Kelowna News

Kelowna man fined $13,000 for hunting bighorn ram

A bighorn ram caught on camera.
Image Credit: FACEBOOK/BC Conservation Officer Service

A Kelowna man has been fined and temporarily banned from hunting after he lied about where he killed a bighorn ram.

Heith Proulx had to pay a $13,000 fine and has been banned from hunting for three years, according to a press release from the Conservation Officer Service.

He killed a bighorn mountain sheep ram near Pavilion Lake, 28 kilometres northwest of Lillooet in October 2023. The ram had to be inspected but it’s illegal to hunt them in the area where Proulx was. He said the ram was from a different area where hunting these sheep is allowed, but GPS coordinates showed the ram was from a prohibited area.

Conservation officers caught up with Proulx in March 2024 and spoke to him at his home where he confessed that he lied about where he killed the animal.

Officers seized the sheep horns and cape from a taxidermist.

A provincial senior wildlife biologist who helped with the investigation gave a statement to the courts. Chris Procter said opportunities for folks to come and hunt a single California bighorn sheep go for more than $150,000 in recent years.

The Fraser River supports roughly 50 per cent of all the California bighorn sheep in Canada, the rest are found in other parts of B.C.

Killing this sheep went over the limit for how many can be hunted each year.

Proulx pleaded guilty to making a false statement in a book, record, report or return, which is a violation under the Wildlife Act.

On top of the fine and the hunting ban he has to retake the Conservation Outdoor Recreation Education program.

Most of the money from the fine is going to the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation.


To contact a reporter for this story, email Jesse Tomas or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. Find our Journalism Ethics policy here.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here.


One of the iNFOnews.ca news team's fleet.
Top ten reasons to get our newsletter
Top Ten Reasons to get our newsletter. 1. Find something new: You don’t need to read things twice. We try hard to find stories others don’t have. 2. Exclusive content: You’ll find stuff in the newsletter you won&rsqu
iN NUMBERS: Beer, wine and spirits in Kamloops, Okanagan
Everyone loves to go on about how great the wine is in the Okanagan, but good ol’ beer and liquor is too often overlooked. Here are some numbers for wine, beer and spirits in Kamloops and the Okanagan: 8,830: Acres of viney
FILE - Governor Josh Shapiro speaks during a news conference regarding the shooting at UPMC Memorial Hospital in York, Pa. on Feb. 22, 2025.
Talks in Pennsylvania are at crunch time over a budget, legalizing marijuana and taxing skill games
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and state lawmakers are getting down to crunch time, with big questions still outstanding about how to balance the Democrat's spending request. A push is also on to make Pennsy
FILE PHOTO.
Kelowna strata management firm fined $15K for not doing any managing
A Kelowna strata management company is on the hook $15,000 after it failed to do anything for a property it was managing. According to a June 2 BC Financial Services Authority decision, property manager Robert Tomislav Zivkovic provided &qu

Top News