Since last hunting season there has been an abundance of pro and con conversation, meetings and letters on the topic of hunting in highway corridors.
As usual in these circumstances, many of the comments both pro and con appear to have been thought about before coming to the public. Sadly there appears to be the usual abundance of comments based purely on emotion often influenced by the childhood viewing of the Walt Disney classic, Bambi.
This summer I will have lived here for 38 years and have hunted every one of those years. My purpose in hunting is to put meat in the freezer and also enjoy a recreational pursuit that has been part of my genetics for thousands of years.
I am now on the verge of being 70 years of age and sadly I cannot climb mountains or hike for miles over rough terrain the way I used to do it. I have never preferred “road hunting,” but being an opportunistic meat gatherer I did not very often turn down that which nature legally offered.
At this point of my life hunting along a road appeals to me more than it ever did because of my physical limitations. Whether I take an animal or not, it is a hunting opportunity which I do not want to be taken away from me, nor do the many others younger or older who are faced with varying levels of physical challenge.
It appears that road hunting is viewed as a problem in the southern Yukon where the majority of our population lives. If you take a drive in this area you will notice that there are actually very few areas where there is not a residence within one kilometre, so hunting is prohibited by the Wildlife Act.
In closing, I would like to remind the “ban road hunting” people that it is us older “hunters and anglers” that put our shoulders to the wheel as volunteers for the various federal and territorial projects in the areas of habitat, fish and wildlife. We are the people involved in putting salmon in Wolf Creek, goats on Mount White, elk in Takhini and Braeburn, the wood bison reintroduction and were involved in various area cleanups such as the tire dump in the Yukon River. We are also the ones who started and support the maintenance of all the outdoor education of youth.
Larry Leigh
Whitehorse