To the editor:
The sport of hunting and fishing involves a great deal of time and patience. Sometimes it’s difficult to explain why we devote so much time and patience to a sport, especially to those who haven’t tried it.
Some of us have even had thoughts like, “If only I could do this for a living.”
I am one of those fortunate few who has had a chance to live that dream. We’ve owned a hunting and fishing lodge for 18 years. Owning a lodge has given me a chance to meet and talk to many people in and out of the industry, and in the off-season it allows me to address very serious issues such as the nuisance bear problem.
I’d like to start by mentioning nuisance bear complaints have increased 475 percent in Ontario. At the same time in Manitoba, where there is a spring bear hunt, there has been no significant increase in nuisance bear activity.
These are government numbers but if you live in bear country, you don’t need to be told these statistics. All you care about is what’s being done about it.
I’ll tell you what I’m doing. I’m distributing orange posters with a picture of a bear stating, “We support tourist outfitters.” I’m asking local businesses to display this in their windows. Doing so not only acknowledges that there is a problem, but shows they agree on how to fix it.
When handing out these posters, I wasn’t surprised how many people had encounters with nuisance bears or knew someone who had.
No matter what government officials say, the nuisance bear problem exists for one reason and one reason only—overpopulation due to the cancellation of the spring hunt.
Okay, simple, let’s just bring back the spring hunt. I’m sure this will eventually happen, but the question is when and at what cost?
The hunt was cancelled five years ago by powerful animal activists. These groups, with their political influence, managed to convince officials that hunters were shooting sows—leaving the cubs to die. Not only was this a lie, but it was illegal to shoot a sow with cubs in the spring.
You might ask if it’s illegal and wasn’t happening, why was the spring hunt cancelled? I’ve spent the last five years trying to figure this out.
First, you have to understand these groups wear many hats, using large sums of money and words like animal rights and humane society, and going under titles such as IFAW, HSUS (Humane Society of the United States), or PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals), or even the group like the Schad Foundation, which was instrumental in cancelling the spring hunt.
Their only goal is to use misinformation campaigns to raise money to eliminate all sport fishing and hunting.
I know there are animals that are threatened, either by poaching or loss of habitat, and need to be protected. Sportsmen have been doing this for years—the only difference is that we choose to protect animals using biology and good resource management.
Sportsmen have joined and supported organizations like Ducks Unlimited, the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, and many other reputable ones.
If groups using misinformation can cause the cancellation of a hunt, one can only imagine what’s next.
Government needs to admit this wrong by reinstating the spring hunt. By doing so, they can regain our trust and show these activists they do care about animal rights, sportsmen’s rights, and, most important, the safety of the public.
Being an outfitter, I’d be lying if I didn’t mention the money that would be made by having the hunt reinstated and return tourist dollars back to northern communities. We should all be thankful that there is a solution to the bear problem.
One thing is for sure, without the help of the spring hunt, nuisance bears won’t go away—and neither will I.
Signed,
Clifford R. Long
Cobblestone Lodge
Ignace, Ont.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
