B.C. hunting guide gets $10K fine, 1-year ban for illegal killing of thinhorn sheep

A group of thinhorn sheep - also known as Dall sheep or Stone sheep, depending on the subspecies - are seen in this file photo. (shutterstock.com)

An assistant hunting guide in northern B.C. has been fined $10,000 and banned from hunting for one year after he authorized a client to shoot a thinhorn sheep that did not meet the legal requirements to be harvested.

Nile Sinnes pleaded guilty to killing wildlife not within an open season, a charge that stemmed from a hunt he helped lead in October 2022, according to the B.C. Conservation Officer Service, which posted about the incident on social media Wednesday.

A client of Tuchodi River Outfitters, who the BCCOS said paid US$61,347 for the hunt, shot and killed the ram near Horseshoe Mountain, west of Fort Nelson.

The BCCOS did not share the client’s name in its post.

“Upon compulsory inspection of the ram, it was determined to be seven years of age and not full curl, which does not meet the legal requirements to be harvested,” the post reads. “Sinnes was responsible for determining if the animal was legal to harvest and authorized the shot to be taken.”

Sinnes was recently sentenced in provincial court in Fort Nelson, and the BCCOS post quotes from Judge George Leven’s decision.

“In my view, an assistant guide has a very high obligation to ensure that the animal that is being shot by a hunter is completely legal,” the judge said, according to the BCCOS.

“Hunters pay for guided hunts and should expect to have a positive experience in what is often the hunt of a lifetime.”

The BCCOS said “the majority” of Sinnes’ fine will go to the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation.

His one-year ban will prohibit him from hunting or accompanying hunters anywhere in the province until May 1, 2026.

All of the wildlife parts seized during the investigation were forfeited, the BCCOS said.

“Hunters flock to northern B.C. from all over the world for the unique opportunity and experience of harvesting a Stone or Dall sheep,” said COS Sgt. Anthony Eagles, in the post.

“It remains imperative that all hunters, including guided hunters and their guides, are diligent to ensure a ram is full curl or at least eight years old, per the hunting regulations in BC.”