Q: I enjoy reading your magazine very much. When I get the new issue, I go to the Point Blank editorial first. Secondly, I enjoy Steve Wasylik and his adventures with his dogs, Max and Mica. Thirdly, I enjoy your Notebook section. It’s about time convicted poachers received more severe penalties than just a slap on the wrist. 

I have: two questions 
1. A couple of years ago we shot a moose which then ran off. I was told to wait an hour before pursuing it. When we found it, someone else was gutting it. Whose moose was it? The second person had not fired a shot. 

2. What are the rules and regulations concerning a non-native hunting with a native person? A native friend wants us to go elk hunting with him because he can call them in. It’s agreed that once we shoot it, he leaves. Is this against the law?

P.S. In the spring issue, I could finally distinguish between your Fish and Wildlife officers (game wardens) and conservation officers (park rangers) with your new shoulder flashes. It’s nice to see. Keep up the good work. 

Gordon Quast
Westerose

A: Your comments on the Alberta Game Warden magazine and Alberta’s Fish and Wildlife Division are very much appreciated. Thank you. Your first question relates to a situation that is not altogether uncommon, that is, two hunting parties claiming ownership of the same freshly killed wildlife. There are many circumstances that may lead up to the conflict. For example, one person shoots at an elk and another person later provides the final shot. Whose animal is it? Or perhaps a hunter spends considerable effort calling a moose to his location only to see it shot by another person who was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. Whose animal is it? Or maybe two hunters both shoot at a white-tailed deer with a .270 at the same time but when they locate and examine the carcass there is only one bullet hole. Whose animal is it? You will not find direct answers to these questions in the Wildlife Act or any other legislation, but the Act does require that a big game animal be tagged by the person with the licence “…after killing the wildlife under the authority of that licence.” In some situations, many would argue that the age-old principle of finders keepers would prevail. Often, the situation calls for the parties to respect each other’s point of view and resolve the matter sensibly. If this cannot be accomplished, one can always pursue the matter through civil litigation processes. If Fish and Wildlife officers became involved in the dispute you described, it would most certainly be in the best interest of both parties to ensure the animal is properly tagged and it would be resolved satisfactorily only if the exact truth is revealed or admitted. Your second question is also quite common. People who are recognized as Indians by the federal Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada may hunt for food in Alberta year round without licences on lands to which they have a right of access for hunting. However, certain laws still apply to that hunting. Persons who do not fall within this category require provincial licences to hunt big game and may hunt only during open seasons. It is not unlawful to hunt while accompanied by others regardless of the particular lawful authority under which a person hunts. Therefore, the situation you have described is completely lawful, provided that all persons who are hunting are doing so under some lawful authority.  

Richard Lyons is a member of the Alberta 
Game Warden Association in Edmonton.