When Don Conrad steps outside onto his back step, it’s not the dog that greets him but deer.
It’s not uncommon to see 30 to 35 deer jumping away from the sidewalk when he walks out of his northern Alberta home in Bear Canyon.
“They want to hang around the yard where the feed is,” Conrad said.
Government biologist Dave Moyles said a combination of factors has created a perfect environment for white-tailed and mule deer to survive and thrive, including seven mild winters, good feed in farm fields and ideal shelter along the banks of the Clear and Peace rivers.
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Instead of raising single offspring, he added, deer under these ideal conditions are successfully raising twins and triplets.
Moyles said farmers don’t mind sharing their feed with deer when there’s extra to go around, but they’re reluctant to share feed during a drought year with little feed.
In an attempt to reduce the number of deer climbing over hay stacks and eating grain and pasture, the province’s fish And wildlife division has implemented a quota hunt for antlerless white-tailed and mule deer in wildlife management unit 526 near Bear Canyon from Feb. 4 to March 4.
“In other areas we are getting deer numbers down to a manageable levels, but not in Bear Canyon,” Moyles said.
Bear Canyon is an agricultural area tucked between the British Columbia border and the Clear and Peace rivers of northwestern Alberta and is too far to drive for many hunters when deer are plentiful across the province.
“It’s hard to get people into that area,” said Moyles, who hopes the extra quota would entice hunters.
The fish and wildlife division has issued 150 licences for Alberta residents. Each licence will allow hunters to harvest four antlerless white-tailed or mule deer.
Conrad doesn’t know if the extra quota hunt will make much of a dent in the deer population. He hopes this year’s deep snow, followed by a freezing rain that put a thick crust on the snow, may help reduce the deer population.
“Everybody likes the deer, but it’s become quite a problem.”
