Poor economy hurting hunting lodge

Posted By Angela Brown, Central Plains Herald-Leader

Updated 15 days ago

While the duck and geese season is just ending, there have been some various reports of hunting participation numbers as being either up or down, in the Central Plains region.

Bill Lavallee, head guide at Sports Afield Lodge near St. Ambroise, said this year was a good duck hunting season at his lodge with about 78 hunters participating, visiting from the United States. Duck hunting started Sept. 28 and is now wrapping up,

"It was up quite a bit," he said of the numbers. "We had another 20 hunters more than last year."

Lavallee attributes increased numbers at his lodge basically due to more aggressive advertising in the United States.

However, he did not see many local hunters taking part.

"The only reason I can see is things are too expensive, not everybody can afford to buy a licence, and the shells are expensive ..., " he said.

John Lavallee, who owns Crooked Creek Lodge in St. Ambroise, however, commented he has seen a decline in numbers at his hunting lodge, which he attributes to the sluggish economy.

"It was very poor this year. It's been like that for the past two or three years. It probably has to do with the recession in the U.S. ...," he said on Oct. 31. "People aren't travelling as much, and the price of fuel is not to their liking."

He said compared to five years ago he estimates there has been a 60-70 per cent drop in numbers, to just under 40 hunters taking part, from a prior high of up to 100 hunters.

In his estimation, John Lavallee said the deer population has dropped as well in the St. Ambroise area.

He also does not anticipate good hunter participation for deer hunting since he has seen a decline in deer numbers in the St. Ambroise area.

"I haven't seen any deer at all this summer, in our area anyway," said John Lavallee. "I blame low deer populations on severe winters that we had. Last winter was very severe, hard on the deer."

He added a fair amount of bush appears to have been removed in the St. Ambroise-St. Marks vicinity, which discourages deer from staying in the area.

Wade Duncan, owner of MacDonald's Sporting Goods Ltd. in Portage la Prairie, said there is a good supply of deer for hunting this year in some areas, just as duck and geese hunting is winding down for the season.

For deer hunting, muzzle-loader rifle season opened Oct. 19 and runs until Sunday, while centre-fire rifle season starts Nov. 9 and continues to Nov. 29.

"In a lot of areas, there are quite a few deer," explained Duncan.

However, he added in some areas, hunters are permitted a second tag, meaning a hunter can take a second deer, but this year that policy has been cancelled in some regions. Hunters are advised to consult their hunting guides to know the rules for the area in which they are hunting.

Lorne Borland, of Portage Country Club, located near Delta Marsh, in the Oakland area, commented geese season, which is wrapping up, offered a good supply around the Delta Marsh area.

"The hunting numbers are down I believe," he said of hunter participation.

He noted his private club has only a small membership.

Borland also commented the recession seems to have had an impact by reducing hunter turnout.

Seasonal hunter Les Matthews, from Portage, said he started muzzle-loader hunting in the Pipestone area southwest of Brandon recently for deer and found there was not an abundance, but he attributes that to the fact there has not been much snow on the ground at this time of the year.

Matthews remarked when there is more snow, the deer will leave the bush areas to find a source of food and they will be more apparent.

"Some years, it's a little cooler and we have a fair amount of frost, but this year has been a funny year all-around," he said on Nov. 1. "I'm very optimistic. I know there are lots of deer in the area. You can go for days and weeks and never see an animal. Then they appear. It's in the timing."

abrown@cpheraldleader.com