Two hunters have been ordered to pay a combined $4,120 over Wildlife Act violations that occurred near Quesnel in November 2024, according to the B.C. Conservation Officer Service. Michael Loring and Levi Cahoose were charged with unlawful possession of live wildlife and discharging a firearm in a no-shooting area in connection to the incident, according to online court records. Loring pleaded guilty to both charges, while Cahoose pleaded guilty to the firearm charge. The unlawful possession charge against Cahoose was stayed. In a social media post Monday, the BCCOS said Loring and Cahoose “unlawfully shot a rifle at a mule deer buck in the West Fraser Road single projectile hunting closure and subsequently loaded it into a truck.” “Shortly after, a conservation officer conducting a hunting compliance check determined the mule deer buck was unlawfully harvested and needed to be properly dispatched,” the post reads. The service said Loring’s sentence included an $800 contribution to the Habitat Conservation Trust Fund and a $230 “victim surcharge” for the wildlife possession charge, as well as a $1,500 contribution to the fund and a $575 victim surcharge for the firearm offence. Cahoose was ordered to pay $900 to the fund and a $115 victim surcharge, according to the BCCOS. According to court records, the charges were laid in March 2025 and the hunters entered their guilty pleas in June of this year.
