Whitehorse’s director of administrative services was convicted in territorial court Tuesday for shooting an undersized Dall sheep.
“I was only out there like any other guy, trying to get meat for my family,” Robert Fendrick said afterwards in an interview. “I wasn’t going out there to shoot something incorrectly. I’m sorry about what happened and I accept fully responsibility.”
Fendrick, who pleaded guilty, must make a $1,750 contribution to the Turn-in-Poachers fund. He’s been barred from receiving a hunting licence for 2012-13, and he won’t be able to get a sheep seal until he attends a sheep hunting workshop.
He also had to forfeit the horns, hide and meat.
Fendrick shot the sheep on Aug. 25 near Primrose Lake, southwest of Whitehorse, near the B.C. border.
Hunters may only shoot rams with horns that are full curl. Typically, this occurs when the animal reach the age of eight.
Fendrick bagged an animal approximately six years old. “It was a rather large animal,” he said. “Even the officer said the horn mass was quite large.”
The full-curl rule, which has been in effect for three decades, is intended to protect rams in prime breeding age to protect sheep populations.
“If in doubt, don’t shoot,” said Kris Gustafson, the Department of Environment’s enforcement officer.
Contact John Thompson at johnt@yukon-news.com