Sask looking at depredation tags
- Thread starter skhunter
- Start date
duncansuds
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Weyburn, SK
How about no wildlife coverage of any kind when no hunting signs are hung and adhered to. Getting sick of the locked up huge parcels and having an excess of tags in those zones due to it. Sucks.
I get why landowners and SARM were pushing for the new trespass law. I've hunted many provinces and US states and the trespassing I've witnessed in Saskatchewan is by far the worst, including recreational snowmobilers/ATVs or idiots doing donuts in seeded fields. The disregard for private property and entitlement of trespassers has led us here.
Got a source for this? Curious to see what's being discussed.
I believe it's only going to get worse next season and license sales will drop more. People will lose interest when hunting gets "harder". We've been getting big snow dumps early/mid November the past few seasons further restricting access and concentrating hunters in the same areas resulting in more hunter dissatisfaction. I foresee the Ministry giving away more and more antlerless tags in the future to a smaller pool of hunters.
Got a source for this? Curious to see what's being discussed.
The trespass law does nothing to stop snowmobiling and quads.
Moe announced it on CTV news last night.
https://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/deer-a...ion-on-growing-wildlife-populations-1.6316228
BigUglyMan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- New Scotland
As much as I like small town folk, I'm not taking population-level recommendations, such as creating a general season on mule deer, from some random reeve.
But, you're right, the trespass law is a giant pain in the backside and in many areas was not needed at all. In the areas where it was needed, it was really needed to keep marauders out of farm yards, not deer hunters out of coulees!
But, you're right, the trespass law is a giant pain in the backside and in many areas was not needed at all. In the areas where it was needed, it was really needed to keep marauders out of farm yards, not deer hunters out of coulees!
Was the Snowmobile Act ever ammended? It used to flat-out allow snowmobiling on un-posted land. The ATV Act didn't.
Just picked up my mount from the taxidermist last week - said it's by far the lowest # of deer he's seen come in since the law passed. Less than half from 2 years ago.
There's some good things about this trespassing law, but there's got to be a better solution. Maybe an easier way for hunters to find public land even. The maps we have aren't always clear, and lots of the public land is on Ag leases where the manager is a cranky old guy who doesn't let you in if you're not one of his close buddies.
There's some good things about this trespassing law, but there's got to be a better solution. Maybe an easier way for hunters to find public land even. The maps we have aren't always clear, and lots of the public land is on Ag leases where the manager is a cranky old guy who doesn't let you in if you're not one of his close buddies.
There is a better solution. The former PFRA pastures which numbered 62 Federal pastures, were over about a decade, transitioned to private ownership by patrons who rented the pastures. These lands encompassed about 718,000 hectares or 1.795 million acres. Public access to these lands is from November 1 to April 1 (basically 5 months of winter here). The access dates exclude most of the hunting season and shed antler hunting. Clearly we need increased access to these places. It should be extended from the current April 1 in the spring and from Nov 1 in the fall to May 1 and October 1. This would allow access for an additional 2 months so hunters can get some muzzle loading or draw hunts in these large expanses of continous lands. Many pastures are over 10,000 continuous acres with no grid road or farmyards and no other permission to worry about.
Outside of former PFRA pastures in Saskatchewan the only places with 10,000+ acres in one block to hunt are Provincial Parks or forest which are usually earmarked for forest companies to clearcut and mostly useless when it comes to hunting due to location, lack of trails, and tough accessibility.
It is possible with written permission to gain acess to former PFRA pastures outside of these dates however many pastures do not have a contact number posted on their gates and tracking down who to call is next to impossible. When you do get a hold of someone, they need the pasture board to approve an access request.
I have many times brought up the problem of accessibility to the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation Executive Director as well as Department head from Government of Saskatchewan however, changes to access of these pastues has proven very difficult now that they are effectively privately owned. So we can probably expect further decreases in access in the future.
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As a landowner and hunter, i never saw a need for the new trespass law for hunting or snowmobiling. I also have stopped hunting, I can understand the landowners that get hordes of hunters being pissed about hunters, never been a problem in my area. It's also getting hard to get permission in some cases as all the RM office or map shows is a numbered company as the owner. No idea what the answer is or will end up being. Been hunting since the mid 60's so i'm not to concerned for myself, still lots of gopher/varmint shooting on my own land.
I'm not convinced the main reason for the decrease in license sales is because of having to ask permission, at least in my part of Sask. If that's the case, would mean those hunters went without permission in the past, and are now stricken by conscience and following the rules. Hunter safety has taught for decades to ask permission from the land owner, good stewardship. Yes it's not always easy to find out who the land owner is, but it's far from impossible. Ask a neighbor, or ask at the RM where you are buying your map. Ask the owner you did last year. If you are new to an area or new to hunting, these issues would be bigger, but again not insurmountable. Join your local Sask Wildlife Federation Club, promoting hunting is their thing. If it's farm land, ask at the local co-op, grain elevator or farm supply store.
IMO, the main cause for the decrease in sales is the economy, followed by CWD concerns (related, who wants to spend a pile of money hunting only to throw away the spoils). Some will have been affected by the new law, but not 15%.
IMO, the main cause for the decrease in sales is the economy, followed by CWD concerns (related, who wants to spend a pile of money hunting only to throw away the spoils). Some will have been affected by the new law, but not 15%.
Suka
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Over the last year had at least 6 different guys ask me about cwd. Not sure if SK posts a positive found map? Those who asked me knew nothing about it but all seemed concerned.
Locally, seem to remember the last 1/2 Nov as being generally very cold, with lot's of snow. Just from those I saw don't think the hunter numbers changed much right around our location from previous years. Certain the price of fuel played a part as well.
Was Dundurn in terrible drought last year like further west?
Locally, seem to remember the last 1/2 Nov as being generally very cold, with lot's of snow. Just from those I saw don't think the hunter numbers changed much right around our location from previous years. Certain the price of fuel played a part as well.
Was Dundurn in terrible drought last year like further west?
In the past permission was not needed unless posted. It was easy for a casual hunter to go out and get some meat for the freezer. Those guys never caused any damage to any ones property. They are the ones discouraged by the new law so they choose to hang it up.
The hard core hunters will jump through hoops to hunt.
Funny how license purchases had been increasing yearly up until the law came into effect. The costs associated with hunting have always been high but even casual guys were willing to pay. For those guys this law was the last straw that made it not worth it anymore.
No Hunting signs worked well for years. This law came about because a bunch of farmers felt they were being disrespected.
"GET OFF MY LAWN" syndrome.
That’s because in many cases we were being disrespected. Most farmers I know have had pretty nasty encounters with entitled hunters who think they can do whatever they want. The biggest problem is the “truck hunters” who refuse to get out of their truck and just drive anywhere they want. It’s the same guys who cut fences or drive through canola fields because they’re too lazy to walk.
One reason in my area for less hunting this year was the amount of snow we had. We had way more snow than usual so it made it pretty difficult to get around for the truck hunters. Lots of people didn’t buy tags since they knew they’d have to walk through deep snow to get a deer.
the spank
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Planet Earth Wearing My Tinfoil Hat
Bingo x 2! I saw almost nobody hunting in my area this past season as fields were inaccessible to vehicles due to snow levels. In my travels to four different properties I had blinds on last season I saw nobody and no truck tracks in fields especially the last two weeks of season when temps plummeted to -25 to -30. I never saw anyone after the first week of rifle season and that first big dump of snow.
Thanks for that, I've been out of country for work the past couple months!
I think that for most areas, the issue here is access to deer, not the number of deer. Access to private land and public (public pastures) has been a pretty big issue IMO. Even gaining access to the areas you have access to once the snow hits can be hard.
I think we could restructure the season, like opening rifle on 1 Nov in the Southern half of the Province or increase some quotas in affected zones. But ultimately, land owners who have a problem with deer numbers will have to do their part and let more hunters on their land. The issue here is that if only half of those who have problem deer, let more hunters on, and the other half doesn't, then the deer will simply move where there aren't any hunters.
An earlier doe rifle season would probably entice hunters to take does earlier in the season if there is also the opportunity to go hunt the rut later on. The current structure of archery/muzzleloarder/shotgun is simply not attractive enough for rifle hunters who make up the vast majority of hunters in the Province.
