Sandhill Crane Season in 2026 ?

Continued from Part 2

3) Tundra Swan Season:

I originally submitted a proposal to the CWS in October of 2010 regarding the potential implementation of a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season in this province. This proposal was added as an agenda item for the OWAC meeting to be held in November of that year. Unfortunately (as it was not on anybody's "radar" at that time) this proposal received little support during that OWAC meeting. The CWS however conducted a Tundra Swan Season Assessment between April of 2011 and August of 2013 that fully supported a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season that would utilize our current allotment of tags (41% of 9600).

It should be noted that approximately 20% of the members attending the Annual General Meeting of the Long Point Waterfowlers' Association (LPWA) in April of 2011 supported my proposal based upon a survey that I conducted at that time. The level of support throughout Ontario however for a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season has consistantly increased over the years as more waterfowlers in this province have become aware of the continuing lost opportunity to utilize our current allotment of tags to harvest this particular waterfowl species.

I eventually sponsored a dual Waterfowl Survey that Delta Waterfowl conducted in Ontario (members as well as non-members) during the fall of 2018 that indicated an exceptional level of support for such a season with over 50% definitely supporting and over 20% probably supporting such a season (averages of both surveys). It should be noted that less than 5% definitely would not support such a season with the remaining respondents split between undecided and probably not supporting such a season. The respondents of the non-member survey were generally younger and more supportive.

The full analysis of the results from this dual Waterfowl Survey by Delta Waterfowl was shared with the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) by my Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Haldimand-Norfolk and subsequently distributed to the OWAC members by Delta Waterfowl in the spring of 2019.

I recently had a rather extensive and productive exchange of correspondence with a senior representative of the CWS between March and June of 2023. Several senior representatives from Delta Waterfowl and the OFAH were also included in this exchange. The salient points established through our correspondence were:

1) Several other significant CWS staff members were introduced to me who would be involved in any future implementation of a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season.

2) A limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season will be an agenda item when the Migratory Birds Regulations are reviewed in the fall of 2025 for the 2026-27 and the 2027-28 hunting seasons.

3) An option for dealing with the current Mute Swan population in this province. Details to follow in Part 4.

4) The CWS expressed an interest in two (2) suggestions of mine that would greatly help mitigate the incidental harvest of a Trumpeter Swan during a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season in this province.

Representatives of Delta Waterfowl and the OFAH have expressed their support for a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season in this province and representatives of the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation have reconfirmed their support for such a season in their province.

I trust that every Ontario "waterfowler" who would be interested in a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season will become a member of Delta Waterfowl and the OFAH if they are not already a member of both organizations.

The Mute Swan Issue will be covered in Part 4 to follow.

Jerome Katchin, D.V.M.

Continued from Part 3

4) Mute Swan Issue:

I originally submitted a proposal to the CWS in October of 2010 regarding the delisting of the Mute Swan from the List of Protective Species as the Mute Swan is an "invasive" species. This proposal was added as an agenda item for the OWAC meeting to be held in November of that year. Although this proposal received general support during that OWAC meeting this issue was left for further discussion betwen the CWS and the Province of Ontario. Environment Canada apparently recognized the Mute Swan as a non-native invasive species in 2013.

The salient point that was established through my correspondence with a senior representative of the CWS between March and June of 2023 (reference Point 3 from Part 3) was the CWS interest in considering my suggestion that they could implement a Mute Swan hunting season rather than attempting to "delist" the bird from the List of Protective Species. Consequently a Mute Swan season will also be an agenda item when the Migratory Birds Regulations are reviewed in the fall of 2025 for the 2026-27 and the 2027-28 hunting seasons.

I later received a copy of The Status of Mute Swans in Ontario (2017) from the CWS with a note that their Mute Swan survey was not conducted in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic. The report indicated that the total Mute Swan population in Ontario had incresed from 3200 in 2014 to 4251 in 2017. It was also interesting to note that the Mute Swan population observed at Long Point had increased from only 18 in 2014 to 109 in 2017. During this past summer I regularly had observed between 35 and 47 Mute Swans in Coletta Bay alone.

The Black Duck changes will be covered in Part 5 to follow.

Jerome Katchin, D.V.M.

Continued from Part 4

5) Black Duck Changes:

The following is a brief synopsis of the proposed changes to the Black Duck bag limits for this province:

a) the daily bag limit is increased from 4 to 6 in the Hudson-James Bay, Northern and Central Waterfowl Districts.

b) the daily bag limit is increased from 2 to 6 in the Southern Waterfowl District for WMUs 60 to 87 only.

c) the daily bag limit is increased from 2 to 3 in the Southern Waterfowl District for WMUs 88 to 95 ... so that includes the Long Point area.

My response to the CWS regarding the Sandhill Crane season will be covered in Part 6 to follow.

Jerome Katchin, D.V.M.

Continued from Part 5

6) My response to the CWS as submitted:

Date: January 18, 2023

Re: Proposed Sandhill Crane Season

I am writing to express my support for the proposed Sandhill Crane season that the CWS is considering implementing in the future. I thought however that a limited (tag only) Sandhill Crane season would have been more appropriate since it would have provided everybody an opportunity to obtain a tag to harvest one bird. I noticed that hunters residing in the Southern Waterfowl District will not be able to harvest a Sandhill Crane without travelling considerably north to do so.

Jerome Katchin, D.V.M.
Port Rowan, Ontario

I hope that everybody found my preceeding six (6) installments informative.

Jerome Katchin, D.V.M.

proposed 14 day season with a daily bag limit of one crane...

man im in stitches! thats alotta work for an ugly bird!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by punkrockerpj

proposed 14 day season with a daily bag limit of one crane...

man im in stitches! thats alotta work for an ugly bird!

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To each their own. I can’t wait to finally have a chance to take one

Hello Punkrocker,

Delta Waterfowl and the OFAH had proposed a two (2) bird daily limit with a shorter season since the CWS apparently had an issue with implementing a "tag only" season which would have provided us with a longer season but a limited number of tags ... one tag (one bird) per hunter.

Jerome Katchin, D.V.M.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by punkrockerpj

proposed 14 day season with a daily bag limit of one crane...

man im in stitches! thats alotta work for an ugly bird!

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Yep a challenge. There's a good reason they're called 'ribeye of the sky'. I went to Manitoba to get mine (plus geese and ducks).

i suppose we go mad in april and may and spend more than a handful on a turkey anyways.
i remember seeing them in sudbury wishing i could shoot one. now maybe someone can at least. Appreciate all the hard work to pull these changes off anyways.

I think it's a step in the right direction. Long Point is the only area in the south, that I know of, where they would be very huntable at all. Not to say you couldn't opportunistically take one here and there in other areas, but there isn't much concentration outside of LP. That said, I think there is a chance to get a southern season going once the northern one takes root. No doubt there are a lot more of them up in those areas.