Ex-TV personality fined for killing deer

A former hunting show personality has been bagged for illegally shooting a deer for an episode broadcast on television.

Jason David, 43, of Hinton, was found guilty on March 20 in Broadview, Sask., provincial court of offences that included hunting without a licence and unlawful possession of wildlife.

David was fined $5,600 and banned from hunting in Saskatchewan for one year.

“David was known as Chris David on television, appearing on hunting shows such as The Hunting Chronicles and No Limits TV,” the Saskatchewan Environment Ministry said in a release Tuesday.

“This hunt was recorded and aired as an episode on (network) Wild TV. David is no longer on those shows.”

David was also found guilty of falsifying an application for a biggame hunting permit and unlawful export of wildlife.

Officials at Edmonton-based Wild TV were not immediately available for comment.

The Saskatchewan government says Alberta fish and wildlife officials told the province in 2011 that a white-tailed deer had been illegally shot near Grenfell, a town east of Regina.

Saskatchewan investigators determined that the deer was shot by someone without a proper permit and that the animal was unlawfully taken back to Alberta.

Rich Hildebrand, a Saskatchewan conservation officer, said a video of the illegal hunt broadcast on TV was part of the evidence that was disclosed to the defence, but the video was not played in court.

He said David was not targeted because he was a hunting TV show celebrity.

It was a matter of enforcing rules that are in place to effectively manage wildlife in the province, he said.