When Kelvin Davis Jr. discovered a headless moose carcass 20 minutes north of the Doig River First Nation, he grew irate.
Davis, a member of Doig River, said that no meat had been taken from the mutilated animal he discovered last Friday. Trophy hunting has been happening for years in the reserve area, and he's had enough.
"We come across it every year, maybe two or three times a year... it just seems like it's getting out of hand."
Davis believes a hunter shot the animal for the trophy, leaving all the meat to rot.
The waste is tremendous, he said. A moose can provide half a freezer of valuable, organic, healthy food.
Although he contacted the Fish, Wildlife and Habitat Management Branch over the grisly discovery, Davis doesn't think it'll do any good.
"There's absolutely nothing they can do about it, because how are they going to find the guys that did this?" he said.
Under the Wildlife Act, if a person harvests a big game animal such as a moose, he or she is required to take out what's defined as edible portions, which includes the four quarters and the loins.
Failure to do so could have significant legal consequences, according to conservation officer Shawn Brinsky.
Although he couldn't confirm if the headless moose carcass Davis found is under investigation, Brinsky did say that the Conservation Office is investigating some similar occurrences.
"We do have a couple of things under investigation, and obviously I can't get into those specifics, but we do have some things that we're investigating regarding the finding of a headless moose," he said.
However, he indicated that moose head trophy hunting is a rare occurrence in the area for a number of reasons.
"A lot of the hunting associated to moose, especially in these areas, it is strictly related to the acquiring of meat," Brinsky said.
"It's not often that, in that general vicinity, that moose... antlers would get into what most experienced hunters would consider a trophy. Generally speaking, in these lower elevation areas, the moose are pretty run of the mill."
Brinsky added it's common for scavengers and carnivores to drag off the head of dead animals they come across. He also said hunters are required by law to inform conservation officers if they have shot and killed an animal out of season, even if it was a mistake.
"When you see a headless moose, people are assuming that this is just a trophy, this is someone that's just killing... that's not overly common," Brinsky said.
"I can think of a lot of reasons why we could be dealing with what we're dealing with right now, none of which have to do with somebody that's out there intentionally trying to just kill an animal for the sake of its horns."
Brinsky encourages anyone who witnesses illegal hunting activity, or believes a violation has occurred to call 1-877-952-7277.
The line is open 24-7 and people can call in tips anonymously.
