Sunday hunting sends wrong message

Hunters cannot expect to hold public credibility by claiming to conserve wildlife, then kill it on Sunday

Those who are advocating for Sunday hunting on P.E.I., to take away waterfowl’s only day of rest, are sending the wrong conservation message, especially to potential youth hunters who will not be enticed by its negative impact.

People generally can get turned off as they observe more hunting opportunity and less conservation or wise use.

And it will be obvious as people tend to get out more on weekends. Attracting youth to hunting is difficult when we realize their parents aren’t motivated to be outdoors, pursuing waterfowl as hunters do.

Taking away Sunday, even one Sunday as waterfowl’s only day of rest, will be seen as an unnecessary, self-serving move that fails conservation as wise use of a resource shared with many others who value wildlife and expect it to be protected, not pursued on its day of rest.

The first time this amendment came up for discussion, its supporters and promoters couldn’t answer many questions of concern some MLAs had about the Sunday hunting issue. Since then, the outfitters (P.E.I.’s commercial hunters) have been told by some farmers they do not want Sunday hunting on their lands.

There are also cottage owners who don’t want any hunting, especially our resident goose population because they feed these geese and watch them group up. And there are Islanders who enjoy being outdoors on Sunday walks and drives, enjoying waterfowl they wish to see undisturbed.

And it’s highly possible with many newly-formed amalgamated communities, some residents may question and object to hunting in their areas of P.E.I., and with that, hunting can be prohibited by merely passing a regulation banning the discharge of firearms within amalgamated boundaries, as Stratford has done.

This legislation to legalize hunting on Sunday by amending the P.E.I. Wildlife Conservation Act (Bill #107) is a private member’s bill being moved by PC MLA Jamie Fox, and seconded by PC MLA Darlene Compton.

It’s being promoted by Winnipeg-based Delta Waterfowl and supported by the wildlife division of government, Ducks Unlimited and the P.E.I. Wildlife Federation. The legislation is being opposed by Hunters for Conservation (P.E.I.), an active advocacy group for wildlife conservation and responsible hunting practices. Its membership includes hunters, non-hunters and Islanders generally who expect wise use of wildlife resources shared and valued by many people for many reasons.

We, as hunters, cannot expect to hold public credibility by claiming we are conserving wildlife, while seeking to take away its only day of protection so some of us can hunt and kill it on Sunday. Even one Sunday is wrong because it could open the door for more Sunday hunting later.

This is not just about the fact that black ducks on our eastern flyway are in decline by 12-20 percent on a long-term 20-year average.

Even if we had a substantial increase, wild ducks and geese still need Sunday as a day of rest regardless of whether their populations are up or down. According to the latest figures of the World Wildlife Fund, wildlife populations are down 60 percent.

The geese we hunt in Atlantic Canada are the North Atlantic population of 130,000 which range from the breeding grounds of northern Newfoundland and Labrador, flying southward to the wintering grounds of North and South Carolina. This North Atlantic population is the smallest of the seven wild goose populations in Canada.

Island legislators are expected to further consider the issue in committee of the whole House by the end of this month before a vote is taken. I feel it’s fair to say P.E.I.’s 1,600 waterfowl hunters have never had more hunting opportunity with longer seasons and liberalized bag limits.

In the early years of a 65-year hunting career, I can recall when Island hunters numbered in the thousands. We had more ducks and much more upland game. Today, there are fewer hunters and less game needing more protection.

Never has so much (hunting opportunity) been given to so few.

We should be more thankful for what we have, not push our hunting privileges to the limit. They could backfire on us.