Have you heard of this in your area?

Here' s the article:

Farmers to kill off pesky deer
Illegal hunt to protect crops from out-of-control herds

Kelly Egan
The Ottawa Citizen

Monday, May 26, 2003

http://www.canada.com/search/story.a...-6d108451d200#

My reply to this is still the same as it was in the other posting. So they want to go to muzzleloaders , must be more of them around than shotguns.

This is a problem becoming far too typical in Southern Ontario and other high poplulation areas (such as the Ottawa Region). I see that Lanark is south of Ottawa and maybe not so populated, but here' s my experience.

On Mother' s Day weekend, we went for a hike only a couple of miles outside of Kanata. The conservation area is used heavily by hikers and mountain bikers alike and as we were crossing a field only 100 yards from the road, we spotted three deer.

First we saw a doe and fawn. The wind was blowing at our backs and they obviously smelled us first. The simply hurried away from us and when they felt safe (I could have thrown a rock and hit them), they stopped and looked at us without regard.

We then spotted another deer crossing the far end of the field and it was like he/she never even saw us. I bleated to get its attention. Nothing. So I whistled. Then it stopped and looked directly at us for about 10 seconds. Then he went back to grazing. He was farther away, but in November I still could have easily reached out and touched him .

Finally, I was heading back to the car and rounded a bunch of bushes and ran smack into that doe once again. She was only 10 yards away and there was nothing between us and she never moved an inch. I couldn' t believe it and figured that the fawn must have been around there somewhere. Finally after circling the doe, I saw the fawn laying under some trees behind her.

To make a long story short, there are some serious problem areas in Ontario. I live in one of them south of Kitchener. The MNR has to extend shotgun hunts and perhaps vary them throughout the year in order to get the deer numbers down to something more manageable.

However, the proposed actions by the Lanark group are not advisable. Their vigilante actions will end up costing them dearly in the long run. Let' s hope that this can be properly settled in a reasonable fashion.

Cant blame the farmers,, if someone tried to steal 40-50k a year that kept my kids fed......

They should go with 3 shotgun(no plugs) hunts this year, with miltiple doe tags available over the counter. Some areas of Michigan had a doe a day format last year and they really cleaned up the population!

Carpie: first I heard about it, never made the media here. I guess because it doesn' t sell news papers, rather write about shootings with illegal hand guns, now that sells news papers OR are they afraid to inform the uninformed about the role hunters play in game management which might make them look like they are hunter friendly and which might cost them in sales.

Roger that gentlemen, mostly political nonsense.

The Lanark County area voted for the Alliance last election and the local Liberal candidate is trying to capitalize on the publicity, she' s running off at the mouth but has no clout in the issue. I believe the MNR will come up with a solution, they plan to be at the supposed site on Father' s Day, I believe they should be constructive at this time as they have not been assisting the farmers with extra tags.

I was wondering, if local hunters and those outside the county gathered to the area to assist farmers by buying and removing the deer, the farmers would still be within the regulations, wouldn' t they. The Hunters would still be protected under the regulations as well.

Any thoughts?

I agree that more liberal seasons are in order for alot of areas but Swampthing remember that the shotgun plugs is a criminal code issue not a hunting one.

UPDATE:[]

Kelly Egan
The Ottawa Citizen
Tuesday, June 10, 2003

Farmers buck province over deer cull
Lanark landowners cull to save crops

On the eve of an illegal deer hunt in Lanark County, a leading organizer says frustrated farmers are already shooting deer out of season to protect field crops.

" Absolutely," responded Randy Hillier, president of the Lanark Landowners Association, when asked about the possibility that overabundant deer are being shot during the growing season. " It' s the shoot, shovel and shut-up syndrome."

Full Story:

http://www.canada.com/search/story.a...4-7d6f907c7906

Carpie; if farmers can show damage they can apply to the mnr for pest control permit for deer. Didn' t these farmers try that route?

Dan O.

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