Elk poacher fined $6,640

Shooting a bull elk out of season is proving costly for the Saskatchewan man who did it, as well as the man who allowed it to happen on his land.

Someone alerted conservation officers about the incident near St. Louis, Sask., last February, through the province's "turn in poachers" tip line.

Since then, Doug Carl Risling of Prince Albert has pleaded guilty to illegal hunting as well as other charges.

Those additional offenses include unlawful possession of caribou antlers, illegal storage of a handgun and possession of a restricted handgun without a licence. 

He was recently fined $6,640, given a year of probation and barred from hunting for two years.

The man who allowed the elk to be shot on his land, James J. Hryciuk of the St. Louis area, was fined $2,310 for assisting in unlawfully hunting elk and received a two-year hunting and trapping suspension.

The Crown seized the elk antlers, elk meat, caribou antlers and a Browning handgun with magazines and ammunition.

Elk season dates in Saskatchewan vary from region to region, but generally it's in the late summer or fall.