Salmon Arm man fined $3,000 for poaching cow moose

SALMON ARM – A Salmon Arm man has been fined $3,000 and had two firearms confiscated for poaching a cow moose out of season.

B.C. Conservation Officer Service spokesperson Tanner Beck said the Salmon Arm resident plead guilty on March 11 for killing the moose in the Larch Hills area east of the city in January 2017.

The man was fined $3,000 and had two firearms confiscated. The firearms will will be destroyed.

Beck said a member of the public tipped them off to the poaching. He said while a hunting season for bull moose takes place in the fall, there is not a season to hunt the cows in the area.

"We would not have known about this if it wasn't for the public," said Beck, who urged the public to call the conservation service's Report All Poachers and Polluters hotline, if they suspect poaching or an environmental violation has taken place.

He said $100 of the fine will go to the courts, while $2,900 will go to the Habitat Conservation Trust Fund charity.

Beck said similar acts of poaching happen "almost every year… it's more than we would like."

To report an environmental violation or poaching call 1-877-952-7277 (RAPP) or go online here.

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