A provincial court judge has rejected a man鈥檚 self defence claim in the shooting of two bears in Tofino.

Ryan Owen Millar was convicted of the unlawful killing of a mother bear and young cub on Oct. 14, 2021.

鈥淚t was not a fair hunt. It was not an ethical hunt. For our purposes in this trial, I conclude and find as a matter of fact, it was not a legal hunt,鈥� Honourable Judge Alexander Wolf wrote in his reasons for judgment published on June 6. 鈥淚t appears to me that Mr. Millar鈥檚 only regret is that he was caught on film and seen by two witnesses.鈥�

During the three-day trial, a witness testified he was visiting Tofino from Vancouver with his spouse and 鈥渆njoying watching the bears鈥� from his Airbnb when he saw Millar shoot the bears with a longbow and a crossbow.

鈥淭he witness said he has 鈥渂een around hunting most of his life, studied Medieval Studies, and could tell one of the bows was a 鈥渓ong bow,鈥欌�� Wolf wrote. 鈥淗e then told the court that the accused put an arrow in it and aimed at the bears. He testified that both bears were in a tree. He took a shot and hit one bear, and that bear fell out of a tree.鈥�

The witness said he was about to yell at Millar, but before he could Millar had taken out a cross bow 鈥渢o finish off the bear.鈥�

鈥淗e told the court the second bear was still in the tree and 鈥渏ust looked on鈥�. That is when the accused 鈥渓oaded the long bow again, and took another shot, and the second bear fell out of the tree,鈥� Wolf wrote.

The witness said the bear tried to run away but the accused ran after it and took another shot.鈥�

鈥淭his is not a case where the two bears were killed accidentally,鈥� Wolf wrote. 鈥淔or example, they were not hit by a car, without any intent to harm or hurt the bear. There is clear evidence that supports an intentional application of force. There is evidence that clearly supports that there was an intention to maim, wound or kill the bears.鈥�

He added that the witness testified that Millar had made no efforts to scare the bears away before shooting them. The witness also recorded video evidence before calling the RCMP.

An RCMP officer who was the first on scene testified that Millar initially said he 鈥渄idn鈥檛 know anything about鈥� any bears being shot, adding later that he had seen a bear and had scared it away.

Further questioning led to the accused telling the officer that he 鈥渉ad a haunch of meat on his property and he was worried about his dogs getting hurt.鈥�

Millar further clarified that he had tried to scare the bear off but that it did not react, so he shot it with his bow.

A Conservation Officer also responded to the scene and testified at trial that Millar鈥檚 recounting of the events contained inconsistencies.

鈥淗e seemed to intentionally create the impression that the bear was a 鈥榩roblem鈥� bear. He used the word a couple of times and eventually said it was 鈥榥ot a good bear, just seeing it come at me like that,鈥欌�� said the CO. 鈥淲ith respect to the incident on October 14, 2021, the accused described the experience and used very specific words. 鈥淣ear death experience鈥� was one phrase he used.鈥�

A wildlife veterinarian also testified at trial and confirmed that the mother bear was lactating and had been shot with four arrows.

鈥淒r. Thacker described in detail the angles that the arrows entered the bear. At least one of the entry wounds was consistent with being shot while the bear was elevated, such as in a tree,鈥� Wolf wrote.

鈥淏ased on her expertise she said there was likely a much smaller bear cub, weighing no more than 50 pounds, under the age of 12 months with the sow.鈥�

Wolf added there was no evidence to suggest either bear was 鈥渋n any way acting aggressively or threatening harm to person, place or thing鈥� and that he did not believe Millar鈥檚 recollection of events.

鈥淭o be clear, without any hesitation, and to be as polite as possible, I conclude that his version of events is fabricated,鈥� Wolf wrote.

Wolf found Millar guilty of illegally killing the two bears and sentencing will take place in September.

andrew.bailey@westerlynews.ca
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