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Hunters and fishers near Revelstoke spotted something on a forest service road over the long weekend that many wish they didn't see —  the B.C. Conservation Officer Service.

And they had their ticket books handy.

“A lot of people don’t expect to be checked by a conservation officer in these more remote areas of the province,” said Conservation Officer Greg Kruger, who was part of the road checks over the long weekend.

“Something we try to do once in a while is get to these areas where there’s not a nearby Conservation Officer to make people aware that we’re still out there.”

The level of compliance was reasonable, he said, and a little better compared to an enforcement blitz during the same time last year – but the rate of non-compliance could still be better.

Among the tickets handed out were three of tickets issued to hunters who drove into an area that’s closed to motor vehicles. It can be difficult to prove a person’s intention to hunt, Kruger said, “but if someone goes in there with a weapon – a bow, a crossbow or rifle – it’s reasonable to believe they’re on a hunting expedition.”

READ MORE: B.C. Conservation hands out 19 wildfire act tickets over long weekend

Most hunters in that area tend to go for moose, he said, but the penalties for non-compliance are the same no matter what their target is.

One ticket was issued to somebody who had a loaded firearm in their vehicle, as a loaded magazine was allegedly attached to the firearm.

“Still people who choose not to comply with the rules or don’t fully understand that a magazine attached to a firearm counts as it being loaded.”

Another ticket was issued for improperly canceling a species licence, and a warning was also given out on the same offences. Kruger said that offence can happen as an honest mistake when hunters aren’t being thorough, or it could be deliberate by people trying to reuse the licence again later in the season.

“Every hunter who has a species license, on the back are very specific directions on how to properly cancel species license.”

And on the way back from Revelstoke, officers noticed a truck carrying a motorboat that failed to stop at a watercraft inspection station, so the driver was pulled over and issued a ticket for failing to stop.

READ MORE: $2,300 worth of fines handed out for illegal campfires in North Okanagan

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