BOYLE — A Fort McMurray-based subsistence hunter learned an expensive lesson after shooting and killing a moose on a roadway last fall, sending a nearby civilian looking for cover.
Trevor Simon, 42, was joined by his wife and two of his daughters as he pleaded guilty to one count of hunting in a dangerous manner in Boyle Court of Justice on June 10. The accepted guilty plea was accompanied by a $3,000 fine and an automatic suspension of recreational hunting licence eligibility for three years.
“For that person in the truck who had to take cover when rifles are being fired in their direction, that’s kind of hard to imagine, and I think this penalty will go some way to impressing that upon you,” said Justice Thomas Achtymichuk.
Six months earlier, on Nov. 9, 2024, Fish and Wildlife officer Lukas Madsen received a tip about unsafe hunting through the Report a Poacher phone line.
The caller told Madsen while he was parked in his truck on a rural road, he noticed a quad drive onto the roadway, facing the caller’s parked vehicle. A moose then walked onto the roadway between the quad and the parked truck.
According to Crown prosecutor Taylor Noble, the caller in the truck watched as the quad’s occupants got off their ride and fired one shot from a rifle.
“The caller then jumped out of his truck and took cover behind it. He was able to see when a second shot was fired and watched as the moose fell on the road, and then as the hunter fired a third round into the moose’s head.”
When Madsen responded to the call, he found Simon field dressing his kill. Madsen seized the moose, which was given to a local family afterwards, and served Simon with a notice to appear for hunting in a dangerous manner.
“Shooting a firearm towards another individual or near another individual while hunting is very serious, could obviously lead to very serious consequences, and this was not just one shot, but multiple. It forced the complainant to head for cover,” said Noble.
Simon admitted to firing the second and third shots, while the first was fired by an unnamed individual hunting with him.
Defence lawyer Frank Carbonara said his client was remorseful about the situation and did not intend to scare anyone. He described Simon as the sole provider for his wife and five daughters who all reside with him, and said the loss of the moose was felt by the Simon household.
“The family does truly rely on his ability to hunt to provide for them. The moose that he catches during the season is used to feed the entire family for the whole year,” said Carbonara.
Despite the automatic cancellation of any recreational licences and a three-year ban on his right to hold a recreational licence, Simon will be able to continue hunting to feed his family thanks to his Treaty hunting rights granted by his Mi’kmaq heritage.
“My understanding is that the recreational licence suspension won’t impact his ability to hunt because he doesn’t rely on a recreational licence to hunt anyways,” said Carbonara.
Simon has until Dec. 23, 2025 to pay or risks spending up to 23 days in custody. One count of careless use of a firearm was withdrawn as part of the joint submission.
