Northwestern Saskatchewan farmers have had enough of moose, deer and antelope trampling their crops, eating their bales, grazing in their alfalfa fields, damaging their fences and threatening the safety of drivers.
Roger Holland, who has farmed near Maidstone, Sask., since the late 1950s, said wildlife numbers in his area have never been so high.
He said the level of frustration among area farmers is reaching new heights, and deer, moose and antelope are routinely being shot out of season.
Officials from the province’s environment ministry have been told that poaching is common in rural areas, Holland added.
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“Cattle guys are fed up with deer grazing on their cropland … (they’re) sick and tired of moose smashing their fences and their cattle getting out,” he said.
Oil patch workers are also taking matters into their own hands.
People who live and work in the area think the province’s wildlife management strategies are failing so they are devising their own solutions, Holland said.
“Guys are just shooting them. They gut shoot them … and a lot of them are shot late. They’ll shoot them at night in the headlights,” he said.
“They say, ‘better to shoot them than to hit them with my truck.’ They’re sick and tired of it.”
Moose numbers near Maidstone are higher than ever and antelope numbers were also on the rise until poaching thinned the local antelope population last winter.
“There’s more moose shot here illegally than there is legally,” said Holland.
Brent Webster, director of field services for Saskatchewan Environment’s compliance and field services branch, said the ministry has received reports of poaching but nothing on an unusual scale.
“We’re always investigating cases of poaching but … I’m not aware of any that are linked, on any massive scale, to farmer concern at this point,” said Webster.
“I’m not aware of any instances where … we’ve been informed that they (farmers) are shooting … (animals) unlawfully. We’re certainly not aware of anything of that nature on any scale of any kind, whatsoever.”
Webster said calls to the province’s TIPS (Turn in Poachers) line have been stable at around 1,000 calls per year. All reports of illegal hunting are investigated.
The province will sometimes authorize depredation hunts or special management hunts to thin animal populations, Webster added.
However, cervid numbers are expected to decrease in many areas of the province this year because of malnutrition, harsh winter conditions and low birth rates.
As for economic losses caused by big game animals, Webster urged farmers to file claims with the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp.
“My advice … (to farmers) is to make sure that they deal with crop insurance and make sure that they are getting the service they need on that because it is a very good program.”
Holland said farmers know about crop insurance’s wildlife damage programs, but it is difficult to collect compensation on some damage.
Some farmers who suffer wildlife-related losses don’t file claims if they feel the burden of proof is too onerous or if the damage is discovered during the busy harvest and seeding seasons.
