Lets examine what the major issues are regarding the opposition to Sunday hunting; religious beliefs, landowner opposition, other recreational users, rest for the animals, and finally the impact on Saskatchewan’s wildlife populations. There are some who feel that hunters have every other day of the week to hunt and Sundays should be left alone. Sunday is the one-day left out of the week for family’s to do things together, and for other outdoor enthusiasts to participate in outdoor activities without the worry of possibly being shot. While many do not believe that organized religion has anything to do with it, there are still many out there who feel that the day of rest holds true and should be recognized. But are we not in a day where people can make up their minds themselves?

Many stores are open on Sunday, we allow fishing in all jurisdictions on Sunday why not take the extra step and let people make that decision for themselves. If it is a matter of land access, the landowner can post their land so to not permit Sunday Hunting. For those land owners who are indifferent to the idea, they can still post their land anyway that they want. Perhaps a fair trade-off would be to only allow Sunday hunting during the late deer seasons when the other land users are not out and about. Animals needing a day of rest.

I am not sure if animals are aware that they are not a target on a Sunday. I could be wrong but I do not think that a white tail deer feels at ease on a Sunday as opposed to a Saturday or Tuesday. When I see them on a Sunday, they are always running away. Perhaps it could be that they have been shot at so often during the past couple of weeks and if I were a deer I would be running or keeping a low profile as well. As for those out there who oppose hunting all together. . well I do not think that they can be included in this debate because their opposition is not a realistic one.

So lets debate the issue. Like we do in every Fall and Winter issue of the Saskatchewan Game Warden lets let the public decide after we have a couple of people debate some of the key questions. As in every Head to Head issue, we have a couple of people participating who are pro Sunday hunting and a couple who are anti Sunday hunting. After reading their answers to the questions you the reader can make up your own mind.

First of all lets introduce our participants. On the Pro-Sunday Hunting side we have Vance Lester, a wildlife biologist and the chairman of the Saskatoon chapter of Delta Waterfowl. Vance spends his spare time working with a dedicated group of mentors to provide mentored hunting opportunities for youth and adult first-time hunters. Donald Holinaty is in his second year as President of the Estevan Wildlife Federation, and was Vice President the 2 years prior. His love for the outdoors has been in his blood his whole life whether it is fishing the top water for monster Largemouth Bass or Northern pike, to heading up north into the bush for Moose, Elk or Whitetail. His family loves fishing and admiring the outdoors, whether it is catching and releasing a 4 lb. Bass or watching his 4 year old call out a 40 " local Bull Moose. On the Anti-Sunday Hunting side we have Derrek Stanley a third generation farmer from the Tisdale area. Mr. Stanley is an avid hunter, angler and conservationist. He was SWF President in 1988-1990 and president of CWF from 2001-2003. For the past 9 years he’s been a caribou-hunting guide in Northern Quebec (Nunavik). Lastly we have a participant whom many of us know from her days with the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation. Joyce Lorenz is a well known outdoors person who is very active in hunting, trapping and fishing. She is still active in her local Touchwood Hills SWF and is the current chair for SAWA (Sask Alliance for Wildlife & Agriculture) which is a group committed to keeping the animal rights activists out of the province of Saskatchewan.


Why do you feel that Sunday hunting is such a contentious issue right now?

Joyce Lorenz: Sunday hunting is only a contentious issue at SWF convention by 50% of the delegates. It is not an issue at SARM conventions or not at the government level or else it would have been done…who else would take the heat?

Donald Holinaty: After listening the past few years to the Pros and Cons I believe alot of it has to do with human nature itself. By this I mean typically whenever there is 'Change' involved, alot of the time, human nature tends to shy away or view it as a bad thing. Sunday Hunting can be utilized as an effective tool in wildlife management and will be essential in securing the future of hunting by young and old.

Derrek Stanley: In most instances, hunting is conducted on private lands and/or crown lands near communities along the forest fringe. During the past few years, it appears that hunting has become a part of a perceived rural-urban split. Therefore, at this time, it may be a ‘contentious issue’ because the present provincial government would not want to be seen making an unpopular move.

Vance Lester: Sunday hunting is an issue that has been debated amongst hunting / conservation groups and the provincial government for years in Saskatchewan as well as other areas of Canada. Presently, Saskatchewan is the only province west of the Maritimes to not allow hunting on Sundays. The real issue facing hunters today, in Saskatchewan and across Canada, is that the number of people hunting is decreasing every year. For example, in 1976 there were 56,935 licensed waterfowl hunters in Saskatchewan, and in 2005 there were only 8,868 waterfowl hunters in Saskatchewan. That is an 85% reduction in the number of waterfowl hunters in only 29 years! Short- term trends are similar: in 1997 there were approximately 46,000 resident hunters (big game and birds) and in 2003 there were approximately 42,000 resident hunters (based on sales of resident habitat certificates); a decrease of 9% in only six years.

This reduction in the number of hunters results in a decrease of political power that the hunting community has. We know that political power is necessary to have government hear our collective voice, but as every year passes, there are fewer hunters heading afield. This means fewer hunters to lobby government and to vote on issues important to hunters. People that have obligations during the week (work or school) can only hunt on Saturday. Sunday hunting would effectively double the number of days those people will be able to hunt. Clearly, increasing opportunities for people to enjoy a day in the field makes hunting a lot more attractive to people that are thinking of starting to hunt (young and not-so young). Sunday hunting makes it easier to recruit new hunters and retain current hunters. This leads to increased political clout of the hunting community, and helps us pass along the hunting traditions that we all respect and enjoy.

The Provincial Government insists that a 2/3 majority at the provincial SWF convention must pass this issue. It passed two years ago by that majority, but not last year. If the SWF cannot gain support from its members, why should the government allow Sunday Hunting?

Vance Lester: The Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation represents approximately 25,000 hunters and fishers in the province. SWF policy is that convention motions require a 2/3 (66.6 %) majority in order to pass. The motion to ask for Sunday hunting passed in 2005, and narrowly failed to pass in 2006 (65.7 % of members at the convention voted in favor of lobbying for Sunday hunting). The SWF itself is much divided on this issue: a lot of SWF members support Sunday hunting. The fact that the motion to ask for Sunday hunting passed at the SWF convention two years ago, and the number of people that voted in favor in 2006 indicates that there are a lot of SWF members in favor of Sunday hunting. Additionally, while the SWF does a lot of really great work, not all hunters in the province are members of the SWF, so it doesn’t represent all hunters in the province. The most recent data indicate that there are approximately 42,000 Saskatchewan resident hunters, meaning a lot of hunters in the province are not represented by SWF. So, if two-thirds of the SWF membership support Sunday hunting, and the rest of the hunters in the province that are not represented by SWF support Sunday hunting, then the provincial government is ignoring at least 30,000 by not allowing Sunday hunting. Additionally, the provincial government is ignoring the rural small business owners that benefit from hunters spending money in their communities.

Joyce Lorenz: Government should not! Why would the government go on SWF when they can’t get their members to pass it in the last 57 years? SARM has soundly defeated Sunday hunting by 81%. SARM people are the ones who raise the animals, feed them and allow them on their land as well as the hunters. Urban people would not allow animals on their lawns.

Derrek Stanley: It should not

Donald Holinaty: I feel the support is there and is growing. There are many reasons to go ahead with Sunday hunting and we do not have to look much further than our own families. Lets start with our youth. It is getting tougher and tougher to take your children out of school for a day. This combined with our growing economy and shift work, is slowly taking away from the true outdoor experience which is essential in securing our youth Outdoorsman/Outdoorswoman of tomorrow. A strong youth in the field provides a higher quality of life for themselves all the way up to Grandpa or Grandma, which helps us all stay young. Economically there is no doubt of the gain in revenue to our communities. Last and most importantly is the Management of our Wildlife. With growing populations Sunday Hunting will be a valuable tool in many areas throughout the province.

Is there any biological data out there that portrays Sunday hunting as a good thing or a bad thing?

Donald Holinaty: Not sure of any biological data. As for proven data there is more and more data coming out in the last few months than ever before from states and provinces which have had some sort of restricted Sunday Hunting and are now expanding and in some cases totally lifting the bans of Sunday Hunting altogether. Most recently examples is Manitoba and Southern Ontario.

Vance Lester: As a wildlife biologist, I haven’t seen any data to indicate that any wildlife population in Saskatchewan would decline due to Sunday hunting. In fact, many populations of wildlife in Saskatchewan are over-abundant to the point where wildlife managers (Saskatchewan Environment and Environment Canada) need to increase harvest rate to meet population management goals, and even then there is not enough hunting pressure to meet population management goals. Unallocated antler-less mule deer tags, CWD herd reduction areas, and spring snow goose hunting are all examples of where current levels of hunting are not enough to maintain wildlife populations at a healthy density. In situations where wildlife population densities are too high, mechanisms occur to reduce the population to a sustainable level. Starvation and disease often occur when populations exceed the carrying capacity of the habitat, and often wildlife-human conflicts become more common. Last fall Saskatchewan Environment offered unlimited tags for antler-less deer in the Saskatoon Wildlife Management Zone, reportedly to reduce the high rate of deer-vehicle collisions.

So, biologically, there is a strong argument to be made that many wildlife populations in the province require increased harvest rates to maintain healthy population densities. Sunday hunting would increase the opportunity for people to utilize these animals for food rather than having them die of starvation, disease, or in a vehicle collision.

Joyce Lorenz: No we are not dissecting this issue, there is no answer to this question.

Derrek Stanley: I am not aware of any biological data that would indicate Sunday hunting is good or bad.

Is the debate on Sunday hunting a religious issue? One can't hunt on Sunday, but why do we allow people to fish. What if the provincial government did not allow Sunday hunting before noon?

Joyce Lorenz : No, it is not a religious issue. Sunday afternoon hunting. . NO. We respect the landowners and maybe hunters should look at the big picture and not just their selfish wants.

Donald Holinaty: The religious issue deserves respect, however I do not believe Sunday Hunting will prevent people from going to church. As some fishermen consider the water their church as many feel being in the field is also a place in time to reflect and enjoy the true serenity of what has been created. As to Hunting after noon on Sunday, do we change fishing to noon as well?

Vance Lester: Some people argue that Sunday hunting is a religious issue. I think the history of this argument goes back to the days where Sunday was considered a religious day of rest (for those people whose religion worships on Sunday), and people went to church on Sunday, and nothing else was done on Sunday – businesses were closed. Those days are long gone; Sunday is just another day for most people. Any activities that we can do during the week, we can also do on Sunday. There are no longer restrictions put on certain activities like there were in the past.

We can fish on Sundays, and nobody argues that fishing on Sunday offends anyone’s religious beliefs. We can trap on Sunday; we can legally hunt rabbits, coyotes, and any other non-regulated wildlife species on Sunday (as long as there are no open seasons for big game), but we can’t hunt species that are regulated under the Wildlife Act on Sunday. If there is any argument to be made that hunting on Sunday is a religious issue, then society has made a lot of exceptions.

Derrek Stanley: I do not believe that Sunday hunting is simply a ‘religious’ issue. Such a change would require a change in the law; and, it appears that the changing of laws in this province is more of a political issue than anything else.

Will Sunday hunting help the economy in Saskatchewan?

Joyce Lorenz: No…who would benefit? You will still eat and drive around. People will not hunt just that one-day. People plan their hunting trips therefore it will include travel days.

Derrek Stanley: Any day of hunting helps the economy. The problem is getting more people out in the field to hunt. At this time, it is, in fact, legal to hunt non-game animals ( i.e. predators and those deemed as ‘nuisance’ animals) on Sunday except during game season. However, very few hunters take advantage of that option

Donald Holinaty: There is no doubt Sunday Hunting would provide some economic boost to the communities of this fine Province.

Vance Lester: Absolutely! Saskatchewan Environment hired a consulting firm to conduct an economic impact evaluation of hunting-related activities. The 2006 report titled “Economic Evaluation of Hunting in Saskatchewan” details the economic benefits hunting-related activities bring to the economy of Saskatchewan. It is clear from the report that hunting-related activities create significant economic benefit to the provincial economy. The report indicates that most resident hunters tend not to travel very far from home to hunt, meaning that they tend to spend less money on fuel, food, and lodging than they would if they traveled further from home to hunt. The reason that many Saskatchewan hunters make only short-distance hunting trips is that for most people working Monday to Friday, Saturday is the one-day they can hunt, and many cannot hunt every Saturday due to family or job obligations. There is no question that allowing people to hunt on Sunday will increase the number of hunting trips taken, and it will certainly increase the number of longer distance overnight trips that are taken, which will put more money into Saskatchewan gas stations, restaurants, motels, and other small businesses.

What impact will Sunday hunting have on the relationship with landowners, and other resource users such as hikers, bird watchers, and photographers?

Vance Lester: Any comment regarding potential impacts on other resource users or landowners requires a bit of speculation; however, we have a great case study in Manitoba. Manitoba took a progressive approach to implementing Sunday hunting: they started by allowing bird hunting only, then deer hunting only in the northern zones, and progressively increased the number of species and the locations where Sunday hunting is allowed.
From talking with colleagues in Manitoba, the province has had absolutely no negative feedback from any group regarding Sunday hunting (even during the open seasons in Provincial parks). As far as Manitoba landowners are concerned, Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP), the largest farm group in Manitoba went so far as to pass a motion in favor of Sunday bird hunting.

Hunters need to maintain courteous, respectful relationships with landowners and other outdoors people no matter what day of the week they are hunting, and as proven in Manitoba, and other jurisdictions in North America, there is no evidence that indicates that Sunday hunting strains those relationships as long as hunters do their part to be respectful of other people, as ethical hunters do every day anyway.

Donald Holinaty: Interesting enough, in the eastern Provinces, Sunday Hunting takes begins after Sept. 1 in Southern Ont. and in Newfoundland where Sunday Hunting was banned since 1863 and is now in the process of potentially totally lifting Sunday, allows rifle hunting after October 31st in consideration for berry pickers, bird watchers, hikers, farmers, etc. Recent reports, to overwhelming support from all groups was the key in the recent decisions to expand and lift the bans in these areas. As for landowners, in a majority of the States where Sunday hunting was lifted they considered it a valuable tool in certain areas of highly populated areas. With this in mind it is vital that the respect with all groups concerned, especially our landowners. They do have the right as they due now to manage their own lands.

Joyce Lorenz: Plenty, landowners do not support Sunday hunting. They do like to do their own activities and still consider Sunday as a family day and don’t want any interference of hunters on their land.

Derrek Stanley: Again, because most of the hunting done in Saskatchewan is on private lands, Sunday hunting could have a major impact on hunter-landowner relationships. For example; a landowner who allows hunters on the land for an extended period of time, but may not hunt themselves could be opposed to an extra day of hunting on Sunday. Then, he or she could post their land. The net loss would be 6 days of hunting access on the entire farm or ranch.

Do you feel that this could be a constitutional issue, and if it is, why has no one tried to have it thrown out on a constitutional argument?

Joyce Lorenz: No, this is not a constitutional issue. We have people now who hunt on Sunday and at night and this causes major problems.

Vance Lester: I’m not a lawyer, so I can’t really make an intelligent comment on legal issues surrounding the constitution. I think the real issue is that we (hunters) haven’t done a good job of selling our position to government, and that is where we need to start. Keeping dialogue open with government and educating government about the issues surrounding Sunday hunting will go further toward coming to a solution that works for all parties. A confrontational relationship with government decision makers will put us at a real disadvantage on a whole range of issues that are important to hunters, so we need to keep the relationship positive, while at the same time ensuring that we present an intelligent and coherent stance on all issues that are important to hunters.

Donald Holinaty: No.

Derrek Stanley: I do not feel this is a constitutional issue.

Sunday hunting in Saskatchewan has been an issue since the 1950's. It has not passed since that time. Is it time to let this issue go and let the government make the change? Do you think the government will make a change regardless of SWF support?

Joyce Lorenz: YES it is time to let this issue go (remember one law for all people) Government will not make this change because they understand whose land the animals are raised on and they don’t have the courage to tick off the landowners in this province because the landowners play a huge part in the economy.

Derrek Stanley: This issue and other resolutions put forth at the SWF convention are monitored closely. Any change could have political ramifications; and, since the resolution has passed only once in 50 years, it’s hardly a vote of confidence for any government.

Vance Lester: There certainly is a long history of debating this issue. Much has changed since the 1950’s, and the social and ecological conditions that existed then are different today. The arguments that are currently presented against Sunday hunting represent the societal ideals and ecological conditions in the 1950’s, but they don’t reflect the current situation. Arguments that include Sunday as a religious day of rest reflect the ideals of the 1950’s where businesses were closed on Sundays, and people went to church and other social gatherings. Today, Sunday is another day of business for most; anything that people do during the week they can also do on Sunday (except hunt). Ecological conditions have also changed immensely; most wildlife species are more abundant now than they were in the 1950’s, and there are a lot fewer hunters today than there were in the 1950’s, so harvest rates are reduced to the point where wildlife managers are having trouble keeping wildlife populations within a healthy density. I hope that the government will make good decisions based on sound information that is socially and ecologically relevant today, and follow the lead of almost every other jurisdiction in North America to meet the needs of the 40,000 plus hunters, and all the rural small business owners in this province.

Donald Holinaty: First of all I strongly believe the government has the support they need. If the government feels they need to experiment with a restricted Sunday hunting , let's work together with a plan which has the sustainable balance for the wildlife and all groups involved. There are many proven management systems in place, there are 8 Provinces and 41 States to learn from. I'm confident we have the knowledge and dedication to this fine resource to make Sunday hunting part of our continued heritage. At the end of the day the overall management of the resource must be our top priority, so with that said Sunday hunting will be a valuable tool for our government.

What do you say to the point that wildlife needs a day of rest? What if we made the day of rest on a Wed rather than Sunday...what if we made the season shorter

Donald Holinaty: Let's put some of this into perspective, Sunday Hunting for Rifle Whitetail season, for example, would mean an extra 3 days in most areas, and possibly 12 to 15 days for small game. In alot of areas pressure during the week is already declining. With our growing economy, including urban development, Saturday if some are lucky are at times the only day there is to take a youth or hunting buddy out. With growing wildlife populations, Sunday Hunting is going to be a valuable management tool for the future of our Province and landowners.
Again we must keep the management of our resource top priority not only for the future of you and I but more important our Youth. With the evidence that is out there the answer to a 'shorter season ' is a proper management strategy. This will no doubt, in areas, involve more survey's but that will only mean a better working knowledge of the resource itself.

Joyce Lorenz: Wildlife and people need rest, this is not the issue so, Wednesday would not solve the issue. Make the season shorter. Years ago we used to have a one week season, then a 2 week season and everyone got their limit. Now we have a 3 1/2 months To hunt and we need Sunday also? What will these people want next. . more hours in the day?

Derrek Stanley: Anyone advocating a day of rest for wildlife is only looking for an argument. Shorter seasons based on sound wildlife management practices would be an improvement over the long-drawn out ‘people-management’ seasons which we endure at present.

Vance Lester: The argument that wildlife needs a day of rest is one that anthropomorphizes the “needs” of wildlife. There is absolutely no biologically relevant argument that would support an argument that wildlife in Saskatchewan “needs” a day of rest. The only way this argument would be biologically valid is if wildlife populations are experiencing very high levels of hunting pressure which results in stresses on the population, leading to a population decline. In fact, we have the conditions in Saskatchewan that are exactly opposite to the required conditions for the argument to be valid. Saskatchewan covers a huge geographical area and hunting pressure is spread out geographically; wildlife population densities are very high in most areas of the province (and increasing); and the number of hunters is decreasing every year, thereby reducing hunting pressure. In fact, the valid biological argument is that we need to increase hunting pressure (and harvest rates) in order to maintain healthy wildlife populations in many areas of the province. Giving wildlife a “day of rest” is counter- productive to the biological reality that wildlife managers deal with.

Well there you have it. Four people who have different views on Sunday hunting in Saskatchewan. I have personally always supported Sunday hunting , but I must admit that I did learn something by reading the views expressed by the anit-Sunday hunting side. I assumed it was purely a religious issue…which I still think a little bit of it is…but I never thought about the landowner! Do I think that we will eventually have Sunday hunting in Saskatchewan. . Yes! It will only be a matter of time but with every good thing may come a bad thing. Perhaps there is something to the statement that getting one more day of hunting may result in land owners posting their land and not allowing anyone to hunt at any time. In this case as Derrek stated we gain one day, but loose 6 days on that particular farmers land. Asking permission to hunt on land . .. ah..I see another Head to Head issue coming up! I would really like to thank Joyce, Derrek, Vance and Donald for their participation in this feature.



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