Cariboo Residents Fined $5,750 for Dangerous Hunting Incident in 2022

Two residents of B.C.’s Cariboo region have pleaded guilty in a late-night hunting case that ended with a mule deer buck killed in a private cultivated field.

Kristen Johnny and Colin Williams each pleaded guilty to hunting without consideration for the lives, safety or property of others. The case stemmed from Oct. 8, 2022, when the pair entered the field between 10:44 p.m. and 11:08 p.m. and killed the deer.

Late-night field incident

The timing sits at the centre of the case. A court ruling stated that sunset on Oct. 8, 2022, was at 6:31 p.m. Johnny and Williams entered the private cultivated field hours later, during the late-evening window identified in the case.

The offence they admitted to was not simply killing wildlife. Their guilty pleas were to hunting without consideration for the lives, safety or property of others, wording that put the court’s focus on the risk attached to the act and the place where it happened.

Fines and victim surcharges

Johnny and Williams were each fined $2,500. Each was also ordered to pay a $375 victim surcharge.

Together, the fines and surcharges bring the combined penalty to $5,750.

The penalties close the central count to which both Cariboo residents pleaded guilty, while leaving a short but significant court record of what happened: a private cultivated field, a mule deer buck, and a late-night hunt that took place well after the day’s recorded sunset.

Hanceville location reported

CTV News reported that court records listed the offences as occurring in Hanceville, B.C., west of Williams Lake.

That location places the case in a part of the province where private land, cultivated fields and hunting activity can intersect. The verified facts in the case do not identify the landowner or describe any damage to property beyond the offence to which Johnny and Williams pleaded guilty.

Other charges stayed

CTV News also reported that additional charges of hunting on agricultural and cleared land, unlawful possession of dead wildlife, and hunting during prohibited hours were stayed.

The guilty pleas therefore centred on one count for each person: hunting without consideration for the lives, safety or property of others.

A sparse but pointed ruling

There were no reported contradictions among the available accounts of the core facts. The case is defined by a narrow timeline and a clear legal outcome.

Johnny and Williams, both from the Cariboo region, entered a private cultivated field between 10:44 p.m. and 11:08 p.m. on Oct. 8, 2022. A mule deer buck was killed. Sunset that day was recorded in the court ruling as 6:31 p.m. Both pleaded guilty to the same offence. Both received the same fine and surcharge.

For readers, the case offers a concise example of how B.C. courts can treat hunting conduct where safety and private property are at issue: not only through wildlife rules, but through the broader obligation to hunt with consideration for the lives, safety and property of others.

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