That does not make it illegally hunted! It means they trespassed! Whether it was taken by legal means would be up to the CO to determine and lay charges and the court to decide the outcome. What they did was trespass, yes they harvested a deer where they never acquired permission to go but since where they were hunting was NOT posted from where they accessed the property, there is a significant grey area. I am not condoning what they did. The best way to deal with the situation is call the CO's in and let them straighten it out. If the deer was harvested illegally by the definitions they use to enforce the laws then it is up to them to seize it, not the property owner. He does not have legal title to it just because it was on his land!
Yes it does make it unlawfully hunted. Don't mix that up with the civil tort of trespass.
The Act states:
(2) No person shall acquire any right or property in any wildlife otherwise than in
accordance with this Act and the regulations.
And
41(1) Where there are legible signs, of a size specified in the regulations,
prominently placed along the boundaries of any land so as to provide reasonable
notice bearing the words “No Trespassing” or «Entrée interdite», “No Hunting” or
«Défense de chasser», “No Shooting” or «Tir interdit», or words or symbols to a
similar effect, no person shall hunt any wildlife within the boundaries of that land
except with the consent of the owner or occupant.
The boundaries were posted, only the gate was not posted.
Even if the land was not posted at all, consider the Act again (keeping in mind how many fences and gates they passed through, not to mention the cultivated land!):
(6) Where an owner or occupier of land has not erected or placed signs along the
boundaries of his or her land in accordance with subsection (1) or (2), that fact
alone:
(a) is not to be deemed to imply consent by him or her to entry on the land; or
(b) does not imply a right of access to his or her land for the purpose of
hunting.
So those poachers did not acquire right or property in accordance with the Act. Given the fences, the gates, the cultivated land, the postings on the fence and ss 41(6)(a) and (b), there doesn't seem to be too much grey area at all.


















































