How fortunate we are as hunters to live in Canada! a real eye opener

I've recently taken an interest in searching out some European shotguns- and came across a very nice Parker Hale and a Ugartechea side by side 20 on some English gun dealers websites. I contacted the store and had an eye opening talk with the manager who was a real joy to speak with. Just to ship a gun from Europe with all of the government paperwork would cost thousands. The difficulty just for the store to order ammunition and bring it in was paperwork miles high. He said no one there is allowed a crossbow or compound- let alone to hunt with or a handgun. Where people might wait all year for a couple of weekend pheasant shoots and each would cost the person upwards of $5000 or more. Let alone the difficulty of purchasing a regular shotgun. It made me realize just how much freedom we have here and how lucky we really are. Even though things aren't perfect- it could be much worse-anyone on this forum with a valid permit can go to sail today and purchase a firearm -and they don't even need that to buy a bow! Sure it is harder to find land to hunt on then it was 30 years ago- But there are more deer -waterfowl numbers are excellent and we have turkeys everywhere. Something we should all think about next time we place a tag on a turkey or deer and be thankful.
Good Hunting
Mark

Hunting in Europe is for the rich and famous, we have the best opportunities in Canada for the average Joe.

Yes we should all be very thankful for the opportunitys we have, but at the same time we need to protect it, or else we could lose it. A good starting point is becoming a member of the Ontario federation of angles and hunters! There are many people out there that would love to see hunting fishing and firearms outlawed.

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Originally Posted by fishhawk

Yes we should all be very thankful for the opportunitys we have, but at the same time we need to protect it, or else we could lose it. A good starting point is becoming a member of the Ontario federation of angles and hunters! There are many people out there that would love to see hunting fishing and firearms outlawed.

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The OFAH is only one of the organizations we need to support. We should pick a national organization that has political influence at the federal level,also,like CSSA,CCFR or NFA. The main reason hunting is so class-restrictive in the UK is because of population density where a populace of a little over 33M (the same as Canada) occupies an area less than the landmass of Ontario. People are jammed in like sardines. There's virtually no public land and to hunt private land requires one to be a member of the aristocracy with very large bank accounts to enable access to estate lands. The ordinary Joe hasn't a hope.

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Originally Posted by trimmer21

The OFAH is only one of the organizations we need to support. We should pick a national organization that has political influence at the federal level,also,like CSSA,CCFR or NFA. The main reason hunting is so class-restrictive in the UK is because of population density where a populace of a little over 33M (the same as Canada) occupies an area less than the landmass of Ontario. People are jammed in like sardines. There's virtually no public land and to hunt private land requires one to be a member of the aristocracy with very large bank accounts to enable access to estate lands. The ordinary Joe hasn't a hope.

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Well said, as usual, Trimmer :)

I totally agree. We all need to support OFAH.

yet, how many threads run a year on this forum from guys complaining about spending $60/yr to have access to Ontario's bounty.

I guess once you've seen what others 'don't have' you are a little more grateful for what we do have, even with all it's warts.

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Originally Posted by MikePal

yet, how many threads run a year on this forum from guys complaining about spending $60/yr to have access to Ontario's bounty.

I guess once you've seen what others 'don't have' you are a little more grateful for what we do have, even with all it's warts.

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Another excellent point Mike....pets, munsters, warts, dysfunctional gov't, whatever....we are indeed lucky to have what we have. :)

In the 80's my father worked for Bell Canada, and BCI had a contract with Saudi Arabia to engineer their telephone infrastructure. After living in a country where very little freedom is granted, I have so much appreciation for the freedoms we as Canadians have. The freedoms that we have due to those that fought and died, so we could have them.

Crown land alone is a privilege (If I can call it that) that surprisingly few people in Southern Ontario use, or even know about. Sure if you are a hunter or an outdoors-man/woman you probably know about it, but the average Joe who does not venture north of Barrie may not. I have had several conversations with people (and even seen threads on this board)of people wanting more information on how to access crown land.

Sure it is convenient to have a land owner grant permission/access to their property just 10-20 minutes from your home. But to me MikePal hit the nail on the head about people complaining, when we have so many freedoms. If someone tries to take those freedoms away, then I have a problem...

W.

Could be much worse but let's not forget that it could be better yet. Just look to our cousins to the South as well as a few other countries.
Indeed, we have to support OFA, CSSA, etc to ensure things don't deteriorate.