http://www.whitehorsestar.com/...arrassed-and-ashamed


Fined guide ‘truly embarrassed and ashamed’

An experienced hunting guide from Alberta who spent last summer working for a Yukon outfitter has been fined $10,000 for offences under the territory’s Wildlife Act.

By Rhiannon Russell on August 1, 2014

An experienced hunting guide from Alberta who spent last summer working for a Yukon outfitter has been fined $10,000 for offences under the territory’s Wildlife Act.

Patrick Garrett, 39, pleaded guilty in territorial court this morning to the illegal hunting of a grizzly and a caribou and failing to prevent a contravention of the act.

Represented by defence lawyer Mike Reynolds, Garrett did not appear in court.

That’s because he was working at a remote site northern B.C. in order to pay off the fine, which was a joint submission by Reynolds and Crown prosecutor Lee Kirkpatrick.

“In 26 years, I’ve never made a mistake like this, and I’m truly embarrassed and ashamed it happened,” Garrett wrote in a statement Reynolds read aloud before Judge Murray Hinds.

Garrett was working last summer as a guide in the Tombstone Territorial Park area for one of the territory’s outfitters.

He’s an experienced hunter and guide and runs his own guiding business in Alberta.

Kirkpatrick said Garrett participated in the pre-season guiding talk which discusses Yukon rules and laws. One is that an outfitter can only have one person hunting with him or her at a time.

On Aug. 27, Garrett headed north on the Dempster Highway with two men. The plan was one of the men was just along for the ride, but he did a bring a gun.

(Reynolds said his client recalls the outfitter instructing him to bring both men out, while, according to the outfitter’s version of events, recounted by Kirkpatrick, they told Garrett if the second man brought a gun, he could not use it.)

The group spotted a grizzly bear off the highway, and the man assigned to Garrett shot and killed it.

Kirkpatrick said grizzly hunting is prohibited in an eight-kilometre corridor along the Dempster. This bear was less than one kilometre from the highway.

On the way back to camp, the men spotted a caribou. The second man shot at it, but missed.

Reynolds said that when Garrett arrived back at camp, the outfitter confronted him and told him he shouldn’t have had two men out with him, and that the grizzly killing was illegal because of its proximity to the highway.

He had “feelings of disbelief and a feeling like he was going to be sick to his stomach,” Reynolds said.

Garrett does not recall the pre-season guiding talk.

In the past, he had had poor, “almost ambiguous” communication with the outfitter.

“But as a guide, Mr. Garrett knows the ultimate blame and responsibility lies with him,” Reynolds said.

Hinds accepted the joint submission.

Garrett must pay $5,000 for the illegal grizzly hunting, $4,000 for the illegal caribou hunting and $1,000 for failing to prevent a contravention of the Wildlife Act.

He is prohibited from guiding in the Yukon for seven years, and must complete the Hunter Education and Ethics Development program before obtaining a guiding licence in the territory.

His fine will serve as a contribution to the Yukon Fish and Game Association.

As for the man who had been assigned to Garrett on that hunt, Kirkpatrick said the outfitter has offered him a return hunt, because he paid about $20,000 for the trip and his grizzly trophy was forfeited to the Yukon government.

Due to incorrect information provided to the Star, a story in Tuesday’s edition reported that James Colosimo killed a Dall sheep and a Stone sheep while on two hunts with James Richards in the Yukon.

In fact, Colosimo killed a Dall sheep on one of these hunts. He did not admit to killing the Stone sheep, only to being involved in its export.

They're all embarrassed and ashamed when they get caught. Means absolutely nothing.

Grizz

my first serious girlfriend was my junior year of HS. I was truly embarrassed and ashamed when her mother came down into her basement bedroom about 2am on a Saturday morning and found us in bed together...

This goes a bit beyond that level of misconduct. We should be talking prison time.

quote:

In 26 years, I’ve never made a mistake like this, and I’m truly embarrassed and ashamed it happened,” Garrett wrote in a statement Reynolds read aloud before Judge Murray Hinds.

Must be the first time he was caught

quote:

my first serious girlfriend was my junior year of HS. I was truly embarrassed and ashamed when her mother came down into her basement bedroom about 2am on a Saturday morning and found us in bed together...

Depending on the age that could have resulted in prison time also.

could have been, but I was only 16...

Why was you embarrassed Rich? I would have told her to quit starring and climb in.

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
Why was you embarrassed Rich? I would have told her to quit starring and climb in.

Now Ted,all I have to say about that is

you hear that noise? that would have been me running,surely she had a daddy......

thanks JCOOK.

You have to understand that in the hillbilly amoral environment teddy was raised in their thoughts about women are summed up in the phrase "old enough to bleed, old enough to breed...".

By time I got in my car and got home, I was sure they had called my folks and divine retribution was awaiting me.

Rich

quote:

Originally posted by Grizzly Adams:
They're all embarrassed and ashamed when they get caught. Means absolutely nothing.

Grizz

The way I read the story the outfitter turned him in. Speaks well of the outfitter.

quote:

Originally posted by WannabeBwana:

quote:

Originally posted by Grizzly Adams:
They're all embarrassed and ashamed when they get caught. Means absolutely nothing.

Grizz

The way I read the story the outfitter turned him in. Speaks well of the outfitter.

With the limited information available, I agree. Apparently, the outfitter has also offered another grizzly hunt to the hunters that were affected since the illegally killed bear was forfeited to the Territory.

It appears the conviction(s) were a result of a plea bargain so it isn't entirely clear what the original charges were. Typically, under plea arrangements, charges get reduced or dropped to spare the costs of Court. But again, who knows?

Way too many of these things going on in our hunting community lately.

The hunters were apparently not charged so there appears to be more to the story.

I was happy for Pat and his success in the NA29. Now I feel equally sad and confused.

quote:

Originally posted by Canuck45:

quote:

Originally posted by WannabeBwana:

quote:

Originally posted by Grizzly Adams:
They're all embarrassed and ashamed when they get caught. Means absolutely nothing.

Grizz

The way I read the story the outfitter turned him in. Speaks well of the outfitter.

With the limited information available, I agree. Apparently, the outfitter has also offered another grizzly hunt to the hunters that were affected since the illegally killed bear was forfeited to the Territory.

It appears the conviction(s) were a result of a plea bargain so it isn't entirely clear what the original charges were. Typically, under plea arrangements, charges get reduced or dropped to spare the costs of Court. But again, who knows?

Way too many of these things going on in our hunting community lately.

The hunters were apparently not charged so there appears to be more to the story.

I was happy for Pat and his success in the NA29. Now I feel equally sad and confused.

If Mr. Garrett has the mindset and has the type of constitution that allows one to pile out of a truck on the Dempster and instruct folks to shoot a bear in what is deemed a sanctuary after years of guiding in the area, it definitely makes one wonder if all laws and ethics were followed properly in regards to the journey of the "29 North American Slam" Road hunting the Dempster highway isn't really much of a skill in terms of being a master guide or hunter.

+1 it raises questions about how the 29 were obtained.

............

remorse is a side effect caused by the locking of the handcuffs.