Two hunters have learnt the hard way after being convicted of breaching NSW game hunting laws in the Wollongong and Cooma regions.
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NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) Game Licensing Unit (GLU) Compliance Branch team leader, Troy Hogarth, said these convictions send a clear message to the community that disobeying NSW game hunting regulations would not be tolerated by the courts.
A 31-year-old man from Liverpool, Sydney, faced the Wollongong Local Court in February on charges of obstructing, hindering and impeding a GLU inspector during a compliance operation undertaken in July 2016.
The man fled from the inspector when he was found to be in possession of hunting equipment, including a bow, in an area where he didn’t have permission to hunt.
He was fined $1,000 and disqualified from being granted a game hunting licence for six months.
The court ordered that a hunting bow and equipment valued at about $2,000, which was seized at the time of the offence, be forfeited to the Crown.
In a separate incident, a 49-year-old woman from Cooma faced Cooma Local Court in February, in relation to a GLU compliance operation that took place near Jindabyne in March 2016.
The woman was located with firearms in a State forest by GLU inspectors without permission to hunt. The woman was charged by police with a number of firearms offences.
She was convicted on the charge of not keeping a firearm safe and placed on a seven-month good behaviour bond.
On the charge of possessing a firearm in a State forest, the woman was found guilty and placed on a nine-month good behaviour bond.
Mr Hogarth said the GLU conducts compliance operations, often with assistance from the NSW Police and Forestry Corporation of NSW, targeting hot spots across the State to ensure that people hunt safely, legally and ethically.
“The community is very helpful when it comes to reporting illegal hunting through the joint GLU and Police program called ‘Shut the Gate on Illegal Hunting,” he said.
Reports can be made anonymously by calling GLU’s report line 1800 SHUT IT and including the time, date and place of the alleged offence, as well as particulars about any vehicles and individuals involved.
Further information about game hunting is available at DPI’s website www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/hunting, or call the Customer Service Team on (02) 6391 3750.
