banning game farms

[R3illy]

David swann was on 630ched this morning chatting about banning all game farms in alberta due to the risk of cwd. He made a lot of pretty big statements like the game farms dont add anything to our economy and that they should all be shut down.

Mentioned that there are countries that already ban imports of game farm meat due to the potential cwd issues. Multiple times he said there isnt any science yet that specifically says cwd can come from game farms but lets shut them all down anyways.

Thought it was an interesting topic that the govt seems to be contemplating.

[calgarychef]

Considering that CWD originated in Sask. where game farming exists, it makes sense to me to shut them down. They’re aren’t very many and truly they don’t contribute much to theneconomy

[catnthehat]

Not new but resurfacing again maybe?
Doctor Val Geist was campaigning against game ranches in the early 80’s and the AFGA has always been against cervid game ranching because of the CWAd issue
Cat

[Chief16]

Originally Posted by calgarychef

Considering that CWD originated in Sask. where game farming exists, it makes sense to me to shut them down. They’re aren’t very many and truly they don’t contribute much to the economy

Although CWD was first found in Canada in Saskatchewan, it did not originate there, it was first seen in Colorado.

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/animals/.../1330190096558

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by Chief16

Although CWD was first found in Canada in Saskatchewan, it did not originate there, it was first seen in Colorado.

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/animals/.../1330190096558

Quebec is having a very serious time with it as well , game farms have been in operation there fir quite a while too!
Cat

[heretohunt]

I was a owner of a game ranch/ high fence hunt for about 5 years in saskatchewan. I would have rejected the idea of getting into the business but it was a great group of guys that were involved. We all had a different set of ethics but certainly found common ground.

Here are some of the things that I learned as I became less naive.
There are a lot of complaints about this type of hunt and this industry.

-CWD- every single one of the animals that was killed was tested by an outside tester. Every single one! It is required by law. After hundreds of elk, deer caribou and buffalo, we never had a single case of cwd. No wild population can be tested that thoroughly.

-it’s not a real hunt- That is up to the hunter. It can be easy or hard. We had 4 sections fenced with bush, streams ponds willows, hills and fields. Some animals were damn near tame and some were not cooperative. We had a client come up for a particular bull and went home empty handed. There were several guides looking for him as he was a high dollar hunt. He was rifle hunting. We had disabled and mobility limited people that were able to take tremendous animals that would have otherwise been impossible. If you think everyone that takes a 400”+ elk in the wild is a tremendous hunter you are a little bit naive.

-The non residents do not infringe on residents hunting opurtunity. There are no issues with tieing up the best land or illegal hunting practices. The ranch does not affect the local game/trophy population.

-it diminishes the value of my wild trophy- Does it really? Nobody but you cares about your trophy. If you don’t believe me then ask yourself what will happen to your trophy’s when you are gone? The truth is if you are an average joe living in Canada, weather you are a serious hunter or not, it is very unlikely you will ever have the opurtunity to put a 350” bull over your fireplace. Even with our draw system and a lot of persistence you need to have things go right. There are certainly people that kill great bulls on general tags here but they are certainly the exception. They are typicaly people with more time and resourses than average.

[Sledhead71]

Originally Posted by heretohunt

I was a owner of a game ranch/ high fence hunt for about 5 years in saskatchewan. I would have rejected the idea of getting into the business but it was a great group of guys that were involved. We all had a different set of ethics but certainly found common ground.

Here are some of the things that I learned as I became less naive.
There are a lot of complaints about this type of hunt and this industry.

-CWD- every single one of the animals that was killed was tested by an outside tester. Every single one! It is required by law. After hundreds of elk, deer caribou and buffalo, we never had a single case of cwd. No wild population can be tested that thoroughly.

-it’s not a real hunt- That is up to the hunter. It can be easy or hard. We had 4 sections fenced with bush, streams ponds willows, hills and fields. Some animals were damn near tame and some were not cooperative. We had a client come up for a particular bull and went home empty handed. There were several guides looking for him as he was a high dollar hunt. He was rifle hunting. We had disabled and mobility limited people that were able to take tremendous animals that would have otherwise been impossible. If you think everyone that takes a 400”+ elk in the wild is a tremendous hunter you are a little bit naive.

-The non residents do not infringe on residents hunting opurtunity. There are no issues with tieing up the best land or illegal hunting practices. The ranch does not affect the local game/trophy population.

-it diminishes the value of my wild trophy- Does it really? Nobody but you cares about your trophy. If you don’t believe me then ask yourself what will happen to your trophy’s when you are gone? The truth is if you are an average joe living in Canada, weather you are a serious hunter or not, it is very unlikely you will ever have the opurtunity to put a 350” bull over your fireplace. Even with our draw system and a lot of persistence you need to have things go right. There are certainly people that kill great bulls on general tags here but they are certainly the exception. They are typicaly people with more time and resourses than average.

Thanks for actual insight on the diversified agriculture. I agree with you.

[Grizzly Adams]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

Quebec is having a very serious time with it as well , game farms have been in operation there fir quite a while too!
Cat

Just read an article in Ontario Farmer about the farm where the CWD outbreak was found. They claim to be the biggest game farm in the world with over 3200 animals spread over three facilities. They can't understand what the fuss is about and why they have to destroy all their animals.

Grizz

[fordtruckin]

First time CWD was found in Montana was at a game farm in the western side of the state. We now ban them unless you are grandfathered in which is slowly going away. They have tracked CWD as originating in game farms all over the world. Might not be ground zero but sure doesn’t help it stop as fences can fail animals can escape or wild animals can infiltrate the farm, or in some cases the owner wants out so he just releases his animals.

[270person]

Originally Posted by R3illy

David swann was on 630ched this morning chatting about banning all game farms in alberta due to the risk of cwd. He made a lot of pretty big statements like the game farms dont add anything to our economy and that they should all be shut down.

Mentioned that there are countries that already ban imports of game farm meat due to the potential cwd issues. Multiple times he said there isnt any science yet that specifically says cwd can come from game farms but lets shut them all down anyways.

Thought it was an interesting topic that the govt seems to be contemplating.

I would endorse it.

[Grizzly Adams]

Thought it was an interesting topic that the govt seems to be contemplating.

Funny, it was the government first promoting the concept as alternative agriculture. Wild Boar and CWD left egg on their faces.

Grizz

[lannie]

Originally Posted by heretohunt

I was a owner of a game ranch/ high fence hunt for about 5 years in saskatchewan. I would have rejected the idea of getting into the business but it was a great group of guys that were involved. We all had a different set of ethics but certainly found common ground.

Here are some of the things that I learned as I became less naive.
There are a lot of complaints about this type of hunt and this industry.

-CWD- every single one of the animals that was killed was tested by an outside tester. Every single one! It is required by law. After hundreds of elk, deer caribou and buffalo, we never had a single case of cwd. No wild population can be tested that thoroughly.

-it’s not a real hunt- That is up to the hunter. It can be easy or hard. We had 4 sections fenced with bush, streams ponds willows, hills and fields. Some animals were damn near tame and some were not cooperative. We had a client come up for a particular bull and went home empty handed. There were several guides looking for him as he was a high dollar hunt. He was rifle hunting. We had disabled and mobility limited people that were able to take tremendous animals that would have otherwise been impossible. If you think everyone that takes a 400”+ elk in the wild is a tremendous hunter you are a little bit naive.

-The non residents do not infringe on residents hunting opurtunity. There are no issues with tieing up the best land or illegal hunting practices. The ranch does not affect the local game/trophy population.

-it diminishes the value of my wild trophy- Does it really? Nobody but you cares about your trophy. If you don’t believe me then ask yourself what will happen to your trophy’s when you are gone? The truth is if you are an average joe living in Canada, weather you are a serious hunter or not, it is very unlikely you will ever have the opurtunity to put a 350” bull over your fireplace. Even with our draw system and a lot of persistence you need to have things go right. There are certainly people that kill great bulls on general tags here but they are certainly the exception. They are typicaly people with more time and resourses than average.

With respect,
Some game farms do affect the local game/trophy population. When the rut is on and you are farming Elk this attracts the wild elk right to your fence line. Many people have got there wild Elk very close to to the fence including many owners of the Elk inside. This is not the case at every farmed operation but i believe it is a very common occurence. Your correct about the average Joe's chances of getting a 350" bull are slim and that probably fits me to a tee. I do hope one day to get something to hang on the wall and thats one of the reasons I keep trying to get one. They are called Trophy's because not everyone will enjoy that success and when i see one on someone else wall i go over and admire it and ask about the hunt etc. That's fuel for enthusiasm but i just wouldn't feel the same if I got one on a high fenced hunt. It is not the equal of a Bull that was taken on a general tag on crown land.

[Kurt505]

Eat goats and bison, order antlers online. All the thrill of canned hunting but without the cost.

[operator john]

Let's ban cattle farming, because of Mad Cow Disease. Remember the frog farmer who introduced it to Alberta?

[Red Bullets]

If Alberta keeps making parks and paving paradise on our public lands in a couple decades hunters are going to have to go to canned hunts if they want to hunt.
And it will become catch and release canned hunts. Shoot your deer with a tranquilizer dart and take some pics with it and then wake the deer up so the next guy can hunt it. By then all the deer will have CWD so might as well let them live after the hunt.

Game farming goes back a ways. 50 years ago there was Al Oeming's Game Farm. He had some exotic breeds but also deer and elk. Would places like Calgary's or Edmonton's zoos or Innisfail Wildlife Park be considered game farming because they have confined ungulates?

I don't agree with game farming just for antler genetics and canned hunts. To ban 'game farms' all together? I'm not sure... Are fur farms considered game farms? Are 'pheasants for release' farmers consider game farms? Are farmers enhancing their lands habitat to attract and hold ungulates considered game farmers?

[58thecat]

Who really cares what some hammerhead on a radio station starts up as a filler conversation to justify his job? Sheeeet for bRains will be doing comic relief shows after hours to make ends meet, reliable source for sure.....nature of the business's to keep the job....stir the pot !

Follow this and your just as.....well....brain matter of the same consistency .....sheeeet.

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by operator john

Let's ban cattle farming, because of Mad Cow Disease. Remember the frog farmer who introduced it to Alberta?

I think he was a catfish farmer not frogs?
Cat

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by 58thecat

Who really cares what some hammerhead on a radio station starts up as a filler conversation to justify his job? Sheeeet for bRains will be doing comic relief shows after hours to make ends meet, reliable source for sure.....nature of the business's to keep the job....stir the pot !

Follow this and your just as.....well....brain matter of the same consistency .....sheeeet.

This is not some random thing thought up by someone as a “filler”, it is real , it has reached dangerous proportions on Quebec and some parts of the States andvit sure is in our grill in parts of Alberta .
Cat

[R3illy]

Originally Posted by 58thecat

Who really cares what some hammerhead on a radio station starts up as a filler conversation to justify his job? Sheeeet for bRains will be doing comic relief shows after hours to make ends meet, reliable source for sure.....nature of the business's to keep the job....stir the pot !

Follow this and your just as.....well....brain matter of the same consistency .....sheeeet.

it was an mla on as a guest not just some random host chatting about crap. Hence why i shared it. Im not sure ive seen any recent articles on this discussion which is why i shared what i heard.

I didnt realize this was on our govts radar at the moment.

[35 whelen]

Well said, I was just sitting here thinking of a comment to reply back but that's said most of what I was thinking

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

[35 whelen]

Originally Posted by lannie

With respect,
Some game farms do affect the local game/trophy population. When the rut is on and you are farming Elk this attracts the wild elk right to your fence line. Many people have got there wild Elk very close to to the fence including many owners of the Elk inside. This is not the case at every farmed operation but i believe it is a very common occurence. Your correct about the average Joe's chances of getting a 350" bull are slim and that probably fits me to a tee. I do hope one day to get something to hang on the wall and thats one of the reasons I keep trying to get one. They are called Trophy's because not everyone will enjoy that success and when i see one on someone else wall i go over and admire it and ask about the hunt etc. That's fuel for enthusiasm but i just wouldn't feel the same if I got one on a high fenced hunt. It is not the equal of a Bull that was taken on a general tag on crown land.

Well said ,I was just thinking of a reply here but that covers it.


Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

[Grizzly Adams]

Originally Posted by operator john

Let's ban cattle farming, because of Mad Cow Disease. Remember the frog farmer who introduced it to Alberta?

Nobody introduced it, it's a mysterious disease we don't understand, appears to be linked to animals living in close proximity.

Grizz

[heretohunt]

Originally Posted by lannie

With respect,
Some game farms do affect the local game/trophy population. When the rut is on and you are farming Elk this attracts the wild elk right to your fence line. Many people have got there wild Elk very close to to the fence including many owners of the Elk inside. This is not the case at every farmed operation but i believe it is a very common occurence. Your correct about the average Joe's chances of getting a 350" bull are slim and that probably fits me to a tee. I do hope one day to get something to hang on the wall and thats one of the reasons I keep trying to get one. They are called Trophy's because not everyone will enjoy that success and when i see one on someone else wall i go over and admire it and ask about the hunt etc. That's fuel for enthusiasm but i just wouldn't feel the same if I got one on a high fenced hunt. It is not the equal of a Bull that was taken on a general tag on crown land.

For the record I am not denying any of this. We never did hunt the outside of our fence and there were no wild porulations of elk around at that time.
As for the trophys shot on the place. I have a European mount of 360 inch bull on my wall. Considerably smaller than a lot of my clients. It did ruin trophy elk hunting in Alberta for a while. I looked at anything 340 inches and under with no interest. As we know these are tremendous trophies In Alberta. Because of this I went a few years with out even killing a bull in Alberta.
If you ask how could someone enjoy these as trophies, I can’t say I’m sure how each individual feels but I do know they enjoyed the experience and have a beautiful elk mounted in their home. The experience I saw was essentially fantasy hunt compressed into three days. There are not many people that can tell me they wouldn’t be interested in seeing a number of good quality bulls in beautifull country screaming, fighting and rutting. Many of them in bow range. I had a client who was hunting, work so hard he pretty much collapsed exhausted on the side of the hill in the bush. We sat there eventually taking a nap to recuperate. We were woken up by a 320 bull bugling past us at about 20 yards. You can call it what you want but I call it fun.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

This is not some random thing thought up by someone as a “filler”, it is real , it has reached dangerous proportions on Quebec and some parts of the States andvit sure is in our grill in parts of Alberta .
Cat

And I am just saying that it seemed like what the OP posted initially was just a blind about what a radio show put out there with little to no real evidence that these game farms have a negative effect, my perspective is if there is enough area to keep critters fenced in for food then so be it......we do it to other animals with success just gotta monitor it and ensure it is safe to do so.

[Grizzly Adams]

Originally Posted by 58thecat

And I am just saying that it seemed like what the OP posted initially was just a blind about what a radio show put out there with little to no real evidence that these game farms have a negative effect, my perspective is if there is enough area to keep critters fenced in for food then so be it......we do it to other animals with success just gotta monitor it and ensure it is safe to do so.

Problem with CWD is there is no way to test for it, until it appears and then it requires the brain of the animal for a diagnosis.

Grizz

[saskbooknut]

CWD was brought to you by game farming.
CWD contaminates the land that infected animals are kept on. No regulation requires double fencing or even fence maintenance on contaminated land AFAIK.
The genie is out of the bottle as far as our wild herds go, but further sites of infection will accelerate spread of the disease.
The unforeseen consequence of game farming is the end of deer, elk and moose hunting as we know it, within a generation or two.
Some jurisdictions have already seen population decline and loss of older age classes of deer.