Future of the Hunt : One Man's Opinion

Monday, February 05, 2007 03:45 AM

Hunters, to a person, will tell you that if you’re stopped by a game warden there is a very good chance you are going to get a ticket.

Not that you knowingly broke the law, but the very fact that there are pages and pages upon pages of regulations makes your chance of knowing every single restriction taxing indeed.

The result has been a major drop in hunting licenses issued in this province.

Year in and year out the numbers drop. Hundreds of thousands of former hunters, and their children, no longer take part in the sport.

One game warden recently remarked to me that the new generation would sooner play video games than go hunting. That may be true, but what caused that to happen and has the Ministry of the Environment looked at the matter?

Generally, no one wants to break the law, but look at the regulations and it isn’t long before you will discover that you have broken them. TPeopl,e stop hunting because it's too mired in regulation, too much of a bother.

There is also the fallout from recent court rulings which allow a segment of the population to hunt in the manner they choose even to a point of night lighting game.

So on one hand you have people who are trying their very best to live up to the law, hopefully to ensure that the game they are hunting continues to survive, while on the other hand they feel betrayed by what is allowed around them.

If the government hopes to turn this trend around (and there is some debate that they don’t) then major input is required from people who use the resource.

Former Governor General Roland Michener once remarked to me, “Enjoy this duck hunt Son because you are taking part in the sport of kings." I asked what he meant and he replied"Iit is a dying sport because of increased restrictions by way of access and regulation and in the future just those with money, lots of money, will be able to partake."

I’m Meisner and that’s one man's opinion

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Posted on Monday, February 05, 2007 03:45 AM in Views by Ben Meisner

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Comments

Posted by: acrider54 on February 5 2007 6:31 AM

Only the elite can afford the fuel and licenses to hunt now. Too many laws obviously governement with too much time on their hands to think of ways to make things miserable for everyone. I think I'll start hunting at night.

Posted by: metalman on February 5 2007 9:23 AM

Acrider I agree with you on the cost of licenses, and the price of fuel is high, but to say 'only the elite' is kind of insulting. I have worked very hard for a lot of years, and therefore have enjoyed a high standard of living for for many years. does that make me "one of the elite"?
Ben, I have not hunted much in the last few years, but that is due to a lack of free time, not because the regulations are becoming too onerous. If one quits hunting because there are too many rules, then THEY have won. Hunting is a fine annual tradition in our country, and should be supported by the government, not swept under the all enveloping carpet of regulations.
Here is something to think about, if it were not for the actions of a few lowlifes (poachers) we would not have as many rules that regulate our every move. The rest of the (many) rules and regulations are, I believe, in the interest of conservation aare they not?
Illegitimus carborundum, Ben.
metalman.

Posted by: szd on February 5 2007 11:08 AM

The government a long time ago made it clear that they were out to eliminate hunting as a way of eliminating the need for people to have possesion of guns. The same tree huggers made it a part of their platform to eliminate both hunting and firearms possesion.

Posted by: lmorg on February 5 2007 12:24 PM

People should only have to hunt in the bush for basic sustanance, otherwise use a camera. Keep the firearm for protective purposes. An innocent animal has just enough rights to live out its life the way nature intended without suffering the anquish of being shot or arrowed. How would you feel if you were hunted by them on their territory......

Posted by: Don Mackenzie on February 5 2007 4:45 PM

I gave up hunting 2 years ago, BUT I buy a licence every year, Unlike Imorg, I still support the wildlife by buying a Licence, The Government put some of the money from the Licences towards Conservation I now buy a young Cow shoot it, skin and clean it then, Take it to the Meat market. Lot cheaper then hunting or buying meat.

Posted by: Palopu on February 5 2007 5:17 PM

Imorg. What about the innocent Beef Cattle, Hogs, Turkeys, Chickens, do they have a right to live out their lives. They are stalked on a daily basis by those working in slaughter houses, and hundreds of thousands are slaughered on a daily basis. What difference does it make if I eat a Moose, or Steer???

Regulations are made up by Civil Servants who on a daily basis have to find something to do to justify their jobs. Thats why the regulations expand every year.

I was stopped on the Blackwater River a number of years ago by a Game Warden who was checking for Licenses and seemed disapointed when we had everything that was required, including barbless hooks etc;

He mentioned in passing that had I been on the other side of the River fishing on that particular day he would have given me a ticket as the boundry between the two areas ran down the middle of the river, and the south side was not open to fishing. Rather interesting? I think they have since moved the boundry to the North Side of the River.

By curtailing the hunting we now have Bears wandering around the City and it becomes the job of the Conservation officers to shoot them rather than hunters.
Either way they end up dead.

Posted by: doc on February 5 2007 6:01 PM

Just like health care!! Let the government run anything and it gets fubarred.

Posted by: metalman on February 6 2007 8:55 AM

Oh my gosh Palapou, you let out the secret, C.O.'s shooting hunters!!!!
How could you?!!!

Posted by: caranmacil on February 6 2007 12:09 PM

I am not a hunter and thus know little f the regulations there. I have done some fishing though and i must say that the rules were often confusing and that enforcement is draconian. If all aspects of life were 'enforced' the way game rules are then we would all have a lot to worry about. Period. Where else do you have enforcement officials who believe they have the right to stop and search you any time they feel like it? By the way, i do know of someone who beat a seizure and fine based on rule of law. That is, they got a lawyer who challenged it on the constitutional rights regarding search and seizure. It seems that when it come right down to it, there is some question as to whether your property can be searched without a warrant or reasonable suspicion.
If the police need your permission, so do CO's (other than your documents).
As for innocent animals rights, well i have yet to meet or hear of an animal species that would be innocent based on human criteria. If they are innocent because they are just doing what nature intended them to do then so am i when i kill them and eat them. Any scientist ar educated person will tell you that man evolved to eat meat (scavenged or otherwise). Hunting and meat eating is only immoral in the eyes of the Walt Disney educated.

Posted by: Chester on February 6 2007 8:13 PM

I used to hunt many years ago. I kept my guns so my boys could experience the exitement of the hunt and also do something with their father that most don't get to experience.

But, eventually, the rules for storing my rifles and the cost associated with them became too much of a burden and bother for me to justify the effort. I had my guns so dismantled, that I wouldn't be able to find all of the parts and assemble it before hunging season was over. I gave up in frustration, sold all of my family's guns and now regret not being able to take my boys out on a moose hunt or even a grouse hunt.

Sad, but those people hell bent on protecting us have basically disarmed an innocent part of the population and the criminals still run free steeling guns from where ever they can get them. (usually an illegal source)

Are we a safer place? No. Did my boys get short changed? Yes they did. Chester