Ahhhh… lawyers, insurance companies, and poachers…. the perfect storm!
From the Univ of Alberta – Faculty of Law is this interesting case….
Oh – In Canada, they often refer to hunting with a light (spot-lighting) as “jacking”. I haven’t heard it called that, here.
The basic holding in Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Co. v. Herbison makes sense: if a guy goes hunting, gets out of the truck and shoots his buddy, his negligence isn’t covered under his auto insurance policy. Indeed, this result seems so obvious that you have to wonder how in the world anyone could argue with a straight face that the hunting accident was “from the use of” an automobile? Just because he drove there? No, Herbison had a different argument. The hunting accident arose from the use of an automobile because he was using the lights of the truck to illuminate where he was shooting, and but for the truck and its lights, he wouldn’t have been able to hunt.
In other words… he was deer jacking!
Check out the facts, para 4. I had to go back to the back to the trial decision, but the accident happened at around 6:00am on 22 Nov. At that time of year sunrise is about 8:00am. The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1997, S.O. 1997, c. 41, s.20 prohibits hunting prior to a half hour before sunrise and for good measure it also specifically prohibits hunting with lights.
Click on the link to read the legal discussions that followed..
