CANORA — Members of the Canora Wildlife Federation gathered at Rainbow Hall in Canora for their Annual Awards Banquet & Fundraiser.
As Garrett Frost, newly elected president, put it at the April 6 event, “Thank you to members for your support and sticking with the club through the past few years with all the turmoil.”
Even after all the obstacles presented by the pandemic, Frost said, “Memberships have exceeded head office expectations and are sitting at 130 as of today. We think that’s pretty good.”
Frost recognized the efforts of the other CWF executive members in the success of the club, including: Josh Gogol, vice-president; Greg Landstad, memberships & angler recording; Mike Zbeetnoff, land management & reporting, and Leslie Hryhoriw, treasurer & record keeping.
Guest Speaker
Guest speaker Nathan Dutchak, who is originally from Canora and presently a conservation officer based out of Preeceville, addressed a variety of topics of concern for Canora and area hunters, speaking directly to his audience without any notes.
He said Saskatchewan’s Trespass Act has had a wide-ranging effect in many ways.
“Hunting tip calls have been way down over the last couple of years, likely due to the Trespass Act.”
Dutchak said one of the most common questions he gets is, “What’s better, written or verbal permission to hunt on someone’s land?”
His response is that every situation is different, but in most cases written permission is safer than just a handshake agreement. “They could later deny giving you permission to hunt on their land, and then it’s just your word against theirs if you don’t have anything written down. Even if you just text each other, you still have something to fall back on.”
When it comes to the Trespass Act as it relates to snowmobilers on someone’s land without permission, “The call should go to the RCMP first. If it’s related to hunting or fishing, then the conservation office will likely become involved,” said Dutchak. “But if all they have is the colour of the driver’s helmet and the make of the snowmobile, that may not stick in court because they can’t say for sure who it was.”
Dutchak said illegal hunting can result in fines of up to $25,000 per animal, but it could end up being much less, depending on the situation and the judge, which can be frustrating. He gave one example involving two moose where the fine was only $500 per head.
Hunters are encouraged to get their animals tested for chronic wasting disease (CWD), but Dutchak added that unfortunately he couldn’t give any numbers of positive tests for Canora and surrounding area.
He emphasized that there is no evidence that cattle can get CWD directly from cervids (includes elk, deer, moose).
CWD isn’t the only disease of concern. Dutchak mentioned that brain worm, another disease of cervids, is on the rise. According to Saskatchewan.ca, “the worm can affect the nervous system of the animal causing weakness, fearlessness, lack of co-ordination of movement, circling, deafness, impaired vision, paralysis and subsequent death of the animal.”
“Please call me with any information on animals you see,” Dutchak said. “We can get it tested for you to be safe.”
Province-wide, Dutchak said the population is on the rise for a variety of wildlife, including elk and white-tailed deer. Moose population is a bit harder to pinpoint, with plenty in some areas, but “others have next to nothing.”
When it comes to predators, Dutchak said wolf populations seem to be growing in some areas, adding, “They’re hard to trap.”
Coyote population is on the rise, which can be mostly attributed to the Trespass Act according to Dutchak. “If a hunter doesn’t have permission to go after a coyote on someone’s land, they’re often afraid to do it because they might get charged.
“If a farmer is having issues with coyotes, please keep shooting them. It can help the deer population.”
Other predators such as wild boar and cougars are fairly rare, although Dutchak did mention one roaming cougar that he is aware of which had been monitored. “It was trapped near Duck Mountain on the Manitoba side,” he said. “But it had gone all the way from Regina to Medicine Hat, down across the U.S. border, then up to the Duck Mountain area.”
When it comes to exotic livestock, Dutchak reminded everyone that they are legal in Manitoba, but not in Saskatchewan.
“We had a zebra call from Melville. A guy had bought six zebras in Manitoba for $6,000 each and had the idea to cross them with donkeys to produce ‘zonkeys’ to keep in a zoo. But the zebra stud got out of his shed in winter and was dead within six hours. The government originally wanted to fine him close to $100,000 after he had already lost $36,000. But the fine was eventually reduced to $5,000. So exotic livestock is definitely a no-no in Saskatchewan.”
Dutchak encouraged questions from the floor, which included one that applies to just about every hunter, “If you get permission to hunt on someone’s land, how long is that permission good for?
Dutchak replied that it’s a good idea to clarify this when asking permission, but as a general rule, “It’s good until the landowner says no."
But Dutchak said hunters need to keep in mind that land is changing hands quite a bit in recent years, so they would be wise to approach the new landowner if that happens.
A followup question from the floor was, “Should you get permission to hunt from the landowner or the renter?”
Dutchak said that it’s usually best to deal directly with the landowner, but again, every situation is different. “The renter could have it written into the land rental contact that he or she has the final say regarding permission to hunt on the land.”
Awards
Awards for the past year were presented by Josh Gogol, CWF vice-president. Aubrie Monette won the award for youth female typical white-tailed deer with a score of 130 5/8. The men’s typical white-tailed deer award went to Greg Landstad for his score of 155 5/8.
Brendon Landstad took home the men’s typical mule deer award with a score of 167 6/8. Leslie Hryhoriw, with a score of 120 1/8, won the women’s typical white-tailed deer award.
Ryan Monette was the winner of the award for men’s elk, scoring 312 5/8. The award for men’s non-typical white-tailed deer went to Garret Frost for his score of 203 1/8.
Gogol reminded hunters and anglers to bring in their antlers/fish for measuring and weighing again net year.
Don't count on social media to deliver your local news to you. Keep your news a touch away by bookmarking Canora Courier's homepage at this link.
Bookmark SASKTODAY.ca, Saskatchewan's home page, at this link.
