Times Colonist- Parks Canada says 84 deer killed in $834,000 cull using helicopter
About 84 deer were killed as part of a controversial Sidney Island deer cull that involved marksmen shooting from a helicopter, says Parks Canada.
The goal is to restore the natural ecosystem on the island, located just off Sidney, after years of grazing by the invasive fallow deer, with an estimated current population of a few hundred animals.
The eradication is part of a nearly $6-million multi-year project to restore the Coast Douglas-fir forest ecosystem on the nine-square kilometre island.
The cost of the first phase, which includes the helicopter and marksmen from the U.S. and New Zealand, is about $834,000, said Parks Canada.
$834,000 to kill deer? Shut up and eat your bugs.
Fairly inexpensive cull by federal government standards. Only about $10,000 per deer.
I’ll do it for $1000 per deer. A real bargain.
I wonder if the government is aware of a government program in which individuals, equipped at their own expense, spend their spare time shooting deer, and pay the government a for the opportunity.
Exactly.
I expect that this will be peer reviewed and
Published in the lancet. Justifying bugs over venny..beef..or rat.
As Francisco implied, it seems we could have organized a paid hunting vacation event, given out 84 tags, and made money
Where is the private sector when you need them?
https://parks.canada.ca/agence-agency/bib-lib/politiques-policies/gestion-management/code#toc-1
Greg
There is a huge problem with your suggestion,”to day deer, tomorrow politicians”, they don’t want Canadians to practice shooting, and getting good at it.
Just practicing for when they start culling us.
Would like a crack at that project Deer meat is excellent table fare
Apparently, the Act that governs Canada’s National Parks does not allow ‘hunting’. A cull is not considered a hunt. Hunting by Aboriginals, however, is okay, because , well, because they are Aboriginal. Another prime example of the ‘law is an a**’.
The climate clowns on the Island should know that it’s not the deer that are stinking up the joint … It’s the people. If they want their Island to be pristine, they need to move.
So call me an unhired culler.
The CFO and the RCMP approved foreigners to come use prohibited weapons with prohibited devices to engage in prohibited hunting practices. Parks canada paid for it. Many many many people should be being charged with many firearms and hunting offenses.
And ole PP is pointing and shrieking, not demanding any action, just whining. Because he’s a cuckservative, afraid to attack.
Parks Canada has helos and door gunners? Does the RCAF know about this?
Good one! Made me laugh.
As the saying goes “We’ve come a long way, Baby!” In the old days the Indigenous people of the area would have assembled on the island formed a line along one side of the island and walked to the other side beating the game ahead of them. 250 to 300 men and boys, spaced 10 yards apart would have been enough to form a flush line.
When the deer were crowded onto the far side beach they could have been shot or herded onto a couple of barges and taken off the island. But leave it to the government to spend your money as uneconomically as possible. It is well past time that we ended the ability for the governments, municipal, provincial, and federal to spend or distribute tax money without some form of taxpayer input. The latest $10 million gift to Iranian youth is another example of government extravigance that we cannot nor do not wish to continue.
your average indigenous would have gladly done it just for the meat and a chance to flaunt the rules.
Why? they are getting the meat and hides for free from the work the government is doing to once again attempt to eliminate the deer after the last attempt failed…
Sorry, they are on gov’t dole, so maybe forgot how ….
That would have cost even more.
I’ve been to Sidney island many times and the deer there were so used to humans it would have been simple to take them out by land. There’s only one publicly accessible wharf to get to the island too so they could have easily closed the park and have at it. A few ATVs and a handful of hunters could’ve made a weekend of it. There’s even a campsite they could have used.
“I’ve been to Sidney island many times and the deer there were so used to humans it would have been simple to take them out by land. ”
Are they the small Vancouver Island deer?
No, they’re fallow deer, imported from England. Not native deer.
Further to my previous comment evidently these hunters were not the same ones that were hired a couple of years ago for the moose ‘cull’ in Cape Breton.
https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/questions-raised-over-cape-breton-cull-that-has-cost-ottawa-7-900-per-moose-1.4182693
At $9,900 a deer it appears we have some really expensive venison on the West Coast.
I wonder what it will cost us in the future when Canadians are no longer allowed to own guns?
Really enjoyed how “this time” the suppressors weren’t illegal.
Had enough of Old Canada and the #Libranos making up law to serve their interests yet?
Then punishing you for not having their permission?
What does it say in the crappy constitution of Old Canada about Canadians deserving “good government”?
Such a garbage country.
How dare you use such language.
The nerve, calling that document a constitution.
Constitutions actually protect the citizens, they don’t give license to the state to abuse the people.
Do better.
Sarc off
A more important question. Which Liberal family member or friend consulted or facilitated the project?
The RCMP and the BC CFO.
Was the Chief Firearms Officer for B.C. at that time appointed by the provincial government, or had the province passed the buck to the federal goverment?
It is a good question. perhaps it helps to know that the island is within the boundaries of canaduhs green MP, Elizabeth May. The whole area is infested with green voters and university of victoria know-all types.
I agree with marc in calgary-“such a garbage country”-thats why I refer to it as canaduh, the dumbed down version of a once great country.
Where are the zoophiles?
Doesn’t say if the meat was harvested? Did they shoot them and leave them to rot where they fell?
I would be most went in the nearest landfill.
It’s a government cull after all.
Nope. A preferred Indian band got it. Everything is politically connected in BC, especially Greenieland aka Victoria.
The people are green loons here. Daily, letters in the Times Communist decry the end of humanity unless cars and hydrocarbons are banned, or else, DIE!
The loons here are braindead, convince pd Big Nannystate saved us from Covid and a Recession, therefore, can save us from Eternal death/climate change, homelessness and drug addiction lifestyles.
Did I mention people are nuts here?
They harvested 1800 pounds of meat from the 84 animals
Back-straps and shoulders; dump the rest?
That’s not much more than 20 pounds per deer. were they all fawns? My experience in Southern Ontario is 80 to 150 pounds for a deer. Does overpopulation stunt the deer to the size of a poodle? As was said, probably took the tenderloins and back straps and trashed the rest.
They were fallow deer, imported from Europe. They are smaller than N. America’s mule and whitetail deer.
That’s the question. Venison answer coming?
I agree. Our country has gone to shit.
Absolutely right. Europe and the UK are further along, but Canada is totally pathetic at present, and the US is not far behind (and the US elite do start most of the trendy themes that too many Canadians almost gratefully adopt, as we apparently have collectively, no independent thought).
A CPC government may hold the line, but can not do all needed things, as most Canadians do realize or pay attention to facts. MAX has great ideas, but few followers, and he opted out.
I do dislike Harper for not appointing senators. He gave up or was mad at the crucial time.
And what a waste of prime venison!!!!
The hunters must have been using those super-callous AR-15’s which blow a body to pieces, since there were 84 deer killed and the hunters recovered 800 kg of meat.
Or about 10 kilos per deer.
Were they hunting fallow deer or dik-dik?
I suppose they packed in a vegetarian lunch.
My son in law could have cleaned that up in about a week.
Thomas
Hell, I don’t hunt, but for that kind of change , I could have done the job. Basically a closed environment. So they couldn’t go very far.
I guess. I’m sure a few F-18’s could have fixed it too but you’d like it done as humanely and respectfully as possible. The meat has to be handled properly so as not to go to waste.
Next time they have a chopper cull somebody should get their Ghillie suit on and shoot back.
I have to assume that Justin had some US and New Zeland friends who wanted to go hunting so he whipped up this little all expenses paid trip for his buddies.
I’ve shot dozens and dozens of deer. A majority with a bow. They were all destroying the ecosystem and I didn’t need to use a fossil-fuel burning helicopter either. Where do I send the invoice for my super green, indigenously-sensitive cull?
They could have let it out as a draw for tags and made money from eager and lazy hunters and the meat would have been utilized. Even Parks should be privatized along with all public lands of any value.
The Liberals couldn’t ask Canadian hunters (and gun owners) for assistance after spending years as demonizing them as murderous right wing fascists.
This. ^^^
Don’t these government officials realise there are lots of people who would gladly pay a lot of money to hunt deer on such an island?
Repeat after me…”government officials”.
// Three certified marksmen killed the 84 deer through a mix of nighttime ground-based hunting
and daytime aerial work that involved one marksman operating out of a single helicopter over five days
A second phase of ground hunting is expected to take place between the fall of 2024 and spring of 2025 //
In other deer news. An image of the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD) [from a Guardian article]
[…] Jumping the species barrier
In the US and Canada, CWD has gained attention not only because it affects big-game animals but also because of the possibility that it could jump the species barrier. Deer, elk and moose could infect livestock, other mammals, birds or even humans. Epidemiologists say the absence of a “spillover” case yet does not mean it will not happen. CWD is one of a cluster of fatal neurological disorders that includes BSE.[…]
https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/distribution-chronic-wasting-disease-north-america-0
Is there anything this idiot government will not squander money on?
Allahu Elkbar.
My brother in law and my son in law would have done the whole thing for a couple of cases of beer. In fact, they would have brought their own beer and done it for free.
To be fair, they were going to ask some We Were Here First Nations hunters but they were too busy burning down churches.
Well, as an alternative, they could have implemented the “Yellowstone” solution… reintroduce the predators that kept those pesky invasive species in check. They could have put wolves, coyotes, and cougars back into the mix, and the excess deer population would have been easily eliminated.
But then, after all the deer have been eliminated, what will those predators target as prey? Wolves and Cougars might just be tempted to try the possibly tasty 2-legged critters who wander obliviously through their hunting grounds.
Is there still an infantry batallion in Victoria? The PPCLI had a batallion there for many years, and they had many qualified “marksmen”. Several were also qualified snipers. A lot of prairie grandmothers could have taken those shots too.
Victoria must not have voted Liberal – no infantry there. Edmonton had no infantry or armour. It voted Liberal now it has 1st and 3rd PPCLI plus Lord Strathcona’s Horse. Edmonton’s gain was Victoria and Calgary’s loss. This happened about 30 years ago.
Climate Bambi.
Ok
What are the odds the department head at Parks Canada works out of an office in the six blocks around Parliament Hill?