Following a terrible accident involving a deer near Kemptville on Christmas day, the Canada Safety Council’s past President is speaking-out on the status of Eastern Ontario’s whitetail herd.
The freak accident which claimed the life of 31-year old Roy Khabbaz, was just that, a freak accident, but Emile Therien once head honcho of the Canada Safety Council feels it’s time to thin the herd through a cull.
Therien was quoted as saying;
“There’s a heck of a lot of deer out there and they’re not going to go away, and I think at some point governments are going to have to decide how big the herd is and how many do they want to cull”
An article on the subject appearing this weekend in a local publication pointed-out, among other things, deer collision statistics for Ontario as well as the “Speeding Costs You Deerly” awareness campaign – a program run by the City which I’ve not heard of until now.
Yes, we do have a solid number of deer in this Region, there’s no arguing that…
It will be interesting to see how this recent call for a ‘deer cull’ is perceived, with someone from the Canada Safety Council bringing it to light. Anytime a hunter or conservationist mentions that dreaded four-letter word (Cull) Antis are all over us, like Oprah on a baked ham! (sorry Oprah)
The truth of the matter is, the deer herd in Eastern Ontario is actually in rebuild mode; still down substantially in numbers from 5-6 years ago. You see, Central Canada delivered its own style ‘cull’ at the time in the form of two wicked winters in a row; wiping out as much as 1/3 of the deer in some areas. Fact is, we are a piece off the number of deer this region boasted some 8-10 years ago.
Please don’t get me wrong, the accident on Christmas day is a terrible loss of a young life and my heart goes out to family and friends. As does my heart for the victims of the awful accident along the 148 in 2011 where a large black bear claimed two lives.
But is now the time for an all-out deer cull in eastern Ontario?
My opinion is that sustained white-tailed deer harvest is required; based on sound population surveys where available, along with hunter harvest statistics to help control and manage the herd. (Hunter’s harvest statistics are not currently being heavily utilized in Ontario, as the MNR do not have the resources to do so.)
Managing deer in our region has always been a conundrum and it seems nothing has changed. We’ll see if the Canada Safety Council has any pull in that regard.
What do you think?
Outdoorsguy