#1 issue of concern to hunters in Alberta today?

What do you think is the NUMBER ONE issue of concern to hunters in Alberta today?



Robin in Rocky and headed to the AF&GA conference next week.

Natives and Metis and the amount that is harvested by them every year. I would like to see these animals registered so at least we know what kind of numbers are being taken.

The decisiuons made on wildlife by people who don't get out of their desk chairs. And don't listen to the people (hunters) who really know how much wildlife there really is out there.

Liberals and tree huggers taking away our season.

Poachers killing animals indescriminately and with (IMO) a lack of regard for the weak enforcement due to an under funded force

all of the above. and can think of a lot of issues we hunters should be concerned about.

...but #1 issue I'd almost have to say is the loss of our privilege/right to hunt. and by this I mean AR groups and the like getting governments to ban the hunting of certain species or seasons etc, etc. this I think would happen a lot quicker than habitat loss or the reduction in game numbers by metis/natives (although both are sore points especially the metis/natives).

we dudes should be banding together a lot more than we are or this is going to be a sad reality.

Very tough one to pin down to a main issue....however many of the problems stem from a lack of funding for SRD to do all the facets of their job properly. Additional funding and staff wouldn't be the cure all, but there sure are a lot of problems it would alleviate.

Anti's...I never realized the misconception there was out there about hunting until this year. Being from northwestern ontario everyone hunted and fished for something at one point in their lives. It was like a right of passage for everyone, girls and guys, and at young ages. Our parents taught us to respect nature and it was used as time for family bonding. Even if people chose not to hunt when they were adults no one is against it there, they realize the value and know that hunters aren't out there shooting everything that moved just to kill. But out here...holy crap! If people ask why we got the breed of dogs we did, and we tell them we hunt with them, if they are anti's man do we hear it!! Me especially because I'm female....people really think it's wrong that a chick is out there in the bush with a gun! I've been told I have screws loose bc I hunt....:rolleyes
The power that anti's have is amazing.....10 anti's can shut down a season or species, but 1000 hunters lobbying for rights don't make a dent to get that season back. This is all new to me so I don't know what can be done but I sure hope that with responsible hunting and education we can change a few opinions. We have changed many friends minds by simply taking them out with us....it sure was fun to hear them say how cool it was to be out chasing birds with the dogs alone in the wild while they eat with us over fresh meat!

Thats the one that concerns me the most. Hope they can contain the spread but deer numbers are high in lots of areas close to the CWD area

In my oppinion it will be the day the landowner can lease his land out like they do in the US.

I think one of the biggest concerns to hunters today is that there aren't enough kids getting introduced to the sport. Sure, everyone of us who already hunt are going to take our kids hunting and hopefully get them enthused, but in terms of the population as a whole these numbers are very small. I can think of many guys my age (mid 30's) I know that maybe have Dads who hunted yet have no interest themselves. These guys are now having kids of there own who will never be taken out on a duck hunt, never catch a fish, certainly never learn how to shoot a gun. I've talked to my Dad about this and he always says "when he was a kid everyone hunted". Even the kids whose Dads didn't hunt would go with the neighbor's Dad, so most kids at least got some exposure to it. There's too many kids growing up today that are only interested in video games, TV ect., and the only things they learn about hunting and the outdoors come from walt disney and negative exposure in the media. I don't know what the solution is, but I do know there's safety in numbers, and as hunters, as our numbers dwindle (per capita) it becomes a serious threat to our sport and lifestyle.

good question
more indirectly, i think it has a lot to do with people not having to dig thyere own spuds and gardens, kill there own meat and even wash the dishes that they make.
we are learning to be totally dependant on the grocery store to be self suffient
if you look at hunters, (in general) they are providing for the table and who else would willingly spend the time we do, to do it
bottom line, paying money is easier than work, and paying someone else is easier on my back.
that stream caught trout tasted better when it had 'my' hook in it, than the jelly-belly trout from the freezer dept at the store.

Nubes..is on track...it's time we all hunt and fish by the same rules...

Many things are reason to be concerned. I do notice that the ingrained independence that most hunters have makes it difficult to unite. One type of hunter does not like another or one group is not willing to muse a voice if another type of hunting is in jeopardy.

I believe that the changing lifestyles of home life can be a great deterrent to getting kids into hunting and fishing. A divorce divides a home and most hunting advocates are the males. They usually have the limited access to their kids and if the separation is bitter, it can hinder the hunter's chance to take their kids out. Also, not all single moms are against hunting so much but they just don't have or make the time. A dead-beat dad makes it difficult for a family to have time for leisure too. The single parent is just too busy working to keep the roof over their heads and the lights on.

I think access to hunting land is secondary but if it becomes difficult to find land to hunt then people who may be willing to hunt cannot find out where they can hunt and quickly lose interest.

Also, the adage, "The hand that rocks the cradle" is true. Since women are the ones who usually take that role then they have to be more than passive about hunting. This may mean that the dads have to watch the kids while the mom goes out for a weekend hunt or course. Where I am, women often go hunting and the dads stay home or elders watch the kids while both go out together. A busy life has to make allowances for both parents to keep youth interested in hunting.

SUNDAY HUNTING

Nubes..is on track...it's time we all hunt and fish by the same rules...

It's way overdue.

My number one concern is loss of hunting opportunities due to high numbers of allocations given to outfitters.

Outfitting allocations should not reach 15 to 23 percent of tags allocated for a given species in any WMU, but in South Western Alberta this is the case. What I have noticed now is that most resident hunting opportunities have decreased, in some cases residents are not welcome most notably on some of the larger ranches.

If residents have to be put on draw to manage a species then so should non-residents and this should be limited to a maximum of 10 percent of the tags allocated such that non-resident allocations interfere minimally with resident access to tags.

Draws are great for producing trophy animals but they greatly reduce the relationship of the hunter to the land owner due to the number of years between obtaining tags. For the outfitted hunter this is not the case, the outfitter maintains his contact with the land owner year after year, suddenly he's got full access and the resident has limited to none. This "problem" has been the biggest threat to my being able to hunt over the last 10 years.

Nubes..is on track...it's time we all hunt and fish by the same rules...

It will never happen way overdue or not.

Over populated areas of deer in a given area let the puplic know more tags in a reg season .Dont wait untill feb etc.

Nubes..is on track...it's time we all hunt and fish by the same rules...

60,000 metis eligible to hunt in Alberta alone, god knows how many treaty. All the poaching in Canada wouldn't add up to the staggering number of animals taken by so called subsistence hunters and no way to count. :rolleyes

Excessive firearm laws have discouraged new and old hunters alike to aquire firearms for hunting. Access especially in the south has been difficult in recent years. On a positive note there is more deer around than ever now.

Tuc, it's been pounded to death. But, since you brought it up, what is the staggering #? Or are you just assuming as in the past.

Not enough teenagers and 20-something's hunting and fishing.
If their numbers were higher a lot of the other problems would dissapear. There's safety in numbers, especially when dealing with an elected gov.
When my son was in high school there was only him and one other young man that hunted. We're in a rural area, so the other kids thought it was cool, and asked about his success, some were maybe even envious, but there was only the two of them in a class of prob. 40 or so.
If that number was more like 18 or 20, access wouldn't be as much of a problem, outfitters wouldn't be getting so many tags, and metis/indian persons would be given allocations, not free reign.

CWD, game farms, hand gun hunting, getting more memberships.

Suka I had the same problem. Only 1 other kid in my graduating class that hunted. We still hunt together but the numbers just are not there.

Access and habitat destruction. Emphasis on access getiing tougher every year.

What JRS said.
Resonable access is a pain in southern Alberta and getting worse by the day.

Jamie

Lack of funding for SRD to do their jobs properly. It amazes me that this province is so rich off our natural resources but so little is put back in the system.
I work closely with SRD and can't beleive the funding and budgets they get...it embrasses me as an Albertan.

CBR hunter you are a young lady that likes to hunt and for you and all other ladies who like to hunt I say GOOD FOR YOU and stick to the stuff. For you all I bend the knee and take my hat to you. I also praise you and all hunters who hunt birds with dogs for I fell (just my OPINION...my FEELINGS) that a bird dog ought to used for what it was breed to do. I feel it is more cruel to let that talent go to waste.

I have a retired racing Greyhound and many people that we have meet hail us as heros because we saved a dog from certain death. Of all the dogs on this plant the Greyhound lives only if it runs, if it dosn't run it is death. That was true up to 1985...now they have adoption programs...yet many still die.

Anyway the point I want to make is that Greyhounds do like to run, some people say boy how do these racing places know that Greyhounds like to race or run fast...does the dog tell them and they go ha,ha,ha. To be honest yea some do tell you they like to run by their actions. My Greyhound ears go up when he is ready to run or he is in a excided mood and wants to play. It is run -hide- and catch me if you can. Almost 6 years later I saw him make a 11 foot broad jump last fall over lumber I had laid out on the ground for my deck. He started from a dead stop took one leap landed, one leap again and cleared all the boards. We took him to a few Greyhound greet and meets and we put a few in a inclosed grassy ice rink he he ran his heart out and a Greyhoung crossed his path and he jumped that dog and landed in a dead stop where the rest of the dogs were.

Do I support Greyhound racing, no not really...I don't like how they are couped up for many long hours in 4x3 cages. Plus a few other things. But Greyhounds were breed to run and a better way for them to show there talent is to go courseing. The kind that you can see on TV.

<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Access and habitat destruction. Emphasis on access is getting tougher every year.<hr></blockquote> How true. Last year I made two phone calls to this one resident and left two messages and no response, tried again...nothing. So I gave up on him. So I went elsewhere and I found a sign that said for permission phone this number, so I left a message, as I was out hunting on AFGA land, I came across a bull moose lying down some 65yards away and since I couldn't shoot him, I thought I would see how much closer I could get so that I could get a picture. So that I could post it here...but as I was just about to start out the cell phone rang and well the moose stood up and it was gone. Anyhow the man phoned back and said I couldn't go on the land because there were two other hunters on it. He says he owns land as well but for the next few years he will not let any hunters on it....because this one young man asked permission to hunt a mule deer on the property; the farmer said yes but the young man started to bring more friends on without permission over a couple of years and they killed off all the mulies(wmu334). Now the WT deer moved in and the farmer wont let anyone hunt untill the white population get bigger. He also told me that the farmer next to him won't give permission anymore as well. Why? because two hunters went on his property without permission and killed a big mule deer buck, cut the head off and left the body behind. They tried to catch them but they were gone.

As for habitat destruction...well I won't go there this time.

Liberal and NDP voters actualy believing that more government is better and will make them safer and happier.

I second we need more youth involved.