By Alice McFarlane

Several Saskatchewan RM’s to participate in extended hunt pilot project to control wildlife damage

Sep 20, 2024 | 11:31 AM

Farmers and ranchers continue to be frustrated trying to keep wildlife like deer and elk out of their livestock feed and crops.

The Ministry of Environment and Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation (SCIC) regularly hears concerns and receives requests for compensation from producers regarding wildlife on their property and ruining their feedstock and products.

During the 2023 Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) convention there was extensive discussion on the topic with calls for action to control the deer and elk populations.

In response to those concerns, Environment Minister Christine Tell and Minister Responsible for Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation David Marit announced a new pilot program to assist producers experiencing abnormally high wildlife damage.

The Big Game Management Extended Hunt pilot was created as another tool to help manage human-wildlife conflict while ensuring sustainable wildlife populations for rights-based harvest and harvest by sport hunters, as outlined in the Game Management Plan and Game Allocation Framework.

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Christine Tell said regardless of population status, deer and elk are attracted to and may congregate in areas with easy access to unprotected agricultural products, especially during severe winters.

“This hunting opportunity will allow us to mitigate damage from wildlife while also ensuring their populations remain sustainable into the future,” she said. “The program is also intended to encourage more landowners to implement preventative measures that reduce future conflicts.”

There is a set of criteria for the Big Game Management Extended Hunt to be implemented including damage by game species including mule deer, white-tailed deer, or elk to agricultural products that has been reported to Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation (SCIC) through wildlife damage claims. Producers in the rural municipality (RM) have exhausted all other preventative measures or agree to implement preventative measures.

The RM’s of Livingstone, Hazel Dell, Kelvington, Bjorkdale and Leask will each be allocated 50 antlerless elk licences on top of what was available in the Big Game Draw. The extended hunting season will be from Nov. 1 to 10. Licenses will only be available to Saskatchewan residents through the online Hunting, Angling and Trapping licensing system.

The pilot program was developed with input from SARM and the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation.

SARM Acting President Bill Huber said the Saskatchewan government committed to providing producers more solutions to manage nuisance wildlife that were destroying their product.

“We’re pleased that the government heard our members’ concerns and is taking action,” Huber said. “We were at the table when this pilot was developed, and we feel it is a good balance for agriculture producers and game management. We also encourage landowners to do their part by allowing responsible hunters to access their property.”

“We listen and respond to the needs of our Saskatchewan producers,” David Marit said. “The Wildlife Damage Compensation Program provides support when wildlife damages crops and forages. The team at SCIC can help in finding available options for compensation and effective wildlife damage prevention strategies.”

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alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

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