For any hunter who claimed they did not have enough time on their calender to pursue a deer during the archery-only season in York Region, it’s an excuse that’s no longer valid.
Starting this year, enthusiasts will have an additional two weeks to be in the woods in pursuit of that big buck in Wildlife Management Units 79C and 79D.
And it all began Oct. 1.
The decision by the Ministry of Natural Resources to extend the archery-only deer season in these two wildlife management units, which was announced earlier this year, was carried out as part of their sustainable wildlife management program.
In explaining their reason for extending the archery-only season in York Region, the ministry said it’s primarily an attempt to create a uniform starting date for all wildlife management units in southern Ontario.
John Almand, acting area supervisor for the ministry’s Aurora District’s Halton, Peel and Toronto areas, noted that prior to this year, the archery season in Wildlife Management Units 79C and 79D used to commence Oct. 15.
“It used to be that if you went just north of area 79 you could start bow hunting on Oct. 1,” he said. “This provides an extra two weeks for archery hunting in area 79 and hopefully an availability to harvest a deer.”
As well, Almand said the ministry’s decision to extend the season was done in an attempt to control increasing deer populations and associated problems, such as deer-vehicle collisions, crop damage and habitat degradation.
“Deer populations have been increasing in most of southern Ontario for around the last 10 years,” he cited. “And they continue to do so.”
Almand said one factor is an increase in urbanization. This, in turn, deprives deer of areas they once inhabited and forces them to move into other places that might already be heavily populated by deer.
“Deer have definitely been forced out of their habitat in a number of areas in area 79,” Almand said. “As a result, we’ve been seeing higher densities of deer in existing areas.”
“Expanding deer hunting opportunities will keep deer populations under control and also provide an economic boost to communities,” added Natural Resources Minister David Ramsay in a news release.
Almand anticipates those who are ardent deer archers in 79C and 79D will take advantage of the extra two weeks.
As for if the added two weeks will result in success, the ministry won’t make any guarantees. But they hope that it will.
“We have an interest to see that deer populations are kept under control,” Almand said.
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