An Aylmer man has been fined $3,000 after a conservation officer encountered him with a loaded, uncased firearm after legal hunting hours during a controlled deer hunt southeast of London, provincial officials say. The man pleaded guilty to unlawfully hunting deer during a controlled hunt, unlawfully possessing a firearm at night and allowing another person to unlawfully use his deer-hunting permit, Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources said in a news release. A conservation officer encountered the man during a controlled hunt limited to muzzle-loading guns, about 20 minutes after legal hunting time had ended, officials said. The man also did not have a valid controlled deer hunt validation for 2025. The investigation found his deer tag was back at a hunting camp, where another person had used it one day earlier for a deer taken during the controlled hunt.