'Deer are moving in and taking their share': Sask. rural leaders call for action on growing wildlife populations

Saskatchewan is looking at solutions to manage the wildlife population responsible for destroying farmers’ feed.

Larry Grant, the Reeve of the RM of Val Marie, raised the issue during the annual meeting of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) on Wednesday.

“They’re decimating feedstocks,” Grant said, addressing the premier and minister of environment.

“The deer are moving in and taking their share first. And what's left, they urinate on and defecate on and destroy it. We need action now to reduce these populations of elk and deer.”

Grant said the livestock industry in southwestern Saskatchewan is already grappling with drought and the feed shortage, caused by wildlife, is another blow to farmers’ bottom line.

“It’s in dire straits … we’re not going to have a livestock industry if something isn’t done,” Grant said.

In January, the Ministry of Environment said it wouldn’t give out depredation licenses to manage the problem — which would allow deer or elk to be killed if they’re causing damage or financial hardship.

But in response to Grant’s question, the province appeared to change its tune.

Premier Scott Moe said he’s going to look into “the potential of some depredation tags being made available to SARM to then ultimately be metered out to where they're needed in the province.”

Ray Orb, president of SARM, is applauding the move but calls it a short-term solution.

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“We’re really in trouble. We need to figure out something,” Orb told reporters, after the premier’s address.

Orb is suggesting increasing provincial hunting limits in some areas.

“Especially mule deer because they're on a draw system. They need to have open seats in some places, like regular season, so that they have better control,” Orb said.

The 118th SARM convention ended on Thursday at Saskatoon’s Prairieland Park.