Threw away my Foiles duck calls. I will not support poaching dirt bags or criminals.
U.S. hunter fined for duck abuse
By Tony Blais, QMI Agency
A "celebrity" U.S. fowl hunter who sells videos of his outdoor antics was fined Wednesday by an Edmonton judge for hunting illegally and being cruel to wounded birds.
Jeffery Burdett Foiles, a 54-year-old Illinois man, was dinged $14,500 and banned from hunting in Canada for three years after earlier pleading guilty to several charges under the Migratory Birds Convention Act and two criminal charges of causing cruelty to animals.
Judge Susan Richardson took Foiles - who did not have to personally appear in court - to task for what she found were the aggravating factors in the case, including his "gratuitous harm to animals and total lack of respect to the avian resources of this country."
Richardson also noted Foiles will now have a criminal record and could face problems returning to Canada.
Foiles' unlawful hunting activities - captured on video while in Alberta and Saskatchewan - included him calling the wounded birds by names and hamming it up on camera by talking to them, quacking, hitting and slapping them and wrenching their necks.
"The duck would have been experiencing distress and pain," said prosecutor Michelle Ferguson, referring to one incident where Foiles "wrenches" a duck's neck so the bird is looking at him and says: "Look at me when I'm talking to you," while wagging the neck back and forth.
Ferguson also cited another incident where Foiles bangs the beak of a duck with a live shotgun shell, roughly manipulates the duck's head and then places his fingers over the nostrils of the duck and holds its beak closed. He then asks the duck: "Is this how you want to die?"
As well, Foiles, who markets his videos under the name "Fallin' Skies," illegally hunted waterfowl from a powerboat and repeatedly exceeded his maximum daily bag limit and those of his fellow hunters.
Ferguson said it was aggravating that Foiles was a visitor to Canada and he made his fowl hunting videos for profit, purposefully shot over his limit and showed a lack of concern towards the wounded ducks.
"His actions promoted the needless suffering of those animals," said Ferguson.
Defence lawyer Steve Fix told court Foiles was a divorced father of four adult children and said he was not in a position to dispute the charges because they are dated and the hunter does not recall all of the events.
"He regrets this matter from the outset and simply wants to move on," said Fix.
According to agreed facts, the majority of the hunts in Alberta and Saskatchewan were in 2007 and included expeditions to Edmonton, Bentley and Pigeon Lake.
During the hunts, Foiles would address the birds by names, including "Mr. Honker" and "Mrs. Mallard," and he would not immediately dispatch wounded fowl.
He also once held a wounded Canada Goose - brought to him by his dog 24 minutes after he shot it - up for the camera and rubbed its head against his own cheek before eventually breaking its neck.
In another videotaped incident, a laughing Foiles "plays" to the camera while whacking a crippled duck on its beak with his duck call.
He also manipulates the body and wings of the wounded bird and then shows it his shotgun and explains it was the cause of his demise.
Court also heard Foiles tried to get his cameraman to shoot fowl despite him not having a permit and chuckled on camera while joking about exceeding the bag limits.
Outside court on Wednesday, Brian Petrar, the operations manager of Environment Canada's Wildlife division, spoke of Foiles being a "celebrity hunter" and said his hunting video antics were not "conducive to a fair chase."
Petrar also spoke of the "ethical part" of hunting and how Foiles "wasn't afraid to bend the rules to make money."
Meanwhile, on Sept. 21, Foiles was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 13 months in jail and fined $100,000 after earlier pleading guilty to violating federal wildlife laws south of the border, as well.
"If you have that much to fight for, then you should be fighting. The sentiment that modern day ordinary Canadians do not need firearms for protection is pleasant but unrealistic. To discourage responsible deserving Canadians from possessing firearms for lawful self-defence and other legitimate purposes is to risk sacrificing them at the altar of political correctness."
- Alberta Provincial Court Judge Demetrick
