Saskatchewan resident concerned over game refund changes

He foresees negative consequences due to the change, most importantly, its affect on the management of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).

“Prior to this change, hunters would have gladly culled any sick animal they came across during their hunt, knowing they can still get a replacement tag and provide good edible meat for their family. This year, the ministry has requested more samples of big game animals harvested in known CWD hotspots in the province. Why would people in those zones submit their big game sample and provide the ministry with more data points to track the disease spread, when they have no remedy when that test comes back positive?” Maurer said.

Travis Williams is a wildlife allocation specialist with the Ministry. He explained the changes were made to fall in line with other jurisdictions that also don’t provide compensation for game unfit for human consumption. Saskatchewan fish and game birds are already under a no-refund policy.

He explained the ministry is open to discussion, but at the moment are not looking into reversing the policy change.

As for Maurer’s concerns, Williams said they are keeping an eye on the numbers.

“The ministry is monitoring both CWD prevalence and hunter participation in the province’s wildlife management zones. At this point, we haven’t seen a decline in hunter participation in CWD positive zones, because there are a number of them. The ministry will continue to monitor and adjust harvesting strategies if required,” Williams told paNOW.

The local vice president of the Prince Albert Wildlife Federation said he had heard of the change and agreed with the ministry, explaining there are no guarantees when a hunter goes to harvest an animal.

Knowing that the ministry didn’t have my family’s back in that scenario was sad,” _{Hunter Lyndon Maurer.}

“There’s some risk associated with that, you kind of know or suspect that there is a probability that your animal might not be good,” Don Erhardt said. “The cost of a licence is really a small portion of what hunters spend when they’re out in the field enjoying nature. I don’t think it would be a significant hardship.”

Lyndon Maurer said he is saddened by the lack of support for hunters. He said positive CWD tests on the meat would lead to significant costs.

“We would have to take our meat from the freezer and properly dispose of it. Meat that we invested time and money to hunt and then paid hundreds of dollars to a local butcher to have cut up. Knowing that the ministry didn’t have my family’s back in that scenario was sad,” Maurer wrote.

He also wrote that he would be less likely to hunt in zones that were known to have high rates of CWD.

“Considering I almost always submit samples for CWD testing, that means less data points for the province unfortunately,” Maurer wrote.

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Ron.quaroni@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @RonaldQuaroni

by Ronald Quaroni

Saskatchewan resident concerned over game refund changes

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