Sustenance Hunting in AB

riden

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I don't see this anywhere else, hope it is not a repost.

I think this concept is great. I hope it is possible for the avg (poor) Joe to get this license though. Great idea to allow people to take responsiblity for themselves and not depend on the gov't.

I am not trying to make this a race thread!!! Is this intended for Metis only?


http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Alberta/2007/12/14/4724831.html

Slaying Hunger

Province Drops Barriers to Hunting Wild Game

The province says it's making it easier for Albertans who have no other source of meat to get a special hunting license to slay wild game.
“There’s no need for anyone to break the law to get meat for their family,” Minister of Sustainable Resource Development Ted Morton said in a news release. “Just come in to one of our local offices and apply for a licence.”

The subsistence hunting licence is available free at any Fish and Wildlife district office.

An applicant must prove they have no other source of meat or that they have a special health requirement for wild meat.

Morton said in the release he hoped the changes would "help Alberta families in need."

He also said that the changes address the "difficult situation of some Métis who have not yet applied for or received confirmation of their harvesting rights, but need to hunt or fish to feed their families."

Although the licence isn't new, the province has made the following changes to make it available to more Albertans.

-Licences may now be used anywhere in the province, not just north of Highway 16.

-Licences are now available all year.

-Licence holders may take moose, elk or deer based on local game populations.


In addition, the $5 fee for a domestic fishing licence has been dropped. This licence can now be obtained free of charge by eligible applicants.

A few months ago, Morton announced Sept. 22 was to be the province's first official "Hunting Day."

It was touted as one way Albertans could reduce highway collisions – by killing more deer and moose.

"Hunting also helps with reducing vehicle collisions," Morton said in a press release announcing Hunting Day.

He worried Alberta was "losing the next generation of hunters to television, computers and shopping malls."

For more information on the Subsistence Hunting Licence and the Domestic Fishing Licence, including the location of the nearest fish and wildlife office, call Service Alberta at 310-0000.
 
According to the article I posted :

Although the licence isn't new, the province has made the following changes to make it available to more Albertans.

-Licences may now be used anywhere in the province, not just north of Highway 16.

-Licences are now available all year.

-Licence holders may take moose, elk or deer based on local game populations.
 
What criteria is going to be used to decide a persons eligibility?I see a great potential for abuse.Besides,if you can't afford to buy meat to eat,how can you afford to hunt?
 
Total and complete BS. If you've got the cash for rifles, ammo, gas, vehicles and so on you obviously can afford to buy meat. Hunting must be very closely managed to ensure it can continue for everyone. You'll have a pile of a***holes shooting all kinds of game and either selling it or letting it rot.

This has to stop
 
if you can't afford to buy meat to eat,how can you afford to hunt?

Total and complete BS. If you've got the cash for rifles, ammo, gas, vehicles and so on you obviously can afford to buy meat. Hunting must be very closely managed to ensure it can continue for everyone. You'll have a pile of a***holes shooting all kinds of game and either selling it or letting it rot.


How much meat do you think comes off a moose? Multiply that by what you pay a pound for meat at the grocery store! PLus the grocery store for lots of us is further away then the moose.

It would cost me 20 bucks to go kill a moose in a need situation. That is in the freezer. bullet, gas, etc. That moose would and has been worth many thousands of bucks to my wife in the kitchen.
I have spent a long long winter watching my kids eat thier way through a moose and three deer while being warmed by wood cut on a crown permit when things were pretty damn grim. You guys obviously don't know S**T about about what a subsisitance animal can mean to a family.

It is the diffrence between pride, health and a second chance and having it all go to hell in a hungry malnourished handbasket.

Any one out there that thinks they can't looose what they have to a divorce, accident, or illness is dead wrong.

I sure don't need susistence animals now and part of the reason for that is the ones I 've eaten. (little luck and hard work help too)
 
Alaska has had a "three tiered" subsistance licence system for years.

It too is geared for lower income earners of state residency, that was for meat on the table only, regardless of race.
If you had a larger immediate family, and could prove that you are the sole provider, more "meat tags" were available at a nominal fee, and in areas the state game department, figured out game surplus populations could sustain the extra manageable harvest.

By no means perfect, but a very common sense approach.
I am not sure about the fishing though.
 
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I disagree, If you bought a stevens rifle with a cheap scope, and only bought enough ammo to sight it in, you could have very cheap meat.
 
who in Alberta does not have meat? If u dont work u get gov assistant. Part of that money is to cover meat. No one is going to starve if they dont hunt. Sub. hunting,in my opinion,is a crock. I have seen some hunting groups that are well equiped & they sure as hell were not starving. work= eat. guv. assistant=no hunt cant have it both ways. What is the point of having a season & limits if all dont have to play fair
 
If you already live in the country, you could knock an animal down pretty cheap. Especially if you can hunt a cow or does.

Hunting as a hobby can be pricey, but I could knock a cow over for under $20.
 
Total and complete BS. If you've got the cash for rifles, ammo, gas, vehicles and so on you obviously can afford to buy meat. Hunting must be very closely managed to ensure it can continue for everyone. You'll have a pile of a***holes shooting all kinds of game and either selling it or letting it rot.

This has to stop

You hit the nail on the head!! Complete and utter BS
 
The actual people who use it are rural I am sure. It is nothing for a poor guy (hillbillies, and yes there are a few around here) to shoot a moose/ elk out the back window of his shack with the 303 his dad left him.

This is a much better option that the more common one of poaching for food.. AND IT"S NOT A RACIST LAW so everyone could use it.
 
I find the subsistence bit, to be one that is a 50/50... Yes some low income folks could really benefit from this & yes I can see where SOME hunters do go overboard with the gear & costs for it. BUT I also know that it doesn't take a lot of money to take the ol beater rifle you've had for years, a few knives & have a friend who has a truck & gas to donate, to get you out to the boonies to harvest a deer.

That aside, I can see where the OTHER reason could be a biggie. My parents are under doctors orders to avoid pork & beef. Luckily for them, they know trophy hunters, who donate the meat from their kills, so they're not too bad off.

What I'm wondering is should that particular resource dry up, if *I* could go out under one of these licenses & hunt for them...? Neither of them is physically able to walk more than a block or 2 at a pop, and as such, they'd not be able to handle even a fraction of the effort that hunting requires. If I could hunt for them, should the need be there, I can see where that could be a fairly legitimate way to hunt.

Oh & as far as that whole "government pay" goes for those on AISH & SFI goes for Alberta... It doesn't cover REMOTELY as much as one would think! Think how far you could go, guys... On $1050 a month... With rents as high as they are, add in even a moderate or cheap vehicle such as a motorcycle (It's easier for me to drive a bike, than a car, with the way my hands are mucked up... Even then, I only ride when my hands aren't acting up), add in a few staples for groceries & there's really not that much left at the end of the month for "luxuries" like meat. Oh & people DON'T go on stuff like AISH (Assured Income for Severely Handicapped) because they WANT to or that they simply don't want to work. It's because they're backed into a damn corner & have the choice between that & the street.

So on that side, I can see taking my rifle into the bush, with the BIL driving his truck & gas as a "here's a way to help" kind of gift on out to the boonies to take a deer, on the days my hands are doing good... But maybe that's just my take, as someone in a position to actually be QUALIFIED to go for it on the subsistence side... Ah well... Those who haven't "been there, done that" seem to be the ones to whine loudest, right?

L

PS, I normally scrimp & save for a regular license & tags, just to avoid any complaints on THAT side as well...
 
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I wonder if the shoot a big buck, do thy have to register the head? As long as they arent out going trophy hunting out of season for free, It would be better than poaching.
 
Did it have any restrictions as to what game you could take?

There will be folk out there no better than the Metis feeling their need to sheep meat. Oh, look at that 190 B&C ram, I guess he will have to do....
There is a good reason more and more zones are switching to draws for Muley and Moose and even Elk. Otherwise supply cannot meet demand.

Leslea_Kate makes a good point but it isn't that this sustenance hunting is the answer, it is the fact that Aish is a crock of crap that barely keeps a person's head above water.

Just me, but this seems fishy, no pun intended.
 
If you already live in the country, you could knock an animal down pretty cheap. Especially if you can hunt a cow or does.

Hunting as a hobby can be pricey, but I could knock a cow over for under $20.

Even better. Save your ammo money and pick up $10 worth of 1/8th ac cable and hang a few snares. Once the deer have yarded up I bet I could snare a couple in a weekend..

Hunting only allows 12hrs per day at best , a snare works 24hrs a day.
 
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