Hunting season always means a flurry of activity at the Pat Waller home near Kenton, Man.
Friends and relatives converge on the Waller farm with the hopes of tagging themselves a deer. Last fall, 35 deer were shot there, making only a slight dent in the population of four-legged foragers.
“It’s really not a problem for them to get a deer,” said Pat, noting that as many as 500 of the animals are roaming close to or on his farm.
The deer are a beautiful sight to behold when seen against the backdrop of the Assiniboine valley where Waller lives. But they can also be a nuisance, competing with Waller’s cattle for the hay that he feeds during the winter months.
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The Kenton farmer would feel uncomfortable about letting even more hunters onto his land, due to concerns about safety. But he would like to see more deer hunted in his area.
The topic of wildlife and its impact on farmers is one that stirs Kevin Wadham, a farmer near Virden, Man. He made an impassioned plea last fall before the province’s general farm organization, Keystone Agricultural Producers, encouraging action on the issue.
His views haven’t changed since then.
“A lot of city folk think it’s so nice to have all this wildlife,” said Wadham in an interview last week. “And it is nice, until it starts affecting your livelihood.”
Wadham said he is not opposed to having deer around. But he believes that better population control is needed, especially in years when the animals are flourishing.
Wadham’s plea last fall to KAP did not go unheeded. The farm lobby group met with Manitoba Natural Resources to learn how the department sets its bag limits for deer. KAP also wanted to know whether producers could have a say in setting the limits. The limits for last year’s hunting season had already been set by then. However, department officials encouraged further consultation should concerns arise in the future.
