Undercover blitz sees 16 charges against coyote hunters

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.