William McRobb of Rosseau pleaded guilty to trespassing for the purpose of hunting. He was fined $4,500 and a deer that was seized as part of the investigation was forfeited to the Crown.
The court heard that on the afternoon of December 15, 2022, McRobb was hunting deer in the area of Four Mile Point Park near Rosseau. During the hunt McRobb wounded a deer that ran onto private property he did not have permission to enter. He pursued the wounded deer onto the private property but was unsuccessful in recovering it at that time. McRobb returned to the private property the next morning with a crossbow to harvest and recover the deer. The court heard that in the event he was questioned about the illegal hunt, McRobb planned to claim he harvested the deer in another location.
Justice of the Peace Marnie Hudswell heard the case in the Ontario Court of Justice in Bracebridge on September 13, 2023.
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, please visit ontario.ca/mnrftips.
Don’t miss out on Doppler!
Sign up here to receive our email digest with links to our most recent stories.
Local news in your inbox so you don’t miss anything!
Click here to support local news
I own 260 acres of land for 39 years . From my experience people will use any excuse to enter a property and can be quite intimidating in doing so. Bin told I don’t own the land , called every dirty name in the book , had hunters spay diesel fuel on my deer trails , set 7 acres on fire , spray a pepper smelling pesticide all over my properties, had hunters point there guns. Now do you realy think I’m going to let someone come on my property? You would be bat shit crazy if you think I would let anyone in here.
It is a chargeable offense to allow a game animal to suffer and/or go to waste. An ethical hunter should/will make every effort to retrieve a wounded animal. See the Ministry guidelines. A hunter has no control over where an animal goes after it has been shot. I have experienced how far a wounded deer can travel before it stops, beyond a 100 acres. I would hope to not be charged with trespassing while complying with the “guidelines”. If I know the land owner and time permits it I would ask for permission but this is seldom possible due to other factors such as weather for example. I think the courts are in the wrong in this case.
I believe the property owner should be charged for not allowing the deer to be retrieved.,not retrieving that deer the hunter will go after another one,then you have two or more killed needlessly . If not able to retrieve hunters will just go after another one
It shouldn’t be a crime to recover a wounded deer .
This sounds bullcrap if deer was wounded should have been able to recover. Don’t want animal suffering