Poachers filmed shot stag for commercial video

Poachers filmed shot stag for commercial video

Poachers filmed a shot trophy stag on video which was later sold on the internet and at hunting and fishing shops, a court has been told.
Beaudere Justin Bliss, 27, of Nelson, and Cameron Templeton Young, 28, of Hastings, pleaded guilty in Blenheim District Court yesterday to hunting deer on private property without permission and filming wildlife on Crown land for commercial gain without a licence, the Marlborough Express reported.
A third man, Bliss's father Dawson Anthony Bliss, 51, of Hastings, will face similar charges in Napier on November 6.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Steve Frost said the three men, with pig dogs and camera gear, hired a helicopter on March 31 and were taken to Department of Conservation reserve land. They had not obtained the licence required when using Crown land for commercial gain, and the men started filming pigs and deer.
The next day they entered private property and tracked down a 12-pointer trophy stag. It was filmed alive, then killed.
The deer was taken from a property owned by people who breed deer to release into the wild so hunting customers can more easily take home trophy heads.
Mr Frost said the men took turns filming each other carrying the stag's head back into department land. At least one other stag was shot there.
He alleged Dawson Bliss went home and made a hunting video with the film footage and copies were now being sold on the internet and at hunting and fishing shops.
The stag's owners valued the beast at $8000 which was challenged by Young.
Asked by Judge Raymond Kean to put a value on it, Young said: "It's worth nothing, really."
Judge Kean described the $500 maximum penalty for hunting on private property without permission as "pathetic" and said he needed independent advice on the stag's value before he could order reparation.
He adjourned sentencing until later.