Farmers considering hunting coyotes should make sure they’re hewing to the rules.
Conservation officers in Southwestern Ontario laid 16 charges and issued seven warnings after a plainclothes operation back in February.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry said in a news release that “an increase in unsafe hunting practices by coyote hunters” prompted the undercover operation.
In three days, after contacting 58 hunters, conservation officers laid 13 charges of having a loaded firearm in a vehicle; two charges of hunting without a licence; one charge for having open liquor in a motor vehicle; and seven warnings for failing to have small game or firearms licences on them.
Fines under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act can be as high as $25,000 and can come with a jail term as long as two years.