The thrill of the kill

By Aaron Lombardi

 

Pursuing a kill rather than hunting for food can give the sport a poor reputation.

When ice melts in the spring and people begin to take walks on the beach, those in communities such as Walpole Island, Mitchells Bay and Lighthouse Cove will find the shorelines littered with ejected shotgun shells from the winter’s duck season. If each shell were to represent a duck killed, each should also represent one duck being made as a meal. However, local hunters say this is not always the case.

The act of thrill killing is directed at those who hunt for the sake of sport with little to no interest in where the meat may go after it has been killed. It is illegal to kill an animal and abandon it when hunting but it doesn’t mean it has not happened.

Tim Walker is a hunter who lives in the county and has seen hunters abuse the sport.

“I’ve seen 32 Canadian geese tossed in the creek by where I live,” said Walker. “Not to mention other incidents out here in the county. We need to take care of the people doing this.”

The daily hunting limit for Canadian geese in Southern Ontario is two per person during their open season.

The Ministry of Natural Resources deals with people who hunt unethically. The ministry’s public relations officer Andrew Chambers speaks as both a hunter and as a naturalist.

“We don’t see it too much now that the consequences are bigger. It’s really what you see in the media that makes it seem common,” said Chambers.

Those caught hunting unethically are met with hefty fines and suspensions of their game licenses for a specific amount of time depending on the crime.

Duck hunting is appealing to some because of its careful precision and quick movement. Walpole Island hunting guides often take out hunters who shoot for sport, leaving the meat to their guides as a payment. Although this may be seen as unorthodox by some, it is still not considered unethical.

The fair chase laws tell hunters that every animal is an important part of the environment and not something that should be subjected to fear and torture. The fair chase promotes that an animal must have a sporting chance in the hunt. No animal may be killed when it is in its most vulnerable positions such as swimming across a river.

Michael Reaume from Essex County believes in the stern laws placed on unethical hunters.

“It is clearly illegal do that stuff and it should be reported to the ministry. Hunting is a sport but game should be respected and consumed,” said Reaume.

Hunting for food is the sport’s most common practice and some hunters eat wild game meat as a healthier alternative to farm raised.

“This our heritage, our tradition, let’s not let the bad apples represent us. The animals hunted will have one bad day in their lives. The cows in the slaughterhouses will have many,” said Reaume. “As for the people who look down on the sport but still eat meat, they forget where the food on their plate comes from.”

According to the MNR hunting is important for population control and ethical hunters do their part in assisting conservation.

 

Contacts

Andrew Chamers MNR                                                                                                           Michael Reaume

1-800-667-1940                                                                                                                        (519)  634-5391

[email protected]