded guilty to transporting illegally killed wildlife and trespassing to hunt. He was fined $2,000 and banned from hunting moose for one year.

Court heard that, in October 2014, the three men were hunting moose together in a remote area on Rabbit Lake Road, south of Temagami. After they had spent several days hunting unsuccessfully for the calf moose they were licensed to kill, Dorval urged the members of the party to shoot the next moose they saw.

On October 14, 2014, Rizzo shot and killed an adult cow moose approximately two kilometres behind the trap cabin belonging to Dorval, where the men were staying. Rizzo and Claeys gutted the moose and returned to the cabin, where they met Dorval. Later that night, all three men returned to the kill site on foot to quarter the moose. The following evening, they used Dorval’s all-terrain vehicle to transport the meat out of the bush in coolers to Dorval’s residence in Tilden Lake.

Conservation officers located the moose kill site. Their investigation resulted in the execution of search warrants at the residences of Dorval and Rizzo in February 2015. Dorval’s all-terrain vehicle, Rizzo’s rifle and the moose meat were seized. The moose meat was forfeited to the Crown, while the all-terrain vehicle and rifle will be returned once the fines are paid. The moose was killed in a special management area in which unauthorized motorized vehicle use is prohibited.

Justice of the Peace Susan Hilton heard the case in the Ontario Court of Justice, Haileybury, on June 11, 2015.

To report a natural resources violation, call the MNRF TIPS line at 1-877-847-7667 toll-free any time or contact your local ministry office during regular business hours. You can also call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).