According to information from The newspaper According to government experts, the application of the five-year legal antler size restriction (RTLB) for deer hunting in Zones 6 North and 6 South had no biological impact on the white-tailed deer (roe deer) population. from these two regions.
This program was intended to ensure the protection of young males as young as 1.5 or 2.5 years of age by requiring hunters to only shoot males with three points or more on one side of the plume. In addition, this project should be a search for answers to several questions regarding the deer population and its development.
In advancing this project for five years, the specialists wanted to obtain the best possible portrait, taking into account the deer’s main enemy, the winter climatic conditions. It should be noted that Quebec represents the northernmost habitat of the species.
When winters are harsh, deer mortality is much higher. It truly is winter’s worst enemy. Personally, I’ve hunted in the Outaouais, on Kenuk outfitter territory. After a productive fall, winter came far too quickly, resulting in the deaths of several adult breeding males. They could not withstand the harsh conditions of the fast winter because they did not have time to store energy after the rutting season. It took two years for this area to get its population back to interesting numbers. This situation had nothing to do with the samples taken by hunters.
NO IMBALANCE
While some people claim that the male-to-female ratio in Quebec’s deer population is unbalanced, the study’s responses say otherwise.
All of the hypotheses put forward regarding this question of rebalancing Quebec’s deer population one-to-one through the RTLB program imposed across Quebec were disproved by the study. Young males spared at 1.5 years have been shown to be harvested at 2.5 and 3.5 years. This measure did not increase the deer population in Zones 6 North and 6 South. The conclusions are clear. This method of restrictions did not change the population size or the ratio of males to females.
You should know that a male deer that has the ability to reproduce can impregnate multiple females during the mating season. Specialists have also found that some male fawns can reproduce even in the first year. In summary, the application of such a measure has no biological effects. The effects are mainly on the social level.
CONSENSUS
All study results were presented at an expert meeting from other provinces and northeastern US states.
They said they had the same results. They decided to go there with a hunter volunteer program so that they themselves apply the protection of certain parts of the deer population. Even the QDMA, the American organization that has championed RTLB for several years, has now chosen to talk about education instead of making regulations. I personally believe that the voluntary practice of protecting some of the deer in a given sector can bear fruit.
I have been practicing it for several years in the area where I hunt with friends and we have seen the results. Over time, we’ve seen the appearance of good-sized adult males, not to mention impressive reproduction rates.
Just over 135,000 hunting licenses were sold last fall, while the deer population excluding Anticosti is estimated at 250,000. The real problem is that the distribution population is not uniform across regions for various reasons such as habitat and winter living conditions.
Before considering rolling out the RTLB across Quebec, several steps need to be taken, including a consultation with hunters on the subject. Be continued !
In summary
RESERVATION FOR FISHING
Fishing enthusiasts can reserve a daily fishing day in the network of Sépaq game reserves on Saturday. The first thing to do is to go to sepaq.com and create your account to speed up your transactions when it comes time to make your reservations. You can also check the start schedule by destination on the same website. A virtual waiting room will be set up. It is advisable to always have a second choice as some destinations are very popular.
