AB Fish & Wildlife (Image Credit: AB Fish & Wildlife)

By Tanner Smith

AB Fish & Wildlife

Local outfitter pleads guilty to charges stemming from a guided hunt

Mar 11, 2026 | 12:00 PM

A Peace Region hunting outfitter pleaded guilty to “zone jumping” in Fairview Court on Feb. 25.

Alberta Fish and Wildlife says back on Nov. 22, 2025, wildlife officers were conducting a compliance check in Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) 526 and found an outfitter guiding a hunt, who had a Mule Deer license only valid for WMU 525, 48 kms away.

The outfitter first claimed it to be a vendor error, but later admitted to taking a “calculated risk,” after that was proven false through video footage and retailer verification, according to Fish and Wildlife.

Kelly Udell, who is “an experienced outfitter with allocations in both zones since 2014,” now faces a $7,800 fine.

The Fairview Court of Justice said his “early guilty plea, lack of prior offences, and the fact that a deer had not been killed when the violation was identified,” have all been acknowledged.

Anyone with information about any wildlife or fishery violations is reminded they can contact the 24-hour Report A Poacher line at 1-800-642-3800.