Richmond man fined $8K for wounding mule deer doe in stomach with crossbow

A Richmond, B.C., man was fined $8,000 earlier this month for wounding a mule deer doe in the stomach with a crossbow in November 2018. 

Richmond resident Li Tan and another man were hunting near Princeton when Tan shot the doe in the stomach with an arrow, causing it to flee the property, said Tobe Sprado, inspector for the Conservation Officer Service for the Okanagan.

The mule deer doe had two fawns with it at the time of the incident. 

Tan had permission to hunt in the area, but did not have a licence to hunt mule deer.

"Unless you have a limited entry hunting pass licence for mule deer doe, it's essentially a closed season. And typically speaking, the province doesn't usually issue [those]," said Sprado. 

Tan had run out of bolts for his crossbow and went to a store to buy more. Meanwhile, the deer ran to someone else's property. The landowner of that property ended up euthanizing the suffering doe.

The landowner called the B.C. Conservation Officer Service, who located Tan, investigated the incident and wrote a seven-charges proposal for the Crown, Sprado said. Tan was charged in court with all seven under the Wildlife Act, one of which was knowingly making a  false statement when required to provide information to an officer. 

Tan was convicted of four counts:

• Hunting without reasonable consideration for the life, safety or property of other persons.
• Failing to report killing or wounding of wildlife.
• Hunting, taking, trapping, wounding or killing wildlife out of season.
• Hunting without a licence. 

Tan must pay fines adding up to $8,000 to the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation. He also received a four-year hunting prohibition.

Sprado says the B.C. Conservation Officer Service is pleased with the outcome of the court proceedings. 

"From our point of view, that was a great outcome for that type of a penalty … for mule deer doe."