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Hunting show host sues B.C. conservation officer for $2.4 million

Michel Beaulieu, fined for wildlife violations, has filed suit in B.C. Supreme Court after alleged harassment by a B.C. conservation officer led to him losing his YouTube channel and sponsorship deals, according to his claim.

Author of the article:By Susan Lazaruk
Published Mar 13, 2025
Last updated 21 hours ago

The host of a hunting show who was fined and banned from hunting for a year is suing a B.C. conservation officer for harassment.


Michel Beaulieu, “hunter, TV personality and a professional businessman,” alleges Wyatt Pile carried out a “malicious, obsessive and compulsive” harassment campaign that led to Beaulieu losing his YouTube channel, sponsorships, clothing deals and equity in his house, according to the lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court.


Beaulieu is asking for $2.4 million in damages in a suit that alleges harassment, including the officer posing as a buyer of his house to try to illegally search it.


The lawsuit alleges Pile’s harassment began in 2020 after Beaulieu illegally shared a hunting tag with his wife during a bear kill. He pleaded guilty in 2024 and was fined $4,500. His wife was fined $2,000 and both were banned from hunting for a year in B.C.


A subsequent two-year investigation by B.C. and Alberta wildlife officers resulted in more than $25,000 in fines against the couple after the seizure of unlawfully killed wildlife from six locations in both provinces, Alberta wildlife officials have said.


In a Facebook post, Beaulieu admitted to the violations but said they had stemmed from ignorance about licence and hunting regulations and not from malicious intent.


After Pile learned of Beaulieu sharing his hunting tag in 2020, he “seemed to become obsessed … and started targeting Beaulieu, looking at all aspects of his life, including but not limited to the videos he uploaded to YouTube through (his company, Alpine) Carnivore,” the lawsuit alleges.


He called Beaulieu several times regarding licence issues and then suggested new charges were possible and that he deserved a longer hunting ban for earlier violations, it alleged.


“There was no justification for these threats … or continued prosecution of Beaulieu,” the lawsuit argues.


“Pile intended to intimidate Beaulieu by continuously alleging baseless charges … and attempting to convince Beaulieu to admit guilt,” and said he would get Beaulieu punished by tougher penalties for violations he’d already been punished for, it alleged.


Pile also obtained a search warrant for Beaulieu’s Kelowna home and office, which alleged the presence of trophies and carcasses, “in an effort to gain evidence of the unlawful killings he obsessed about,” the claim said.


In November 2024, Pile engaged in “unlawful, malicious and vexatious” interference in Beaulieu’s application for a permit needed to transfer his wildlife carcasses and trophies, through an office Pile didn’t work for, insisting they were part of an investigation, it said. He provided no details of the probe, and no investigation existed, it said.


Pile’s actions fell outside the law and was “intended to harm and victimize Beaulieu,” according to the lawsuit.


Beaulieu repeatedly reported Pile to the Conservation Officer Service and the environment minister but received no response, it said. Both the Service and the minister as Pile’s employers are named as defendants.


The lawsuit says Pile’s harassment led to several financial losses because, it alleged, Pile contacted numerous social-media sponsors, podcast hosts and wildlife organizations, calling Beaulieu a poacher.


The losses include $40,000 in publishing revenue for a now-cancelled YouTube show, $120,000 in internet deals with sponsors, $150,000 in clothing deals and $590,000 in lost future growth for Carnivore and Beaulieu, according to the claim.


In September 2024, Pile, who works in Prince George, tried to enter the Beaulieus’ home in Kelowna by posing as a potential buyer, which the lawsuit called a breach of the couple’s Charter rights and for which they are seeking $200,000 in damages.


They are also seeking $325,000 for what they allege are Pile’s defamatory Facebook posts and $200,000 for Pile’s alleged misuse of power of a public office, it said.


The losses include “not less than $1 million” on a quick sale of their house after they were forced to move from Kelowna because of the effect on their well-being, the lawsuit alleged. The couple now lives in Calgary.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

David Karn of the Environment Ministry said in an email it would be “inappropriate to comment” because the case is before the courts.


Beaulieu didn’t return a request for comment.

I assume both sides are at fault
Hunters being greedy and breaking laws and overzealous game warden going bit too far as well if what is alleged is true
In the end “ Stupid is as stupid does “

quote:

Originally posted by M.Shy:
I assume both sides are at fault
Hunters being greedy and breaking laws and overzealous game warden going bit too far as well if what is alleged is true
In the end “ Stupid is as stupid does “

crown was not used properly but a poacher remain a poacher and it will never stop. after the first one year that should have been at least 5 years or lifetime ban for hunting ...

The sharing of tags, while definitely illegal in most jurisdictions, is so commonplace that it's seriously not a big deal. The fines were absolutely more than sufficient for that particular infraction. Whether or not that was just an indicator of broader abuse of game laws or not is hard to say, since they were never even charged, let alone convicted, from what I can see.
Now, if he is a serial poacher, oh well. If not, the suit has merit. Regards, Bill

quote:

The sharing of tags, while definitely illegal in most jurisdictions, is so commonplace that it's seriously not a big deal.

Group hunting has been going on for ever.

We passed a law allowing it for deer firearms season.

I find it the trophy only hunters that complain.

People who hunt to eat don't have a problem with it.

there is a little more than just sharing tags ...

https://www.yukon-news.com/new...nvestigation-7316362

Host of hunting show fined, hit with bans in joint B.C.-Alberta investigation
Michel Beaulieu says he’s not without guilt in Facebook video to set the record straight

A man who was fined and given hunting bans in a joint B.C.-Alberta investigation says he knows he’s not without fault.

In a 15-minute video posted to Facebook on Friday (Feb. 9), host of the Alpine Carnivore TV show Michel Beaulieu said he wanted to set the record straight on his recent fines and hunting bans from a joint B.C.-Alberta investigation.

Beaulieu, according to the B.C. Conservation Officer Service, pleaded guilty to allowing his licence to be used by another person. He also received a $4,500 penalty.

His wife, Lynn, pleaded guilty to hunting without a licence and received a $2,000 penalty. Both are banned from hunting in B.C. for one year.

In Alberta, the province’s Fish and Wildlife Enforcement said Beaulieu was convicted of hunting without a licence, hunting in a closed season, unlawful possession of wildlife, unlawful export of wildlife, providing false information, as well as abusing licence requirements in relation to the killing of bighorn sheep, antlered moose and antlered elk within a protected wilderness area.

Alberta Fish and Wildlife Enforcement says it was determined the offences in each province happened between August 2020 and September 2021.

The joint investigation took two years until the spring of 2022, with six locations being investigation throughout B.C., the conservation officer service noted.

There were three search warrants and officers seixed numerous unlawfully killed wildlife from both provinces, as well as a rifle. Multiple pieces of evidence were seized in the B.C. searches, including sheep and moose parts that were later matched by DNA analysis to kill sites in Alberta and shell casings from the sheep kill in Alberta also matched the firearm officers seized in B.C.

“These actions showed a blatant disregard for fish and wildlife laws in BC and beyond. Unfortunately, cross-border poaching is not an unusual occurrence,” said COS Insp. Kyle Ackles, who oversees the the B.C. Conservation Officer Service’s general investigations section.

However in the Facebook post from Beaulieu, he said the social media post by Alberta Fish and Wildlife Enforcement makes it sound like there’s “dozens of hunts all over multiple provinces where we’ve committed offences.” He said the convictions were related to three hunts: a bear hunt in B.C. and sheep and moose hunts in Alberta, adding the antlered elk charge is “incorrect.”

The sheep hunt, he said, was the “worst one.” In the video, he details the days leading up to when he killed the sheep, adding that it was the first big-horn sheep he ever killed.

When trying to leave the area, he said a man who claimed he was a conservation officer told Beaulieu that he improperly tagged the sheep and drove into an area that’s closed to motorized vehicles. Beaulieu said he didn’t know if the man was, in fact, a conservation officer so he drove home and called Alberta Fish and Wildlife to report himself.

Officers came to his home and charged him.

“All that happened and I though, OK, that’s unfortunate but it’s still above board – good.”

It was a year later, he said, that he received notice from Alberta Fish and Wildlife that they were “raiding” his home and that the kill was illegal.

“I’m not saying I’m without fault … but I am saying I didn’t mean to break the law.”

In the moose hunt, he said being from Ontario originally he was unaware of Alberta laws of who could shoot the animal based on whose name the tage was in.

“Was I right? No. should I have known better? Yes, but I didn’t.”

It was a similar situation in B.C. with the bear shot.

“It’s truly terrible that all of this has happened and I should know better.”

Hr said all of the incidents happened in his first year of filming Alpine Carnivore, “where I [didn’t] have the knowledge I have today.”

Alpine Carnivore, according to its YouTube channel, is a hunting and outdoors adventure series.