A Prince George man has been penalized for using bait while hunting for a grizzly bear.
Keith Eric William Budgell, 37, was fined $115, ordered to pay $2,400 to the provincial government's Grizzly Bear Trust Fund and was prohibited from hunting for one year.
Conservation officer Rob Groeger said Tuesday that Budgell had used moose remains to draw a grizzly to where he had set up a blind while hunting in the McGregor Mountains in September 2010.
Acting on a tip from the public, Groeger said evidence of the moose, the bear and the blind was found at the scene and with the help of DNA sampling and evidence from the complainant, a match was made. Brush had been cut back from the bait pile to the blind to provide a shooting lane, Groeger said.
As a result, Budgell pleaded guilty to a count of hunting with bait under the B.C. Hunting Regulation and received the sentence in Prince George provincial court on Friday.
"Hunting of bears over bait happens more often than we know," Groeger said. "We only hear a little bit of what happens out there and it's the public that really helps us out."
