Opening Day Pandemonium

As a relative newcomer to this continent I usually try not to be too outspoken in my opinions, and take in much of what I see as a learning experience. However, what I witnessed, and heard about from Fish and Wildlife officers, on opening day for mule deer in a prairie zone in Eastern Alberta was too much of a (culture) shock to not speak up.

Saving up priorities for a few years, I had finally drawn a tag in zone that has produced some fine mule bucks over the years. Due to a few other hunt ‘obligations’ my scouting time had been minimal and I hooked up with my taxidermist. On opening morning we met at the gas station in a small town on the edge of the zone. We weren’t the only camo-clad travellers; so much was clear. First light found us glassing the fields, where a light fog was quickly disappearing. However, with legal shooting time fast approaching, we didn’t see browsing bands of deer, or bucks quietly moving along the wind rows. We saw trucks. And whenever we saw deer, they were on the move, and going fast.

In the next hour we witnessed just about everything that alienates the general public from hunting. Trespassing was the norm. Whether land was posted or not, trucks were driving every field that held even the slightest promise of cover big enough to hide a deer. Harassing wildlife with a vehicle was occurring everywhere. The stalk-by-truck failed, ‘hunters’ would then resort to high-speed chase, across the fields and especially on the country roads around them. We witnessed a blue pick-up trying to prevent a nice buck and two does from reaching the safety of the trees, cutting them off several times as they changed directions. Maybe our presence prevented a shot from the vehicle. Surely, others had fewer inhibitions. A Fish and Wildlife officer watched a truck pull up not 100 yards from his vehicle, which had the orange-and-blue roof light flashing!  The window was opened and a deer shot from the vehicle, before legal shooting light.

Glassing through the scope of a rifle seemed a common practice. Ever since I’ve seen the muzzle flash of a rifle from the wrong end and I heard the bullet strike nearby, I’m extremely jumpy about seeing a rifle pointed at me, especially when it is shouldered. Whatever happened to the practice of not pointing your rifle at anything that you are not willing to kill? Somebody out there must have been intent on ‘killing’ a vehicle, because one hunter filed a complaint about a bullet hole in his truck.

And those are just the legal infractions. What about the ethical ones? Circling a section of land with four or five or six vehicles, hoping that a deer will make a mistake, by trying to escape the siege? It reminded me of that children’s game, where there is always one chair less than the number of people dancing around it.

A few individuals braved this high-strung situation, and actually left their vehicles to investigate and hunt patches of cover that others hadn’t driven their trucks through yet. Without exception they were dressed in full hunter orange, which is not an obligation in Alberta. I have to admit that I did not have that courage.

I’d like to think that what I witnessed was just a rare occurrence. But I fear that the same or similar occurs on opening days throughout the continent. So I can’t help but wondering about what are we doing to our reputation and the perception of hunting by the general public, by this behaviour? Should we really still be surprised or offended when landowners close access for hunting? Is it strange that sympathy for hunting is waning, amongst the non-hunting part of the population? To me hunting is about enjoying the outdoors, the sight of wildlife, and the opportunity to pit my skills against those of the animal. I love the meat, but if I can, I’d like to take a decent trophy. For others it may be more about the camaraderie, and killing a deer for the freezer. For precious few of us it means survival, or going hungry if we are not successful. So can we please stay within the realms of the law, and use respect for one another and other people’s property. It will make our hunting more enjoyable and more acceptable for the growing numbers that won’t take up a rifle to secure their table fare. In the long run, it will be essential to saving our hunting opportunities.