News release

Hunters Enjoy Successful Season in 2006

Natural Resources (to July 2018)

Nova Scotia hunters had a safe and successful hunting season in 2006, Natural Resources Minister David Morse announced today, April 27.

About 46,550 licensed hunters enjoyed the woods and wetlands of Nova Scotia last fall and, commendably, no firearm-related accidents were reported.

"Hunters in this province are well trained through our Hunter Education Program. It emphasizes proper handling of firearms and wearing hunter-orange clothing as cornerstones of hunter safety," said Mr. Morse. "The fact that hunters spent nearly a half-million recreational days safely carrying firearms, while walking uneven ground in a variety of weather and lighting conditions, is a testament to their training and a tribute to the dedicated volunteer instructors."

Hunters bagged 7,997 bucks and 1,494 antlerless deer during the fall 2006 hunt, for a total of 9,491. That is up from 7,200 in the fall of 2005. Lunenburg County once again reported the highest number of deer bagged, at 1,876, followed by Colchester County at 1,143.

The higher numbers were expected because the previous mild winter had reduced winter mortality rates and increased the number of fawns who survived.

There was also an increase in the number of hunters. In 2006, 41,176 hunters participated in the deer hunt, up from 38,421 in 2005 and 39,343 in 2004.

All hunters are permitted to hunt antlered bucks throughout the province. The deer population is managed, however, through a zone system that limits the number of people allowed to hunt antlerless deer based on total deer populations. Antlerless hunting stamps were available in only three of the seven deer-management zones in 2006.

"We will announce how many antlerless deer hunting stamps will be available for the 2007 deer hunting season later in the spring, after the annual review has been conducted and more is known about how winter affected the herd condition," said Mr. Morse.

Harvest statistics for the 2006 moose and bear seasons have also been released.

Last fall, 345 moose hunting licences were offered within the four moose-management zones in Cape Breton and overall, hunters bagged 303 moose for a 90 per cent success rate.

Also in the fall of 2006, 1,060 bears were harvested, up from 654 in 2005. Bear hunting licence sales have increased in recent years in response to a longer hunting season and more bears.

"Science-based wildlife-management policies have allowed us to offer deer, bear and moose hunting seasons for many consecutive years in Nova Scotia," said Mr. Morse. "Hunter support for, and compliance with, our policies and regulations help manage the high densities of some species before they become a serious problem.

"By increasing the opportunities for hunters, we are attempting to reduce the high number of bears throughout the province and deer numbers in the Lunenburg-Bridgewater area, for example. This helps reduce property damage, human safety concerns and vehicle-deer collisions."

Detailed information on all hunting and harvesting statistics can be found on the department website at www.gov.ns.ca/natr/wildlife/sumindex.htm