GUILTY PLEA: Hastings man Dawson Bliss, who poached a stag then filmed himself and two companions carrying it, has been ordered to pay reparation.

Turns out he was true to his word for once:

Video stag-hunter fined for poaching

A filmmaker who poached a stag then filmed himself and two companions carrying it has been ordered to pay reparation.

Dawson Bliss, 52, of Hastings, appeared in Hastings District Court yesterday to plead guilty to charges of hunting on private land without the owner’s authority and of filming on conservation land without a concession.

The charges relate to a clip in The Trophy Hunters video, featuring Bliss’s son Beaudene, 27, and Cameron Young, 28, shooting a 12-pointer stag on Teme Station in the Waihopai Valley, near Blenheim, on April 1 last year.

They took turns filming each other carrying the head back into department land. Daniel Le Brun, of Teme Station, said the stag was bred to release into a fenced safari park on the property so hunting customers could easily take home trophy heads. He believed it was worth $8000.

Bliss, who disputed the figure, returned the head to police for valuation.

Judge Geoff Rea fined Bliss $500 and ordered he pay court costs of $130. He also ordered reparation to Mr Le Brun of $1875 – one third of the animal’s estimated value.

Beaudene Bliss was convicted last week and ordered to pay his share of reparation. An arrest warrant has been issued for Young.

Taken from the Dominion Post.

I didn’t realise that my blog was still getting so many hits (Getting over 500 a day!), so I fixed all of the links so you can check out the pictures and video of Mr Bliss with out hunting around too hard to find them.

I was actually up in the Hawkes Bay where our man Dawson Bliss operates his shady businesses over the past couple of weeks, and happened to bring up the whole ordeal with one of the locals, who knew of him all too well, and said that Dawson has actually recently been in the news AGAIN. I tracked down the article:

Video shows stag killing
The Dominion Post | Saturday, 08 November 2008

A film-maker is to plead guilty to poaching after a landowner watching one of his movies realised the trophy stag being shot belonged to him and was on his land.

Dawson Bliss, 52, of Hastings, will appear on Tuesday in Hastings District Court, where he says he will plead guilty to charges of hunting on private land without the owner’s authority and of filming on conservation land without a concession.

Bliss, a professional hunting guide who has made numerous hunting movies sold throughout New Zealand and overseas, has labelled the charges “ridiculous”.

“I’ve pleaded guilty because I just can’t be bothered with the cost and the hassle.” He said he had “no idea” a concession was required to film on department land.

The charges relate to a clip in The Trophy Hunters video, featuring Bliss’ son Beaudene, 27, and Cameron Young, 28, shooting a 12-pointer stag on Teme Station in the Waihopai Valley, near Blenheim. On March 31, the three men flew by helicopter to conservation reserve land. The next morning they tramped out of the reserve on to the station and tracked the stag. It was filmed alive, then killed.

Police say the men dragged it to a concealed area where they skinned it, removed its head and threw the carcass in a river.

They took turns filming each other carrying the head back into department land. A helicopter collected them on April 2.

Bliss made a video with the footage and copies were sold on the Internet and at hunting and fishing shops.

Daniel Le Brun, of Teme Station, said the stag was bred to release into a fenced safari park on the property so hunting customers could easily take home trophy heads. It was worth $8000. Bliss disputes this figure.

Mr Le Brun said the hunters must have crossed a fence in order to get the stag. Bliss disputes this.

Charges were laid early this year after Mr Le Brun saw the video and realised the men were hunting on his property.

Bliss Jr, of Nelson, and Young, of Hastings, pleaded guilty in Blenheim District Court last month to hunting deer on private property without permission and filming wildlife on crown land for commercial gain without a licence.

The men were told to give the stag head to Hastings police so it could be valued.

HRM, this all sounds just a LITTLE BIT TO FAMILAR! Dawson Bliss thinking he can beat the system. I guess this time it’s his own video that would be prime evidence, so he can’t try and dispute that it’s faked, like he did with me! If only he had of pleaded guilty in our case to save me a lot of time and money as well!

Wanker.