Sask looking at depredation tags

the spank said:
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.
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Bingo x 3 here. Speaking of my neck of the woods in 52 specifically, the last 2 years have been absolutely nuts for snow levels. In Nov 2021, snow levels were between 16-22 inches in the fields at the start of WT season (Nov 15), depending how the wind had shuffled the deck. I enjoy hunting on foot, and that was the first year I ever needed snow shoes to hunt nearby. Last year was almost the same. In previous years on nearby properties, you'd have anywhere from 4-10 trucks crawling either through or on the edges of a field/nearby grids/goat trails between fields in the last hour of light. Last couple years, no truck could plow through unless they were a total kamakazee.

So, maybe the permission thing is affecting the tags bought, but snow and weather would seem to be a bigger cause in my opinion. The goofy start date for WT doesn't help either. It used to be Nov 1st to Dec 7th, which allowed a guy to get out early and avoid the crap weather. Then with a big die off in 13/14 it switched to a single tag, Nov 20 to Dec 2, which was total garbage.
 
retoxtony said:
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.
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Yep. Had that happen last year. 2 guys from the city went on My Dad's land, we saw them from the house, when we drove up to them they gave us attitude.
Most of the problem is guys don't ask for premission and think their entitled to enter private property.
 
skhunter said:
If it wasn't posted they weren't trespassing.
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I find it hard to believe that when approached bu the landowner their first response was an ignorant attitude, unless that is how they were greeted by the landowner? There are exceptions though.

On the same note, I can understand the landowners frustration, especially if they were close enough to see out of the house. My yard is hidden behind a bluff, with a half mile long laneway. You would never know its there until you drive into yard (happens a lot). I have no issue with someone hunting on my land, but if I see someone out and about I make a point of pointing out that my yard is in there so don't shoot in that direction! Plus a friendly reminder that the cows and horses are not targets(Yes, I have had livestock shot before, but I wouldn't say a "hunter" did it).
 
Not the point

We live on an acreage and id certainly hope people would ask.

I have asked the neighbour about walking their side of the Coulee looking for coyotes rather than assuming.
 
I can't see high deer population numbers being a problem going into next year. It is unfortunate that some farmers leave their bales in places that are easily accessed by desperate wildlife seeking an easy meal in a harsh winter. But if you are a farmer who has a problem with wildlife damage, maybe you can let a hunter purchase a few large round alfalfa bales and move them into your back bush so the wildlife will stay away from your bale stacks. In exchage for this maybe you guys can let them shed hunt around the bales as the deer drop their antlers in the spring.

I just got back from walking my 80 acres North of Biggar Saskatchewan. It look me 1.5 hrs to walk one mile to the Northside of the property and back again.The snow was 24 to 30 inches deep and not a hard crust. This is March 18 and its been deep snow since end of November and cold as hell for 8 weeks this winter. We're talking 8 weeks of -25 to -30+ below zero. That deep snow and extreme cold is very hard on wildlife.

I wasn't surprised that there were very few animal tracks. A few elk tracks crossing here and there and a pretty good trail into the old deer bait but other than that devoid of life. I did see a porcupine but it was the only life on the property. Not even a squirrel barking and it was only -1 degrees.

I guarantee this year has taken a hard toll on the white tail and mule deer. This winter will be one of severe winter kill. Population numbers will be affected considerably to the downside this winter as it was a very harsh one. Worst I've seen in about 10 years. To make matters worse, going into the winter, deer and moose numbers were already below what I would consider healthy numbers.

And you know its been a hard winter when pretty much all the deer for a hundred miles squared are at the grain elevator and farm yards rather than the forests. Don't let all the deer at the grain elevators fool you into believing populations are high or healthy. Also, a large proportion of deer mortality will be due to collisions along the rail lines as the deer congregate at these elevator and use the rail lines to travel.
 
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Mr.Rigpig said:
I find it hard to believe that when approached bu the landowner their first response was an ignorant attitude, unless that is how they were greeted by the landowner? There are exceptions though.

On the same note, I can understand the landowners frustration, especially if they were close enough to see out of the house. My yard is hidden behind a bluff, with a half mile long laneway. You would never know its there until you drive into yard (happens a lot). I have no issue with someone hunting on my land, but if I see someone out and about I make a point of pointing out that my yard is in there so don't shoot in that direction! Plus a friendly reminder that the cows and horses are not targets(Yes, I have had livestock shot before, but I wouldn't say a "hunter" did it).
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Basically they stopped on the road right besides tha house, then turned around and enter the field. House is quite visible from the road.

When Dad asked them the attitude they gave wasn't good.
Dad's ok if you ask for permission to enter the land. Their have been a couple people who have asked to hunt on his land over the years.
 
I don't understand the mentality of people that just go onto other peoples property without asking. Posted or not, it's not yours. Just because I don't have a do not enter sign on my house someone should be able to just walk in, make a sandwich and sit down? A little extreme for a comparison maybe but still...

As for the loss of tag sales and the new laws, I can see it hurting a few of the truck hunters who rely on driving around and being able to jump out and shoot something they happen across. Also the snow levels in my area restricted access severely by the time whitetail seasons opened up these last few years so I'm sure that had an effect as well. With the horrific winters, deer numbers have been decimated in the areas I hunt so that may have something to do with it as well. The lower tag sales could be the result of a combination of things. I guess we'll see how things look going forward. Personally I don't find it too much trouble to buy an RM map or two for the area I'm planning on hunting then taking an afternoon or two before the season opens to go get permission.

There is a lot of public land in SK if you're willing to walk.
 
saskgunowner101 said:
So, maybe the permission thing is affecting the tags bought, but snow and weather would seem to be a bigger cause in my opinion. The goofy start date for WT doesn't help either. It used to be Nov 1st to Dec 7th, which allowed a guy to get out early and avoid the crap weather. Then with a big die off in 13/14 it switched to a single tag, Nov 20 to Dec 2, which was total garbage.
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Restructuring the seasons should be priority over issuing more "depredation" tags. Hunting mid-November to early December has proven difficult due to big snow dumps the past 3 or so seasons. Bring back a Nov 1st rifle opener and adjust quotas as necessary. There are already several different types of tags available; over the counter, first-come first-served (first, second, heck third, etc), draw, etc.

As for landowners, we need to incentivize the use of their land for hunting. I 100% support prohibiting a "pay to play" system where landowners can legally charge for access. But there are other ways to encourage landowners to let hunters hunt their lands. Some US states offer landowner coupons which are attached to the tags and given to the landowner after a hunter harvests an animal. The landowner can claim $ with the government based on the number of landowner coupons they have collected at the end of a season.

RMs do bounties on beavers, why can't the Gov't do monetary returns for landowners who allow hunting on their properties?!? If this is truly an overabundance issue where they are destroying crops, then the solution lies in access to that land with adequate quotas.
 
skhunter said:
If it wasn't posted they weren't trespassing.
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I read that and heard it said often - so when I taught Sask Hunter Safety in the 1980's, was in that book - you do not own that land - therefore, if you are on it without permission, you are trespassing. The Hunter tag does not give you the right to "trespass" on anyone's land. When was that changed? We used to hunt in the big community pastures - one manager to get permission from and more land access than we could cover - I understand that has all been changed now - no more PFRA pastures - all private ownership now ...

I had heard from a land owner South and East from Big River - what he got from the local RCMP and DNR - they could not successfully prosecute night hunters or night shooters unless the private land was posted by the land owner. So RCMP / DNR would no longer lay charges if the land was not "posted" - just a waste of their time to do so. As if the "trespass" thing just went away.
 
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I feel for landowners, that hunters had entitlement to hunt without permission. I always asked for permission when hunting in Saskatchewan, landowners are nice people and great source of information regarding deer in the area. The main reason why Canadian Residences require application/draw to hunt whitetail in SK, is because Alberta, Manitoba and hunters from other provinces were trespassing without permission; no respect what-so-ever.
I do agree that license sales decreased because of the new trespass law, well, maybe that's a good thing. Best to thin-out the disrespectful and the lazy hunters, in return, more wildlife and less land owner issues.
 
I asked about 20-25 different landowners for permission last fall. I was denied access to one piece of property since the older fellow had a nephew hunting on one quarter. Had a lot of good visits and laughs. Found some valuable info and had a good fall.
 
scruffee said:
Restructuring the seasons should be priority over issuing more "depredation" tags. Hunting mid-November to early December has proven difficult due to big snow dumps the past 3 or so seasons. Bring back a Nov 1st rifle opener and adjust quotas as necessary. There are already several different types of tags available; over the counter, first-come first-served (first, second, heck third, etc), draw, etc.
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I've always wondered if it has to do with available resources for policing or enforcement? But yeah, hard to see the reasoning. Are they worried that WT numbers would be decimated if rifle season (in zone 52 for example) started mid October? I don't think there would be a glut of extra hunters, as so many target rutting times.
 
Potashminer said:
I read that and heard it said often - so when I taught Sask Hunter Safety in the 1980's, was in that book - you do not own that land - therefore, if you are on it without permission, you are trespassing. The Hunter tag does not give you the right to "trespass" on anyone's land. When was that changed? We used to hunt in the big community pastures - one manager to get permission from and more land access than we could cover - I understand that has all been changed now - no more PFRA pastures - all private ownership now ...

I had heard from a land owner South and East from Big River - what he got from the local RCMP and DNR - they could not successfully prosecute night hunters or night shooters unless the private land was posted by the land owner. So RCMP / DNR would no longer lay charges if the land was not "posted" - just a waste of their time to do so. As if the "trespass" thing just went away.
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Your hunter safety handbook was not stating the law.
 
I had sole permission on a piece of property and had about 10 truck hunters drive between me and my blind. I even had my truck parked in front of the access. The offenders were mostly small town folk who felt that since they knew the land owner he wouldn’t mind.

Frustrating to say the least. I finally gave up.
 
Had some duck “hunters” trespass on our land, no hunting or trespassing signs up. We parked our swather next to the swather hauler in the yard on the quarter because we got rained out. Just a few days after the rain when things dried up it was time for swathing again. Went into the yard to find they cooked up their birds in the yard. Piles of feathers, onions peels, beer cans and empty 22LR and shotgun shell boxes just left on the ground. They shot the windows out of the swather and shot the tires on the hauler. I’m in Alberta though not Sask. But my experiences like this one, or getting shot at (5 shots) while wearing blaze orange on our own field and having to kiss the dirt is why I don’t give permission to people I don’t know.
 
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