Canadian correspondent Ken Nowicki, who alerted us to this story, says, "This is a devastating ruling for wildlife, sheep, elk and mule deer in particular. There's evidence that this decision will quickly result in a depletion of quality and quantity of trophy animals and might even result in huge restrictions on quotas and seasons, which are already under extreme pressure in British Columbia and Alberta. It's rumored that Alberta will have new horn curl restrictions coming, and shorter seasons for 2013."
According to Nowicki, hunters heading to the shows should ask potential outfitters some very pointed questions, including: How truly remote is the outfit? Where does the game winter? And how can they check the facts with a local game biologist? Nowicki also urges hunters to do their due diligence on quotas that outfitters actually have. There have been cases of outfitters booking more hunters than they have tags for, and that situation could only get worse under this ruling if quotas are cut further.
We talked with one BC outfitter at press time who has been following this issue closely. He told us he was fairly sure his remote concession would not be affected, largely because it was not a traditional hunting ground for any Métis communities. But he........(continued)
