[Lefty-Canuck]

A game-hunting company run by two brothers from Spirit River has fallen afoul of Alberta's wildlife laws.

Blake Shmyr, 33, and Cordell Shmyr, 26, were charged following an investigation by Alberta Fish and Wildlife Enforcement's Major Investigations and Intelligence into a white-tailed deer that was poached by an American visitor during a 2012 hunt with Big Tine Adventures, the Shmyrs' outfitter company.

The brothers appeared in Grande Prairie Provincial Court on Dec. 17, when Cordell Shmyr pleaded guilty to charges under the Wildlife Act of having a loaded firearm in a vehicle and unlawfully possessing wildlife. Following the guilty pleas, the Crown dropped the other charges, including those against Blake Shmyr.

According to the facts heard in court, Cordell Shmyr took an American client out on Nov. 10, 2012. During the hunt, the client shot a white-tailed deer from inside a vehicle parked on a road east of Sexmith. The investigation began shortly after, when the Grande Prairie Fish and Wildlife Office received a complaint about a deer being illegally killed, according to Alberta Justice spokesman Scott Sehested.

"As the case involved the illegal transport of wildlife across the Canada-U.S. border and into the state of Georgia, where the client of Big Tine Adventures resided, provincial investigators conducted a joint investigation with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the state Office of the Attorney General and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service," Sehested said in an email.

The investigation took a long time because it crossed an international border and involved different jurisdictions, Sehested added. In June, 2014, the State of Georgia Department of Natural Resources seized the deer, which had by then been full-body mounted, and forfeited it to the Crown. The investigation wrapped up late that year.

Judge Morris Golden sentenced Cordell Shmyr to a fine of $12,000 and prohibited him from holding a guide designation or outfitter permit for two years.

Earlier in 2015, Blake Shmyr was sentenced on a separate charge under the Wildlife Act, after pleading guilty to providing false information in relation to a fraudulently obtained export permit for a black bear trophy to send to one of the outfitter's U.S. clients. Shmyr was fined $575 on May 11, 2015. A second charge, under the Criminal Code - impersonating someone to gain an advantage - was dropped.

"We thank the members of the public who called in the initial information that led to these convictions," Sehested said.

Any suspicious hunting or fishing activity can be reported to the 24-hour Report A Poacher line at 1-800-642-3800.