ATHABASCA — An Alberta justice shared words of warning for new hunters after an Edmonton man found himself hit with a fine and night in jail rather than his harvest.
Abdulmohaime Al-Muslimawi appeared in front of Justice Joanne Heudes May 26 in Athabasca Court of Justice to resolve what she described as a string of unfortunate events put in motion by common beginner mistakes.
“It is a series of errors that have all accumulated on you, and made this a horrible experience,” said Heudes.
Al-Muslimawi’s legal counsel Anthony Oliver entered two guilty pleas on behalf of his client, one for petty trespassing and another for unauthorized possession of a deer. The Edmonton-based hunter was charged in March 2025 for an offence committed 101 days earlier.
On Nov. 24, 2024, the newly-licensed Al-Muslimawi was out looking for game in the Athabasca area. While he held a valid provincial license and tag for a whitetail deer, the green hunter mistook unfenced private property for crown land, where he illegally shot a whitetail deer.
“You’re not the first person I’ve talked to that’s mistaken Crown land,” said Heudes. “There’s county maps you can buy up at the county, I recommend one. It will help you see very clearly where you are.”
Nearby individuals who witnessed the event and contacted the landowner stopped Al-Muslimawi as he loaded the deer into his truck, informing him he had harvested the deer from private land with no hunting permitted.
“He stopped right there, he complied with them, and in fact he turned over the deer on site to the civilians,” said Oliver. “They pointed out signage, he observed that, and he accepted responsibility.”
Prior to surrendering his kill, Al-Muslimawi failed to place his tag on the deer, leading to the charge of unauthorized possession of wildlife.
“The deer needs to be tagged right there at the scene. He was going to tag the deer in the truck when he got back to the road, but these guys stopped him immediately. He had the valid tag,” said Oliver.
“Obviously, lessons learned.”
Another mistake more than four months after the hunting errors made Al-Muslimawi’s experience even more eventful. A mix-up in communication around his court date in March led to the issue of a warrant for his arrest.
“He wound up spending a full night in cells, it was a very traumatic experience for him, he has no criminal record,” said Oliver.
Heudes handed the hunter a reduced total of $550 in fines for the offences, noting his stay in jail was beyond the typical consequences for his charges.
“This is his first offence, and I know this is something he certainly didn’t intend, he took every step along the way to try and correct the (wrong) steps; he had a valid tag, he thought it was Crown land. I doubt he’s going to do this again.
“Happy hunting in the future.”
