Muskoka Outdoors

The Ontario Ministry of Natural resources has made some changes to the 2010 hunting regulations. These amendments are in response to efforts to ensure that Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) does not impact Ontario deer herds.

According to the Ontario MNR website, the changes are as follows:

• Prohibits the use of natural attractants that contain parts or bodily fluids of a member of the deer family for the purposes of hunting in Ontario (e.g., natural deer urine/by-products)
• Restricts the possession of certain higher risk carcass parts (e.g., brain, spinal column, antlers, etc.) of moose and caribou that were killed outside the province. This regulation is the same as the existing regulation that applies to the carcasses of all other members of the deer family which came into effect in 2005.
• Restricts the transportation of live white-tailed deer, American elk, moose and woodland caribou into Ontario unless accompanied by a provincial permit  (Source: Ontario MNR website)

I am somewhat skeptical over the need to ban deer urine attractants especially since no apparent CWD case has been linked to any these products. Perhaps when more is known about the actual transmission vectors of CWD – this could be re-evaluated. The synthetic products are cheaper anyway.

At least, they were.

UPDATE: The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) has since posted a media release about the changes. To summarize their media release,

“Unfortunately, these half measures fall far short of what actions should have been taken, and not only fail to address the problem, they leave outdoors retailers on the cusp of hunting season with inventories of natural deer attractants that can be sold, but no longer be used by hunters, at least in Ontario.” Entire OFAH Press Release Here

Chronic Wasting Disease Fact Sheet

2010 Ontario Hunting Regulations Download

The Globe and Mail and CBC news sites have reported that RCMP Chief Superintendent Marty Cheliak will leave his gun registry position for some french language training. Both articles suggest that this is a muzzling attempt by Harper’s Federal Government before a serious debate about scrapping the gun registry moves forward in debate.

Once you get past the fact that the CBC is against anything Harper does, and reports as such, this is a hype over matter issue.

Marty Cheliak will still get a sweet pay check at the end of each day. Some french language training might be seen as break from the the long-gun registry and dealing with the names on that list. I mean, I could name 10 Canadian citizens (plus myself) who are on that list and who work to contribute positively to Canadian society. It must be tough finding all of us who have registered their guns and have our addresses listed on this ‘crime-reducing’ registry.  At the click of his fingers, Marty Cheliak could send officers to ‘visit’ farmers, hunters and other law-abiding, rural citizens to ensure our guns are locked up and not being used in any crimes.

Meanwhile, back in the real world (strangely overlooked by urban Liberals, NDP and the CBC), the criminal element could care less if the long-gun registry gets scrapped or not.

Why? Because their names are not on the list.

Over halfway through 2010 and one could argue that bears are trying to destroy their teddy bear image through various bear attacks and snarling close encounters.

For or against, these occurrences have many people talking about the cancellation of Ontario’s spring bear hunt. A lost hunting opportunity that many hunters felt was politically motivated. It was a management tool that developed a healthy fear of man in bears and helped to minimize encounters like those shared in this post. It did NOT mean the end of Ontario’s bears. Nobody wanted that!

Black Bear Photo: HBarrison from Wikipedia

Those against a bear hunt are being ‘treated’ with more bear sightings, bear attacks, property damage  and other close encounters.

Anecdotally, through sources close to Muskoka Outdoors, some Huntsville residents have been having some close encounters.

One man was working outside his house when he came face to face with a bear. After repeated attempts to scare the  bear off, the man went back inside his house, with the bear following, to get his firearm. When the man exited his house with gun in hand – the bear bolted away.

In a second, different encounter, one woman returned back into her kitchen to find a bear in her kitchen. It had come in through a screen door.

Then, there was this past spring.  In less than one month, three separate aggressive bear encounters have been reported in the area of Orillia, ON. One of the attacks was nearly fatal, while the other two were ‘charges’ and acts of aggression.

Listed below are accounts of the encounters from various sources:

1. Mauling victim gives chilling account of bear attack

2. ATV rider charged by black bear

3. Woman on bike chased by black bear near Orillia, ON

Recently, there have been other bear attacks in Canada and internationally:

1. Canadian woman recounts bear attack (Montana)

2. Bear killed after biting man’s arm (Colorado)

3. Port Alberni bear attack sends two to hospital (BC)

4. Yellowstone Bear Attack KILLS Camper, Injures Two

It’s getting more difficult to buy into the ‘rarity’ of hostile bear encounters and attacks. Clean BBQ grills, bear ‘proof’ garbage containers and call lines might fool humans into a sense of safety, but ‘Smokey’ the bear’s identity is lost in the reality of the Canadian rural setting.

Live trapping bears might make sense – until they end up in your back yard or mine. If we are going continue with this tool – I hope those involved are getting DNA samples of the bears that are re-released to make sure they are not repeat offenders. It will also give human victims a means to trace who released a potential risk to back to the wild.

At some point, increasing hunting opportunities, in conjunction with a science-based management plan, will need to be considered to start minimizing risks to humans. It could be a tough pill to swallow for anti-hunting groups.

It is more heart breaking for me to see a human become a causality of the ‘business-end’ of a bear.

In a study that confirmed what many in Ontario have been saying for some time now, the Cougar (or Puma) does exist in the province.

A news report by the Ottawa Citizen states that the Ontario MNR has DNA, scat and track evidence of the stealthy cat in their labs. The article in the Ottawa paper says,

” … after an ambitious four-year study, the Ministry of Natural Resources has come to a definitive conclusion: the eastern cougar will be lumped with the sasquatch no longer. The study collected 30 pieces of evidence, including photos of tracks, samples of scat and DNA. “It verified that cougars do exist in Ontario,” said Rick Rosatte, senior research scientist with the ministry in Peterborough …” Entire Article Here

The report also referenced the ‘Cougar Cams’ that were set-up in 2009 as an initiative to capture the elusive cougar in digital pixels (refer to this blog post). No photos of the cougar have actually been captured yet. The cameras will remain in place until 2011.

For more information about the eastern cougar in Ontario, consider visiting the Ontario Puma Foundation’s website.

*Cougar photo is public domain from Wikipedia

Imagine sending your child or grandchild to a summer day camp that is geared towards getting kids excited about conservation, fishing and hunting. This type of camp has been available for some time, but in 2010 it can only become better because of a location change.

The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) has recently announced changes to their Get Outdoors day camps. A recent press release says,

Three sessions of day camps are being offered by the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters as part of their award-winning Get Outdoors youth education and outreach program. The new O.F.A.H. Mario Cortellucci Hunting & Fishing Heritage Centre, which just opened in April, will serve as the base camp. Children ages 6 and 7 will attend the August 9-11 session, 8 to 10 year olds are set for August 16-18 and youth from 11 to 13 years will have the last session, August 23-25…Day campers will take part in scavenger hunts, create themed crafts, and learn to recognize wildlife and their calls. Scheduled special guests include the K9 unit (conservation officers and their dogs), and for the younger campers, the Paddling Puppeteers. A BBQ and awards presentation will wrap up every session. The day camps are modeled after the O.F.A.H.’s highly successful overnight Get Outdoors summer leadership camps that take place in July near Huntsville. Entire Article Here

There is currently a waiting list for the leadership camps. Don’t delay because it is expected that the day camps will fill quickly as well.

Watch highlights from last summer below (OFAH sent me some photos and I put them in a video format).

The Tiverton Gun, Hunting, Fishing and Sportsman Show is June 19 – 20, 2010. This year the event is held at the Tiverton Sports Arena and you can expect to find outdoor treasures like: military items, gun parts, archery gear, ammunition, fishing tackle, antique and modern firearms, hunting clothing.

Admission is $5 and to set-up your own display table the costs is $35.

Doors open on Saturday 9 AM to 4PM and Sunday 9 AM to 3 PM.

The Tiverton Sports Arena is located:
King St. (HWY 21 N)
Tiverton, ON

Contact: Jeff at (519)386-5278 or (905) 623-1778
Email: Canadiangunowner@rogers.com