B.C. man gets $5K fine, 1-year hunting ban after shooting elk too close to public roadway

Conservation officers shared this photo of some of the seized elk meat with their post. (Facebook / ConservationOfficerService)

A B.C. man has been fined $5,000 and banned from hunting for a year after pleading guilty to discharging a firearm in a no-shooting area, according to provincial conservation officers.

David Cake received his sentence earlier this month in Fort St. John provincial court, the B.C. Conservation Officer Service said in a social media post Monday.

According to the service, the charge stemmed from an investigation that began Sept. 29, 2024, when the provincial Report All Poachers and Polluters line received a report of someone killing a cow elk within the road allowance of Upper Cache Road, near Fort St. John.

“Highways and publicly maintained roads are defined as no-shooting areas under the Wildlife Act,” the BCCOS said in its post.

In addition to the fine, most of which is to be paid to the Habitat Conservation Trust Fund, Cake was ordered to retake the B.C. Wildlife Federation C.O.R.E. course before hunting or accompanying a hunter in the province in the future.

He was also ordered to forfeit the wildlife that was seized during the BCCOS investigation.

The service says perishable portions of the elk that it seized were “donated to local First Nations.”

Online court records indicate that Cake was also charged with hunting without consideration and taking wildlife out of season, but those charges were stayed as a result of his guilty plea.

The BCCOS reminds hunters to review the "B.C. Hunting and Trapping Synopsis" before embarking on a hunt, to refresh their knowledge and learn of any changes.

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