And by how good we have it I mean that over the last 13 decades many people were instrumental in securing the outdoor heritage we have today. In Alberta, by the very early 1900's people had the foresight to stop the hunt because the game was becoming scarce. Around that time to see a deer was considered uncommon. If they hadn't much of our big game would have gone down the trail of the buffalo...to near extinction and hunting would have ceased to exist instead of developing into the heritage we enjoy today.
With the advent of more roads the streams and lakes were being hit hard by auto fishermen in the 1920's. There are accounts of a man counting the cars full of fishermen going down the only road into a foothill stream. 300 cars 2 to 4 fishermen in each car in one weekend. The stories of the 10 to 20 lb. bull trout and stringers full of other fish were common around the campfire. And again luckily people had the foresight to put limits and restrictions on our fishing or today's fish populations would have been completely depleted.
And the 'new' immigrant in settlements and homesteading over the past 200 years did hunt a few birds to extinction. We never got to see the flocks of passenger pigeons that were 100 yards wide and took a couple of hours to fly by. Or the thousands of pinnated grouse that were hunted to extinction by the 1950's in Alberta. And people finally had insight to limit the hunt so future generations could also harvest birds.
And trapping continues to be a way of life for several families. The efforts of four centuries of long past trappers gave us a foothold and direction in this country. There was a time that that the beaver were over trapped and almost non existent. Had steps not been taken to put quotas on the beaver our whole landscape would have changed. We in Alberta are so lucky there was the advent of registered traplines. I can't imagine the mad house it would be today if there were no defined trapping areas and today's populations.
Our outdoor heritage is something we all enjoy participating in and the thing to realize is that today's decisions are but one chapter in a very old book that continues to be written. Reflect on your contribution to this chapter of this book. It can be a positive or negative.. your choice. So enjoy Sept 15.
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This country was started by voyagers whose young lives were swept away by the currents of the rivers for ten cents a day... just for the vanity of the European's beaver hats. ~ Red Bullets
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It is when you walk alone in nature that you discover your strengths and weaknesses. ~ Red Bullets
Last edited by Red Bullets; 09-12-2018 at 12:43 PM.
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National Hunting, Trapping, and Fishing Heritage Day.
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