Hunter pleads guilty to two Alberta Wildlife Act offences, receives large fine

BARRHEAD - A man illegally hunting near Goose Lake received a hefty fine and a hunting suspension.

Justice Carrie-Anne Downey gave Hasan Hamza Fraiq Alqaisi $3,250 in fines after he pleaded guilty to two of Alberta's Wildlife Act: hunting wildlife during a closed season and discharging a firearm from a roadway accepting a joint Crown and defence submission.

The fine was $2,500 for hunting wildlife during a closed season. It also includes a one-year hunting licence suspension, while the charge for discharging a firearm from a roadway carried a $750 fine.

Alqaisi must complete or retake the hunter orientation course if he wishes to have his hunting licence reinstated.

Justice Downey gave the accused until Feb. 13, 2026, to pay the fine.

The Crown withdrew an additional charge of improper possession of wildlife.

If Alqaisi does not pay the fine by that deadline, he risks potentially 22 days in jail.

The Crown asked for and received a forfeiture order for the deer carcass and the knife used in the offence.

Crown prosecutor R. Rees told the court that on Oct. 24, 2024, a person called authorities saying that he had heard a gunshot and that when he went to investigate it, he saw a vehicle stopped on the road and a man dressed in camo gear coming out of the woods on his neighbour's property.

A Fish and Wildlife officer would later stop the vehicle and question the driver, who told them that he was on his way to pick up his hunting partner, who had just shot a deer from the road.

Rees said another Fish and Wildlife officer would later arrive and locate the man's hunting partner near where the complainant had stated he saw an individual dressed in camo walk out of the woods.

She said the officer walked with the man to the field, where he told her he had shot the white deer.

"[The whitetail deer] was found to be killed in Wildlife Management Unit 507, which is an archery-only season in September and October, with rifle season being closed until Nov. 1," Rees said, adding the deer's throat had also been slit. "The regularly maintained road that he shot from is marked on both ends with signage documenting which side is Wildlife Management Unit 507 with arrows."

Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com