HUNTING A RENEWABLE RESOURCE 
     
    
   
   
    
     Have you ever plodded through a 
     
     wet marsh in the pre—dawn hours 
     
     stumbling over debris and searching 
     
     for a particular location hidden in 
     
     the cattails where you can crouch for 
     
     hours as the rain drips slowly off 
     
     your cap and down your neck? Most 
     
     of the 6,000 waterfowl hunters who 
     
     will be afield on P.E.I. on October 6 
     
     have had such memorable experiences 
     
     yet look forward each year to 
     
     "opening day". 
     
    
   
   
    
     Normally, we hope for warm,sunny 
     
     weather to usher in a special day but 
     
     the same is not true for first day of 
     
     the hunting season. Many hunters 
     
     prefer to see an overcast windy day 
     
     with occasional rain squalls but 
     
     whatever the weather, most marshes 
     
     on P.E.I. will be subjected to an 
     
     invasion of gun-toting hopefuls. 
     
    

    
     Long before dawn the first wave of 
     
     invaders will awaken the marsh. Some 
     
     will quietly secure their locations 
     
     but others will tear up the ponds with 
     
     outboards roaring. Exchanges between 
     
     hunters will occasionally be friendly 
     
     but more often than not some tainted 
     
     vocabulary will drift through the 
     
     predawn mist as problems arise or 
     
    
   
   
    
     as strangers try to move into 
     
     long established hunting sites. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Experienced hunters know that 
     
     it is imperative to plan for a 
     
     successive day - to build the blind 
     
     early, to have the appropriate rig, 
     
     to have proper clothing and equip- 
     
     ment and to set up before the first 
     
     idiot starts shooting at the stars. 
     
     Naturally, there are game laws to 
     
     curtail pre-dawn shooting sprees but 
     
     0 protection officer in his right mind 
     
     would disturb hunters during the first 
     
     couple of hours of the season. The 
     
     concerned hunter patiently waits for 
     
     the official opening and daylight 
     
     so that silhouettes can be identified 
     
     as ducks fly within range. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Hunting should be good again this 
     
     year as the local waterfowl population 
     
    
   
   
    
     seems to be high. Of course, many of 
     
     the ducks and practically all of the 
     
     geese that are shot on P.E.I. breed 
     
     elsewhere so the outcome of our 
     
     hunting season depends on the breeding 
     
     success further north. Have you ever 
     
     wondered how we can invade the marshes 
     
     every autumn and shoot thousands of 
     
     birds and still have as many for 
     
     subsequent years? The answer lies in 
     
     wise management of the resource. Most 
     
     important to waterfowl and indeed to 
     
     all widlife species is habitat - a 
     
     place to live. If we jealously guard 
     
     our wetland habitat to prevent 
     
     draining, filling, pollution or other 
     
     forms of destruction, we have taken 
     
    

    
     a major step towards guaranteeing the 
     
     future of our waterfowl resource. Of 
     
     course our wildlife managers must also 
     
     conduct waterfowl surveys, set the 
     
     appropriate seasons and bag limits 
     
    

    
     and see that the game laws are 
     
     enforced. We are fortunate to have 
     
    

    
     on P.E.I. a well-trained group of 
     
     professionals in the Fish & Wildlife 
     
     Division who have worked diligently 
     
    

    
     to ensure that P.E.I. has not only 
     
     good hunting but many other outdoor 
     
     recreational pursuits as well. However, 
     
     this will only continue if all Islanders 
     
     work together to ensure a quality 
     
     environment is retained. 
     
    
   
   
    
     How many of you have never hunted 
     
     and vigorously reject the idea? Some 
     
     non-hunters are content to let 
     
     hunters enjoy their pursuit without 
     
     interference while others would like 
     
     to see hunting banned forever. This 
     
     controversey has raged for decades and 
     
     will continue, but it isywell to 
     
     remember that hunters would likely be 
     
     the most disturbed if the autumn flocks 
     
     declined. Both groups of people can 
     
     enjoy the waterfowl resource for 
     
     generations to come if they "pull 
     
     together". It is the responsibility 
     
     of both hunters and non-hunters to 
     
     become familiar with waterfowl and 
     
     their management so that the future 
     
     will indeed be bright for this 
     
     valued resource. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Daryl Guignion 
     
     U.P.E.I. Biology Dept.