Labrador man acquitted in polar bear kill

When is a man hunting a polar bear and when is a polar bear hunting a man?

That was one of the key issues Judge John Joy had to consider in determining the fate of Darrell Turnbull of Labrador in a case that began March 16, 2012.

That day, when Turnbull arrived at his cabin in Seal Cove, near Charlottetown, with his wife and nine-year-old daughter, he discovered the building had been damaged by a bear.

Turnbull patched the place up the best he could and turned on a generator to warm the cabin through the night.

The next day, as Turnbull was returning from a partridge hunt, he discovered the bear had returned to the cabin and damaged it further. As he was inspecting the damage, Turnbull saw a polar bear in the distance, charging towards him.

He rushed inside and got his rifle, firing a warning shot over the polar bear’s head. But the polar bear kept charging.

Turnbull jumped on his snowmobile and headed for the polar bear. The roar of the engine caused the polar bear to turn on its heels and head back towards the sea.

But Turnbull knew the bear would be back, and that the next time his wife and daughter could be alone in the cabin. He decided to end things there and then.

“Darrell Turnbull, at that point, was committed to eliminating the danger to himself and his family,” the judge noted in his written decision, which was issued last week.

The first shot hit the polar bear in the rear. Turnbull kept going until he was 50 feet away from the bear and fired again. This bullet hit its mark between the bear’s eyes.

“He had no way to contact a wildlife officer,” Joy notes in his decision. “It was about noon on a weekend. He dragged the polar bear to Meadow Island, leaving a blood trail that was easy to follow. He then went to Charlotte- town, Labrador, to report his shooting of the polar bear. He phoned Red Bay … the Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Office.”

The next day, wildlife officers flew in to investigate. Turnbull walked the officers through what he had done. He was placed under arrest and charged with killing a polar bear without a licence, outside of the regular hunting season and in a prohibited area.

Joy dismissed all charges in provincial circuit court in October 2013. Joy said the killing was in self-defence, as the polar bear posed a threat.

“He felt that he was not hunting a polar bear that day,” Joy wrote.

“He had the distinct impression that the polar bear was hunting him and his family.”