Sunday Hunting in NFLD/Labrador

[96Brigadier]

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=f6e4bf3a-8259-4e9d-a38d-017779ec46a6

Kelly Patrick, National Post
Published: Thursday, December 22, 2005
After more than 140 years, Newfoundland and Labrador's hunters will be allowed to shoot on the sabbath.

The province this week announced plans to partially lift its Sunday hunting ban, a law enacted in 1863 when nearly everyone devoted the second day of the weekend to God and relaxation.

The ban was one of the last vestiges of legally enforced sabbath observance in a province that until last year prohibited liquor stores from opening on Sundays.

"The original reason for the ban was based on Sunday being a day of rest and religion," said Tom Osborne, the province's Minister of Environment and Conservation.

Despite its religious roots, in the last 16 years the ban's purpose has been to manage wildlife and give hikers and berry pickers a day to stroll through the woods without guns cracking in the background, Mr. Osborne said.

The change from religion to wildlife management happened, he said, after a 1985 provincial court decision struck down the law and forbid the government from banning the Sunday hunt on religious grounds.

The province appealed the lower court decision and won. In 1989 the ban was back, but for wildlife management reasons.

So when the province decided to ask for public input on the rule nearly two years ago, it could not consider religion.

Instead, debate on the ban pitted hunters against hikers.

"The main argument was for the average working hunter who works Monday to Friday," said Gord Follett, the editor of Newfoundland Sportsman magazine and a long-time agitator for Sunday hunting.

The new rules allow hunters to shoot and snare on Sundays from the first Sunday in November to the end of the big game hunting season, which runs roughly until mid-December on the western side of the island, early January on the eastern side and April in Labrador.

That gives hikers and berry pickers until the end of October to enjoy woods in peace, Mr. Osborne said.

© National Post 2005

 

[death-junky]

i think they should leave the one day off.....
i can see when he said that it was a day so the hikers and such wouldn’t hear lots of gun shot when they wont a peaceful stroll.
talk to ya all later
Riley

 

[Rabadswompe]

since one needs permission to go on someone's land to hunt or pick berries, I don't where the problem is... If The landowner gives me permission to hunt, he knows I'm there. If a hiker or birdwatcher asks permission to pass, Thew landowner will tell them a hunter is in the woods...everthing is fine.

But I do admit tresspassers are at a risk. Guess it pays to have manners

Want to manage wildlife, fine by be, close or shorten seasons by sectors... But us working people aren't always able to hunt during the week.

 

[X-man]

Almost 100% of land used by Newfoundland hunters is Crown Land...thus no permission needed. There's lots of game, so no need to tresspass anyway. Most guys have sense enough not to go shooting in some farmer's pasture/field and its rarely a problem. A bigger problem is some idiot cutting all the trees down around your cabin in the woods for firewood!

The Sunday Hunting Ban was antiquated and pointless. Given Newfoundland weather patterns and growing seasons, most berry picking is over by the end of September and the granola munching crowd seem to give up the ghost by October, when the nasty weather rolls in. I've been big game hunting for the past 15 years, and small game hunting for 28, and I've yet to encounter a "hiker" anywhere near the woods!

Given the size of Newfoundland and the vast distances involved in reaching your hunting area, the Sunday Hunting Ban has been an undue and needless hardship on guys who work M-F. Lots of times, even getting off work early on a Friday, you end up driving for 6-8 hours. Make camp in the dark, you get up before dark and you hunt, no matter what the weather, and if Newfoundland in the Fall, that usually means rain, cold winds and/or snow! However, because its Newfoundland we're talking about, the weather can change in a minute and you can get up Sunday morning to the most perfect of hunting days and couldn't do a damn thing, even if that monster bull moose walked through camp! Where's the fairness and justice in that?

Even though they said the ban was kept in place for the past 16 years for "management" reasons, that's BS! The gov't didn't want to piss off anymore church groups, especially after eliminating denominational education, then bringing in Sunday Shopping and then last year, keeping Liquor Stores open on Sundays as well! Hunters we're basically being held hostage and obviously being discrimnated against.

There were a lot of dedicated hunters who spent years writing letters, emailing/faxing and phoning their MLAs and writing articles for their local papers. We've managed to win a partial victory, but we won't rest until we get a full season!...or at least one that starts Oct. 1 and runs until the end of small game season, maybe even get Sunday hunting for Coyote season as well?