I believe non natives hunting on reserves have to follow provincial hunting laws. So if bow season wasn't open, Peter Kosid was hunting illegally. BFD.
The shooter could have just as easily shot a kid. Fortunately for Stan Jonathan pretty much every thing he did that day was legal. They sure have some progressive hunting rules on reserves.
We have no jurisdiction on Six Nations hunting: Province
Criminal code still applies after accidental death of Hamilton man
Peter Kosid of Hamilton was accidentally shot and killed by another hunter Sunday morning while hunting on land in the Six Nations Reserve.
Peter Kosid of Hamilton was accidentally shot and killed by another hunter Sunday morning while hunting on land in the Six Nations Reserve.
Sabina Marrone talks about her fiance Peter Kosid, who was shot and killed accidentally by another hunter Sunday morning on the Six Nations Reserve.
‘One careless shot and my husband is taken away from me’
Nov 13, 2012 Bowhunter Peter Kosid, a 28-year-old father, was felled by a shot in the back from across a farm field on a Six Nations property
The province has no jurisdiction over hunting on the Six Nations Reserve, where a Hamilton man was killed by a bullet fired from the roadside.
Peter Kosid was bow hunting on a Six Nations farm Sunday when he was accidentally killed by an Ohsweken man police have described as a deer hunter.
Charges are still pending against the unidentified man, who police say shot from 3rd Line Road across a farm field and into a line of trees more than three football fields away.
Six Nations Constable Derrick Anderson said Tuesday police were still investigating the circumstances of the shooting, including the legality of the hunting.
The Ministry of Natural Resources regulates hunting in Ontario and sets out legal timelines for hunting specific game and using specific weapons such as bows and rifles, said spokesperson Jolanta Kowalski.
The regulations also forbid shooting hunting guns from a public road or at unseen targets — unless you’re hunting on a First Nations reserve.
“MNR does not have jurisdiction on reserves for hunting or fishing violations involving (First Nations) people living on that reserve,” she said Tuesday.
Aboriginal reserves such as Six Nations are effectively sovereign territories that are self-governed and exempt from taxation.
That means provincial hunting regulations don’t apply, but reserve residents are still subject to Canada’s criminal code, said Anderson.
He said Tuesday it was “tough to say” what charges might await the unidentified hunter.
But other hunters involved in past accidents in Ontario have been charged with criminal negligence or careless use of a firearm, for example.
Kosid’s fiancée, Sabina Marrone, said she hopes to see “serious” criminal charges.
“He took a careless shot and he took away my husband,” she told The Spectator Monday. “He deserves to spend time in jail.”
The provincial hunting guide recommends hunters contact elected band councils for information about hunting rules on First Nations reserve lands.
The Spectator wasn’t able to reach Six Nations elected Chief William Montour or wildlife manager Paul General Tuesday, but the council has issued online hunting safety warnings about “proper target identification” and the dangers of shooting at a noise.
The council’s wildlife managers “do some good work” training new hunters about safety, said Bryan Skye, a member of the traditional Haudenosaunee Six Nations Confederacy.
But Skye added not all hunters feel bound by rules set by an elected band council that Six Nations members like himself consider an “imposed” layer of government.
Skye said experienced Haudenosaunee hunters take their historical hunting rights and responsibilities seriously.
“We know how to act responsibly in the sense of both safety and conservation,” he said.
Kosid will be cremated Wednesday and a private wake will likely be held next week.
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