The trial of a Yukon hunter went on in his absence this week.

Though Romeo Leduc was not present in territorial court Tuesday, he was found guilty of killing an elk in an area outside the zone for which he held a permit.

It’s not the first trial Leduc has missed this month.

Last week, he was convicted under the Environment Act and the Forestry Act for contaminating his own woodlot and refusing to clean up the oil and debris left behind.

For that, Leduc was ordered to pay $36,000 toward remediation of the lot.

Tuesday’s trial related to a hunt in February 2016.

Over the course of two hours, Crown lawyer Megan Seiling called three witnesses to the stand.

Together, they testified that Leduc had registered an elk harvest with the Haines Junction conservation office last Feb. 29.

Leduc dropped off the animal’s hide at the office and stated it had been shot in zone 5-47, near Cracker Creek.

The office later realized Leduc wasn’t permitted to hunt elk in zone 5-47, and called him to verify. Leduc said he had actually harvested the animal in zone 5-46, where he was permitted to hunt.

On the stand, conservation officer Russel Oborne said he had no reason to doubt Leduc’s claim until days later, when a source told him Leduc had hunted in zone 5-47.

Oborne’s partner, conservation officer Thomas Grantham, went out to Cracker Creek to investigate.

Grantham testified that elk are normally found on the east side of the river (zone 5-47), where hunting is not allowed. Leduc claimed to have killed his elk on the west side (zone 5-46), where elk rarely cross over.

Grantham searched the area and found a kill site on the east side of the river. He collected evidence and photographs at the site.

Together, Grantham and Oborne then met Leduc near Mendenhall to discuss the hunt.

Grantham testified Leduc stood by the story that he had hunted the elk within zone 5-46. He said he couldn’t remember where the kill site was, and refused to join the officers in a search for it.

Leduc then sped away in his vehicle.

Grantham and Oborne re-visited the kill site in zone 5-47 to collect additional evidence.

That evidence, including blood and hair, was submitted to a forensics lab, along with samples of the hide Leduc had delivered to the conservation office.

The lab found there was a one in a trillion match between Leduc’s elk and the remains found at the kill site.

In her submission to Justice of the Peace Gary Burgess, Seiling asked that Leduc pay a $3,000 fine to the Turn in Poachers Polluters line.

She asked for a suspension of his hunting licence until that amount has been paid in full, as well as a prohibition on the following: permits to export meat, possession of wildlife, and accompanying anyone into the bush for the purpose of hunting. Seiling also asked that Leduc forfeit the antlers from the elk.

She noted this was a harsh penalty, but said aggravating factors in the case included Leduc’s reluctance to co-operate with the conservation office, as well as what Seiling called “flagrant disregard for the legal process that’s in place to protect wildlife in the Yukon.”

Tuesday was the second of three court appearances Leduc has missed, Seiling said.

She added that Leduc had sent her an email claiming that if he was banned from hunting in Canada, he would hunt illegally in the territory.

In agreeing to the Crown’s sentencing recommendations, Burgess said he had no problem with the submissions and that the only reasonable conclusion in the case was guilt.