Saskatchewan Follows Manitoba

An interesting philosophical question. The much-touted North American Model for wildlife management is based on several principles, among them that wildlife is a public trust to be managed sustainably; that commerce in dead animals is prohibited; that all citizens have the right to hunt and fish; and that wildlife can only be killed for "legitimate" purposes like, food, fur, self defense, and property protection.

How does commercial guiding fit into that model? I certainly know many guides who have businesses aligned with all that, but what of a private ranch that monopolizes game on Forest Service or BLM land that can ony be accessed through their property; fenced hunts on "game" ranches; or vast acreages of leased lands where hunting rights are monopolized by guide services?

www.fws.gov

North American Model of Wildlife Conservation: Wildlife for Everyone | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Hunting and wildlife conservation. At first blush, the two might seem to be at odds. How can you promote wildlife conservation by hunting for the same animals you’re working to save? Welcome to the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, a model that is truly unique in the world. From its...
www.fws.gov www.fws.gov
 
Concerning the wanton waste of waterfowl especially Snow Geese this is not a new problem as it did happen in the 1990's when daily limits were raised. The solutions to this problem are not hard to find. First shit can laws that the birds cannot be processed into anything that does not have a attached wing for transport, blah, ba blah, ba blah. Encourage Sausage, jerky, etc. to be made and enjoyed. Snow Geese taste good and mighty fine eating in my book especially the young grey birds. They can legalize Reefer but not change and disguard archaic Game Laws?

When PA decided to cull the many resident Giant Canada geese they hired pros to do it and process the meat so it could be used in food banks and where ever they deemed it possible. I don't wanna hear the crap about it not being safe to eat. What about mad cow, and other diseases in domestic animals and birds. Have drop stations that will process and utilize the meat. Do Not Allow it to go to waste.

The first time I heard the term "Sky Carp" was from a Sask. Wildlife officer that checked us at a road block game check. I was dumbfounded. If that is the attitude from the top down how can you blame some hunters for thinking it. The solutions are not laws that exclude but laws that include and make SENSE.

my 2 cents
 
This was driven by the Guides Association first in Manitoba and then to SK. After listening to a podcast the lobbyist for this change reasoned that every non resident that set up shop for a month(or season) and had friends dropping in and out every few weeks constituting a de-facto guide service. We stayed at the home of a man we met years ago and did our own scouting and securing permission . We did not exchange any items of value including dollars for his hospitality. We spent plenty of dough in the area and almost never encountered another hunter and certainly not Canadian waterfowl hunters. They had no interest in the sport as far as I could tell,so I dont belive the new law is really for John Q. Yah he der. Its the guides trying to corner the market.
 
Gentlemen,
I would be the first to agree that the wholesale guiding industry like we are seeing today does not fit the North America Model of Wildlife Conservation. If not, why has it become so prevalent. Perhaps it is because the state and provincial authorities that manage these resources would rather abdicate their responsibilities for game management to a few hundred guides than attempt to police hundreds of thousands of hunters? Obviously these government agencies have the power to restrict what is not proper, such as profiteering from wildlife. If so, then they are to blame for failing at their mission, not the guides or the Guides Association who just want a level playing field.
RM
 
Eric Patterson said:
RM

Level playing field? They want disproportionate CONTROL of the resource for financial gain.
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Eric,
Maybe it's time duckboats.net gets into political advocacy? I have said for a long time that our own government is mismanaging our wildlife resources. It started after WWII with Feed The World. Almost 80% of Minnesota' wetlands were drained. RM
 
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RM Anderson said:
Eric,
Maybe it's time duckboats.net gets into political advocacy? I have said for a long time that our own government is mismanaging our wildlife resources. It started after WWII with Feed The World. Almost 80% of Minnesota' wetlands were drained. RM
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Well, we used to have a waterfowl advocacy organization that worked hard for state and federal rules to protect wetlands. DU still exists and does good work to restore and protect wetlands by buying them, or using Duck Stamp and Farm Bill programs for conservation easements and other private land conservation, but it's been a long time since they did much policy advocacy. I like the work they do on Farm Bill programs, but they used to be staunch defenders of Clean Water Act protection of wetlands, and have not been in many years now. I don't want to see this fun forum turn into an advocacy organization, but wetland protection and our waterfowl could really use one that mobilized hunters.
 
I am an outfitter in Saskatchewan, and have been reading this forum to see what the reaction is in the freelancer community to these new changes. I think the Saskatchewan Commission of Professional Outfitters (our industry group) could and will do a better job of articulating our position on this, but I thought an outfitter's perspective might be helpful on this forum. I can only pass my own experience in the field and from various conversations with other outfitters at our regular SCPO meetings.

Of course it is true that the SCPO has been lobbying for years for changes to the freelance rules, and has looked to the changes in Manitoba and Alberta for guidance. It's also true that this will be beneficial to outfitters by reducing competition for hunting ground. However, we as a group are well aware of our own role as a part of this problem. The unregulated growth in outfitting activity in SK is a problem that has greatly increased competition for the land. In my own backyard, freelancing has not been much of a factor as the more than doubling of outfitting activity in recent years. This growth (in my area) is entirely from US-owned outfitters. To address this, the SCPO and the Ministry are looking at ways to cap outfitter growth. This has not come at the same time as freelance changes for various reasons, but favoring the outfitting sector is not one of them. In my opinion, the horse is out of the barn with regards to outfitter growth, but better late than never. I can say that it has been my experience that the vast majority of outfitters at our meetings support regulation of our own growth, not just regulation of freelancing. We understand that the current path will only lead to reduced quality of hunts, deteriorating relations with land owners/farmers, and is bad for the long-term health of our businesses.

As previous posters have said, this may help to reduce the fly-by-night guiding activities that we all know are occurring, but we could really use more enforcement. There are also local fly-by-night operations, and pay-to-play activities going on that are very hard to police with the current level of manpower.

Hopefully our government will move quickly to regulate industry, and we can all look forward to a more sustainable future for waterfowl hunting in Saskatchewan!
 
Adam,
Thanks for chiming in on this subject as there has been much debate. As a former client to a half dozen Alaskan hunts, I am well aware of the valuable service that guides provide. Your service is not only to the hunters who frequent your camps, but also as stewards of the game we all seek. Having said that, if you want to see what too much of a good thing looks like, take a trip to North or South Dakota where hunting has been all but taken over by the guiding industry with little opportunities for freelance hunting.
There are many hunters on this site including myself who don't need or cannot afford the services of an outfitter or guide but still relish the opportunity to hunt your beautiful province. We are hopeful that your industry group and governing bodies will continue to make considerations for those of us who wish to self guide. My wife and I had a fantastic trip hunting in Saskatchewan last year and will continue to enjoy your hospitality as long as we are able. Welcome to our site!
RM
 
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Agreed, I fear that we are already at the 'too much of a good thing' stage! In my area, it is very difficult for freelance hunters to get hunts because they can't compete with the local knowledge and the miles that us outfitters put in. Even the few local hunters we have left here struggle. Being the one of the only locally-owned outfits around here, I keep an eye out for hunts that aren't suitable for a group of 5 or 6 outfitted hunters so that I can tip them off, but a random freelancer with no contacts up here must have a tough time. We saw way more American freelancers up in our area than usual last year. We are also seeing suspected instances of land owners being paid for exclusive access by American outfits, which is hard to confirm if cash is paid and everyone keeps their mouth shut. At the same time, some land owners/farmers are deciding that the are tired of the flood of text messages and phone calls they receive for permission, and have decided to stop answering the phone. In still other cases, they have decided that they will allow only local outfitters and freelancers on their land. As a local, I do try to differentiate us by spending as much as I am able supporting local causes with my money and time. The result is a fragmented landscape where there are areas that are not worth scouting for some.

One problem that I have personally with non-resident outfitters is that they leave almost no economic footprint in the province (maybe not in all cases). Around here we are the only outfit who's signs you see at the rink or ball diamonds, and the only one who's owners and staff you'll see volunteering at local events or with their kids in local schools. This is something our government also needs to address, but I am not holding my breath.
 
Adam,
If your stated goal is to limit or eliminate out of state guides and outfitters, why doesn't your advocacy group lobby to license guides and outfitters like Alaska? It would seem to me that would be the best approach and it would greatly benefit your industry to eliminate the bad apples as well.
The problem we are seeing in North and South Dakota is a majority of the landowners signing on with guides and outfitters in exchange for money. To be sure, the American farmer has had a tough go of it for a number of years, so they can hardly be blamed. Additionally it eliminated hoards of hunters asking permission by simply posting their land electronically. The problem with all this is that resident hunters who initially lobbied to have restrictions on non resident hunters are now shut out as well. My point is be careful what you wish for, or in this case, lobby for.
RM
 
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Outfitters are licensed in SK. There are a finite number of game bird outfitting licenses available. In order to obtain one, you need to purchase an existing one. The way I understand it, there were quite a few 'inactive' game bird licenses out there that were purchased in recent years which lead to the increase in outfitter activity. I share your concern about letting the government stick their nose into things. Creates winners and losers. Hopefully they don't make a big mess of things.
 
Eric Patterson said:
The stated goal is to combat illegal guiding. What are the typical offenses that make these outfitters illegal? Are the violations disproportionately from US outfitters? I wonder how many freelance hunters are affected by this. I'm talking about folks who set up camp and chase ducks all over the landscape for weeks at a time. No more of that unless you are Canadian. This is thanks to the guides that place themselves above the law and abuse the resource and land. Their actions keep law abiding US hunters from enjoying the resource. I would have rather they were caught, penalized, and deported as the case may be.

I do question how they intend to solve illegal guiding for their own citizens. Or was it only the US outfitters breaking the law? How can that be? This smells of Canada once again putting up walls to prevent US citizens from freelancing while propping up their own citizen outfitters. Can someone explain how this law solves the illegal guiding? I am sick to death of the average freelance hunter getting squeezed off the land by laws passed by locals for the locals. I don't know, maybe this time there is a legitimate problem being solved. But I cannot find the specifics in the reporting. I wish they would state exactly what the problem is. It is all so damn vague. From where I sit it looks and feels like CA is once again writing laws for the benefit of their outfitters at the expense of the average non-resident person who wants to hunt more than 5 days.

https://www.saskatchewan.ca/governm...n-resident-game-bird-licences-in-saskatchewan

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Your absolutely right! I have been freelance waterfowl hunting in Saskatchewan since around 1995 and the last several years have had problems with outfitters [ both Canadian and Americans] becoming aggressive about freelancers' [us] obtaining permission from local landowners to hunt their fields and properties in areas where they guide!
 
I've read all the replies and comments and feel no hope that the situation I find myself and other freelancers in will be corrected. I like to freelance and prefer doing it with just my son, solo, or maybe a partner or two. Very small scale and certainly no eight-man group looking for body piles and social media greatness. I tread very light on the land and resource! I AM LOCKED OUT! Five days isn't enough. The new rules CLOBBER freelance hunters who simply want to stick around and hunt ducks for a few weeks and have an amazing experience OF THEIR OWN DOING.

My whole existence as a duck hunter was born from freedom to pursue waterfowl and move about as I saw fit with little interference. What's around the next bend? Let's find out! Adventure and freedom are paramount to create long-time hunters which are often the ones who become good sportsmen and stewards of the resource. The new attitude seems to be erect walls and put access in the hands of locals to generate money that will never make it back to the resource, a resource which happens to be PUBLIC. This new school of thought is going to create an unprecedented drop-out rate and perpetual disproportionate number of young inexperienced hunters and all the ills that comes with it. Greed is an insidious thing.
 
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Dale Wilcox said:
Your absolutely right! I have been freelance waterfowl hunting in Saskatchewan since around 1995 and the last several years have had problems with outfitters [ both Canadian and Americans] becoming aggressive about freelancers' [us] obtaining permission from local landowners to hunt their fields and properties in areas where they guide!
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I've only hunted Saskatchewan for the last three years. No confrontations but we have had Outfitters beat us to the feed on a couple of occasions. The solution our trip leader chose was to simply go to another field and get up an hour earlier the next day.
Last year, as it was just my wife and myself, we didn't really concern ourselves with finding a field with hundreds of birds but rather small loafing ponds. Rather pleasant not having to compete.
RM
 
Eric Patterson said:
Greed is an insidious thing.
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I don't think that Outfitters and guides are greedy because they earn their living utilizing a natural resource. Would you consider a lumberjack a greedy individual for cutting the wood that built your house? I'm guessing that most of these guides are young fellows that probably have the choice of either working for Walmart or working from a layout blind.
If I were to blame anyone, it would be the government agencies in charge of allocating resources.
Allow me to illustrate how a guide can get screwed over. My first brown bear hunt in Alaska was with a well known guide who had a concession in the Chugach mts outside of Anchorage. While stalking a beautiful ten foot plus brown bear a helicopter suddenly appeared out of nowhere to drop off some extreme skiers! Yeah, sure we were disappointed, but we also had the realization that it is a shared resource.
RM
 
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