Guide fined $30K for taking client outside of designated hunt area in B.C.

An assistant hunting guide will have to pay $30,150 in penalties for taking a client outside of his designated hunting area in B.C.

Franck Besseat pleaded guilty April 15 to guiding a hunter in an area not authorized by the guide outfitter’s licence of his employer, according to a Facebook post from the B.C. Conservation Officer Service on April 21.

Besseat’s sentencing order included a $29,000 payment to the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, a $1,000 fine, plus the $150 victim fine surcharge, and a 12-month probation order, including the condition that he not apply to the Guide Outfitters Association of BC during the probation period.

The offence occurred in the McBride area in September 2022.

The B.C. Conservation Officer Service began its investigation after it received a complaint to the Report All Poachers and Polluters, or RAPP, line.