Oliver-based hunting guide will eventually plead guilty

An Oliver-based hunting guide is ready to plead guilty to some of the charges against him.

James Darin Wiens, 51, who owns Vaseux Creek Outfitters, has been accused of eight offences, including hunting with bait, shooting from a vehicle, hunting with poison, guiding in a park without a permit and failing to accompany a client.

On Wednesday, Wiens was scheduled to enter a guilty plea in Penticton provincial court.

But both defense counsel and Crown told provincial court judge Michelle Danyluk that they wanted an adjournment to allow time to organize to which charges he will plead guilty and formalize sentencing submissions.

“I’m very concerned about the age of this case,” said Danyluk. The judge agreed to the adjournment but said she wanted the matter dealt with by the end of November.

The offences, which fall under the provincial Wildlife and Parks acts, and the Criminal Code of Canada, carry with them a range of penalties, the most serious of which is five years in jail and a $500,000 fine.

“The charges relate to violations committed in 2015 and 2016 while guiding non-resident hunters in the Oliver area,” Insp. Tobe Sprado of the B.C. Conservation Officer Service told The Herald in July 2017, when the charges were sworn.

Sprado declined to reveal how his office became interested in Wiens, but said the charges arose from “a lengthy investigation.”

Vaseux Creek Outfitters website is still active, showing trophy pictures of hunters and their kill, which includes large bears and cougars.