The Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation is calling for reduced allocation for white-tailed deer this hunting season. Heath Dreger, Yorkton Wildlife Federation president, says a tough winter in 2012 is causing significant reductions in the populations.
Winter conditions last year caused a significant impact on deer population, with some estimates at 50 per cent lower than previous year.
As a result of that, the Wildlife Federation believes it's important to cut allocations in order to allow the population to rebound.
Wherever the actual cap was set, the actual sales have been down significantly. Minister of the Environment Ken Chevaldayoff says this year has seen a significant drop off in the number of tags sold. Sales to residents outside of Saskatchewan were 4,381, but were capped at 4,000 this year. Actual sales, however, were 2,976. Sales to residents within the province were also down, with total allocations going from 54,724 in 2012 to 48,602 2013.
The allocations available are based on several factors, Chevaldayoff says. Those include recommendations from biologists, members of the legislature from around the province and also Crop Insurance on damage to crops and SGI on vehicle collisions.
Dreger says that including groups like Crop Insurance and SGI in the consultations is not in the best interest of either deer or the people who want to hunt. He says that the only priority in the allocation should be the opinion of biologists, since the goal should be to ensure a healthy herd into the distant future.
"We want the government to use science as a tool to base their allocations."
The big concern for Dreger is what will happen if 2013 is as hard on the deer populations as the previous year, and he says that by taking commerce into account, it could be dangerous for the deer themselves.
"If we have another hard winter, it could be devastating to the herd... They're trying to act within the public interest, but that means if they're going to make a buck, they're going to."
Chevaldayoff says that those numbers are taken into account due to the impact collisions and lost crop have on people in the province, and that he takes the decision for the annual allocation seriously.
