Thomas Pigeon and Production Company - Total Of $8,000 In Fines

[44inchStone]

And Bridger hit the nail on the head.
I can totally understand sponsoring a family member or friend. Give them the luxury of coming to BC to hunt. On the other hand I TOTALLY disagree with sponsoring friends from provinces to come out specifically to record a show. If one of our own wants to sponsor one of the Beasley brothers to come out and do a bear, goat or whatever NON LEH hunt then have at her. BUT when the trip is specifically meant to make a show then the line has to be drawn somewhere.
As an ex guide and after running into these guys in the mountains with their film crew, I always wondered if they had been guided, which would have been the legal and logit thing to do. But knowing the outfitter of the area, he said they were sponsored.

This has not been the first time they have come to BC to film hunts under the accompany permit.
It take money out of the pockets of the outfitters, their guides and our cummunity.
Are they any different than Pigeon?
It has happened before by other TV host's. Use a guide one year, find out his spots and then be sponsored the following year into the same area by a friend in the province.
JUST WRONG in so many ways!!

[QUOTE=bridger;1548644]

Just curious what the issue is with the permit to accompany?[/QUOTE


Permits to accompany were implemented to afford non resident family members or friends of bc residents the opportunity to hunt in bc when accompanied by a bc resident that is family or friend. They were not designed to have a commercial overtone to them. There is a point of view in some circles that the citr crew by using the permit to accompany to avoid hiring an outfitter is stretching the spirit of the program.

[bighornbob]

[QUOTE=44inchStone;1557232]
It has happened before by other TV host's. Use a guide one year, find out his spots and then be sponsored the following year into the same area by a friend in the province.
JUST WRONG in so many ways!!

Totally agree on that part. But if they go in blind like others have said I don't have a problem with that.

They have a found a grey area in the rules and are taking advantage of it. I don't think the outfitters are out any money as in most cases the guys would not be able to afford a guided hunt in the first place. Its not like the residents are being paid $5000 grand to take the CITR guys on a goat hunt where if they booked an outfitter it would cost $10000. Its basically get a free hunt with the residents or they don't come here.

And I find it really just sour grapes on the outfitters parts. Most outfitters don't seem to have a problem with the "grey area" of flying low in their super cubs in sheep valleys when there are residents there, while "looking for lost horses".

BHB

[Stone Sheep Steve]

I can understand the g/o in question being upset. But I have to wonder why would he be concerned about atv access areas?? Piles is people hunt there and it should not be direct competition to his business.

FYI- the guided hunt that Keith Beasley was on was a carry over from the Pigeon days ....not that it really matters.

SSS

[bearvalley]

FYI- the guided hunt that Keith Beasley was on was a carry over from the Pigeon days ....not that it really matters.
SSS

With that statement I would question that Beasley went in blind on his permit to accompany hunt. Maybe his sponsor went in blind but he didn't. If that's the case it kind of pushes the validity of a BC resident taking an out of province "friend" on a hunt. Seems pretty grey to me when the out of province friend is the one that had hunted the area in question before being sponsored to return there.....not that it really matters.

[GoatGuy]

Agreed. As to SSS comment the CITR crew have been to BC on several hunts, both guided and under permits to accompany. If you went in blind on the hunt that raised the flags on this issue that only gives more reason as to the validity of the "friend" part of the permit being scrutinized further. I don't believe your hunt is the one in question but the CITR crew have returned to areas they had already hunted with an outfitter. Around some campfires this is OK, around others it is looked at in the same way as 3 guys hunting in your honey hole after you showed it to 1 of them.

This issue certainly keeps coming up and has now morphed. It isn't just about this incident.

Have a few outfitters complaining about permits to accompany, calling COS about illegal guiding, commercial activities etc even when people are not on permits to accompany. Apparently if you have a video camera nowadays, a dog box, or pitch your tent in a 'non-designated campsite' you're going to get a call from the park ranger or CO for illegal activities lol. Or better yet have the outfitter show up at your house. On one hand funny, but a tragic waste of resources on the other. These are the kinds of things that are really going to reduce support for the outfitting industry by residents. Starting to become a major issue in the Okanagan for sure.

Boils down to this: Another day worrying about small picture stuff instead of making more wildlife.

When it comes to class it's the phone call that really bothered me.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

This issue certainly keeps coming up and has now morphed. It isn't just about this incident.

Have a few outfitters complaining about permits to accompany, calling COS about illegal guiding, commercial activities etc even when people are not on permits to accompany. Apparently if you have a video camera nowadays, a dog box, or pitch your tent in a 'non-designated campsite' you're going to get a call from the park ranger or CO for illegal activities lol. Or better yet have the outfitter show up at your house. On one hand funny, but a tragic waste of resources on the other. These are the kinds of things that are really going to reduce support for the outfitting industry by residents. Starting to become a major issue in the Okanagan for sure.

Boils down to this: Another day worrying about small picture stuff instead of making more wildlife.

When it comes to class it's the phone call that really bothered me.

You can add on calling to report that a resident hunter didn't pack out all the meat from a mule deer.....when there was over 100lbs of meat at the butcher shop.


Back to the grey area in question. Never hunted that area myself but have to wonder why a GO is hunting where there is road access in country like that while he can access a whole pile more away from the roads??

SSS