A 14-year-old youth who left behind a wounded mountain goat last month has been given a lesson in aboriginal tradition, and his uncle has been fined $115.

Whitehorse conservation officer David Bakica said today he gave the lad warnings for failing to make a reasonable effort to retrieve wounded wildlife, and hunting within a kilometre of a residence.

And two members of the Carcross-Tagish First Nation's lands committee sat down with the youth to provide their traditional and ethical perspective.

"We did not want to put him off hunting, because it's a good thing for him to do,” Bakica told the Star.

"But we wanted to emphasize he needs to do it legally, and from the traditional point of view.”

He said the uncle was ticketed for failing to make a reasonable effort to retrieve wounded wildlife, and was given a warning for hunting within a kilometre of a residence.

Even though the uncle did not fire a shot, as the adult supervisor of the 14-year-old, he is still responsible to ensure the hunt is carried out legally and ethically, Bakica said,

Youth under 16, the conservation officer pointed out, can only hunt in the company of an adult.

Neither the identity of the youth nor his uncle is being released.

Both the youth and the uncle believed that they had missed the young two- or three-year-old female because they saw the bullets hit the dirt, the conservation officer said.

He said when hunters shoot at an animal, they should go to where the animal was standing to check for signs like hair and blood to help determine whether it's been wounded.

In this case, had the hunters stayed around for just a few minutes, it would have become obvious the goat had been hit, he said.

Bakica said the nanny was shot from the side of the South Klondike Highway at Pooley Creek, on the base of Montana Mountain near the Yukon-B.C. border.

A caretaker living in the area at an old mining site witnessed the hunt at about 9 p.m. April 25, and she too thought the youth had missed the goat because she saw the four bullets hit dirt, he explained.

He said five minutes later, after the hunters had departed, the woman could clearly see the red stain of blood on the white coat.

It's possible, Bakica said, for a bullet to pass right through an animal, then strike dirt.

The eyewitness contacted the authorities the next morning, and Bakica and fellow officer Larry Bill visited the site.

The goat moved off a little when they approached, but it was clearly in distress and wasn't using its left hind leg, he said.

Bakica said the goat was put down and the meat was given to the Carcross-Tagish First Nation.

No bullet was recovered from the carcass.

Upon investigation, a total of nine .303 shell casings were recovered; five from the site where the youth first fired with open sights and four from the second site from where the animal had been hit, he said.

Bakica said the animal was approximately 200 metres off the road when the youth fired the second volley.

The animal was about 500 metres off the road when Bakica and Bill arrived.