MANITOULIN – Thousands of visitors will be descending on Manitoulin Island in the next couple of days as the annual Manitoulin Island deer gun hunt will commence next week.
“The winter of 2019 was definitely hard on deer with above normal snow depths, extended periods of cold, nasty crust conditions in late March and a late green-up,” a Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) area office press release noted. “Hunters will see lower numbers of fawns and yearlings this fall as a result. Body weights may also be down a bit as deer have taken a good portion of the spring and early summer to recover from last winter’s weight loss.”
The MNRF main message this year is that safety needs to the first priority of hunters. There are a number of ways hunters can keep themselves, and those around them, safe. These include: tell someone where you will be hunting and when you will return; wear hunter orange; handle firearms with care and attention at all times; never shoot unless you’re sure of your target and what lies beyond; carry a survival kit and a small first aid kit with you at all times; and never drink alcohol while hunting.
As many hunters use ATVs and other off-road vehicles (ORV), the OPP SAVE team would like to encourage safe and responsible operation. Hunters should exercise caution and ride within laws that are designed to keep you safe while operating any type of ORV.
OPP investigations into ORV collisions continue to show that alcohol consumption, lack of experience, high speed, lack of helmet use and overall carelessness are major contributing factors in severe injuries or deaths association with this outdoor activity.
Driving an ORV while impaired by alcohol or drugs is as unlawful as driving any other vehicle and carries the same penalties as driving a motor vehicle while impaired by alcohol or drugs.
Operators who do not wear their helmets are at a much higher risk of serious injury or death in the event of an ORV incident, the MNRF release points out.
The dates for this year’s gun deer hunt on Manitoulin in Wildlife Management Units 43A and 43B are November 18-24. There is no MNRF deer check station in place for this year’s hunt.
