Hunter fined for shooting decoy

News Release
MNR

An Ear Falls man has been fined $700 for shooting at a deer decoy across a highway, $1,500 for hunting without a licence and $100 for not wearing hunter orange.
Robert Boucha, 36, who pleaded guilty, has been banned from hunting for a year.
In response to numerous complaints from the public about hunters firing across the highway, Ministry of Natural Resources Red Lake District conservation officers set up a deer decoy beside Highway 804 near Ear Falls on November 20, 2005. When Boucha saw the decoy, he stepped out of his vehicle and shot at it from across the highway. He then went back to his vehicle, reloaded and fired again. As officers approached Boucha in their truck, a second person got out of the Boucha’s vehicle and handed him an orange vest.
Justice of the Peace Marjorie Pasloski heard the case in the Ontario Court of Justice, Red Lake, on May 5, 2006.
The ministry reminds the public that regulations that require hunters to wear orange and prohibit discharging a firearm on or across a roadway are in place to protect hunters as well as the public. Hunters should shoot at game only when it is safe to do so.
Call 1-877-TIPS-MNR (847-7667) toll-free any time to report a natural resources violation or contact your local ministry office during regular business hours. You can also call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).