Wildlife Management
Big changes are coming for hunters who participate in Ontario’s controlled deer hunt program. In 2023, the provincial government has committed to a host of changes that include new timelines around the application period and draw results, along with new dates for when additional tags and farmer and landowner validations will be available. According to
Update: two new studies published in February 2022 provided additional insight into the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in deer and the potential risk to hunters. As part of our commitment to keeping our members informed on this evolving issue, we have updated this article to reflect this new information. The Ministry of Northern Development, Mines,
May 1st marked the full return of the spring bear hunt in Ontario. While the immediate benefits to bear management, bear hunters and northern businesses and communities are obvious, there is a much bigger picture to consider behind the saga of Ontario’s spring bear hunt. At its core, this is about what drives wildlife management decisions in Ontario. The rebound of wildlife populations across North America from
News of a coyote hunting contest sparked backlash from animal activist groups, including attempts to discredit legal hunting and trapping of coyotes. The OFAH debunks some of the myths about coyote contests and hunting.
On a September weekend in 2018, I was attending the After The Shot workshop put on by OFAH Zone G in order to provide a talk on deer behaviour. Also at the event was Dr. Joe Wilson, an OFAH Provincial Director-at-Large, and he was delivering a talk on wildlife disease. One of the diseases he
The OFAH is always pushing the MNRF to invest in moose science and, if necessary, we’ll roll up our sleeves and do it ourselves. We’ve been very clear that we want the MNRF to take a whole-ecosystem approach to moose management. This means considering all the factors that influence moose populations. Harvest by Indigenous and
Deer hunters have played a critical role in CWD (chronic wasting disease) surveillance since 2002. The deer head samples provided by hunters are key to identifying potential cases of CWD in Ontario. So far, no CWD has been detected in the province, but the disease has come dangerously close. In 2018, CWD was confirmed on
Today saw a major victory in the OFAH’s fight to keep chronic wasting disease (CWD) out of Ontario. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) is proposing to clamp down on how the deer farming industry can move animals into, through, and within Ontario, and further regulate high-risk parts and products. This is something
Some black bear hunters have begun receiving a 2017 Ontario Black Bear Hunter Survey in the mail from the MNRF. A total of 3000 surveys were sent to randomly-selected black bear licence holders. This survey is in addition to the mandatory annual harvest survey, and was specifically developed to gather additional information about expenditures related
Wildlife Management - OFAH Insider