Three individuals from southern Ontario have been fined a total of $4,500 for the following deer hunting violations:
Zakery Bell of Lakehurst pleaded guilty to hunting deer without a licence, trespassing for the purpose of hunting, unlawfully hunting at night, possessing illegally killed wildlife, unlawfully using another person’s licence and possessing another person’s deer tag while hunting. He was fined $1,500 and is suspended from hunting for five years.
Pierre Stewart of Lakehurst pleaded guilty to trespassing for the purpose of hunting and enabling someone to unlawfully use his licence. He was fined $2,700.
Katrina Bell of Lakehurst pleaded guilty to enabling someone to unlawfully use her licence and failing to notify the ministry about a change of information. She was fined $300 and is suspended from hunting for one year.
The Ontario Court of Justice heard that on December 15, 2024, a conservation officer investigated a tip complaint regarding trespassing for the purpose of hunting on a rural property in Lakehurst in the Municipality of Trent Lakes. The officer followed a blood trail and human footprints from the rural property to the backyard of an adjacent property where the officer contacted Zakery Bell hunting deer in his backyard.
As a result of an investigation that followed, it was determined that on December 11, 2024, Zakery Bell was hunting deer in his backyard by himself. He had previously used his deer tag and therefore was hunting deer without a licence. He shot and wounded a deer which fled onto a neighbouring rural property. Bell tracked that deer onto the neighbouring property three separate times, with the assistance of Stewart on at least one of those occasions. Neither man had permission from the property owner. Later that night, Bell tracked the deer onto the ice of Buckhorn Lake and shot it in the dark.
After killing the deer, Zakery Bell contacted Stewart again to help him retrieve the deer. While at Zakery Bell’s residence, Stewart gave Bell his deer tag, which he notched and kept. Bell kept the deer until December 15, 2024, when it was inspected by the conservation officer. The officer also determined that Bell had hunted deer by himself on at least two separate occasions using Katrina Bell’s tag after he had already used his own deer tag earlier in the hunting season.
Justice of the Peace Jennifer A. Mumby and Justice of the Peace Joel Kulmatycki heard the cases separately in the Ontario Court of Justice, Peterborough, on May 8, 2025 and September 11, 2025.
To report a natural resource problem or provide information about an unsolved case, members of the public can call the ministry TIPS line toll free at 1-877-847-7667. You can also call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS. For more information about unsolved cases, please visit ontario.ca/mnrtips.
