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Tyler Huber has a farm about halfway between Biggar and Battleford. At this time of year, he’s used to getting hunters driving onto his property, shaking hands with him, and asking him if they can hunt on his land.
Many of those doing so from year-to-year are from the U.S. This year, however, because of the border closure due to COVID-19, Americans can’t simply drive into Canada and hunt any sort of game.
And while Huber expected he’d see some people from around the province asking to go bird hunting on his property, he was very surprised to see hunters from somewhere else recently.
“On two separate occasions, there was a group of eight guys from Ontario asked for permission to hunt on the land and I kind of found that odd. And then the next day, a different group of four also from Ontario come (sic) through. I don’t mind guys hunting, it’s just a bit weird with COVID protocols and everything like that.”
The hunters, maskless, approached Huber, shook hands with him and spoke with him. They said they were staying in Richard, along Hwy 376.
“It struck me as odd that they were from Ontario, with the spike in cases there, and that they’re now touring around Saskatchewan.”
Huber said he and his family stick to the farm as much as possible. He said he denied permission to one group because someone else was already on his property hunting, while the following day he directed the group to another landowner because it wasn’t his land they were inquiring about.
That so many hunters are coming from two provinces away is news to Darrell Crabbe, executive director of the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation. 650 CKOM has also reached out to the Saskatchewan Commission of Professional Outfitters (SCPO) for comment.
Crabbe says there are no rules, laws or requirements for hunters coming here from out of province to quarantine when they get here. Inter-provincial travel is allowed between provinces, with the exception of the “Atlantic bubble.”
“The migratory bird hunting in Ontario is very good, as it is in Manitoba and you know, you kind of wonder why they would travel this far… maybe they just felt it was a good year to come because there are so many American hunters that aren’t going to be coming up this year.”
But he thinks there could be another reason why the hunters are coming here, as well.
“Normally in hunting, you’re trying to be as far away from other individuals as possible. I was just speaking to our counterparts in Ontario, and one of the big issues there is they have a lot of deer camps and moose camps. A number of people go to a particular area and stay in a cabin, and because of the restrictions there now, a lot of those camps are having to reduce the number of people going to it significantly.”
He says, however, if the hunters are doing the right thing and asking landowners for permission, the rules in Saskatchewan aren’t as restrictive as they are in Ontario, and they can go about their excursions.
