A fall turkey hunt on Pelee…

A fall turkey hunt on Pelee Island would come with many pros and cons.

Two of the biggest negatives of having a fall turkey hunt would be the fact it would overlaps with the annual pheasant hunt on the island which is a very different hunting style, and could be very dangerous if occurring at the same time. However, the pheasant hunts currently occur beginning late October and into early December including the clean up hunts. In my opinion as the Township decides on these dates, the pheasant hunt could be pushed back to begin in November to avoid this problematic overlap. This would even benefit the annual pheasant hunt as there is currently issues with standing crops remaining in late October limiting the areas pheasants can be hunted. Standing crops however, would not affect turkey hunting in the same way if they occurred in October.

Secondly, it would also create an additional hunting season on the island which some residences and property owners are not in favour of. However, it should be noted that turkey hunting would not bring in the mass volume of hunters and guns as the annual pheasant hunt does. There is currently a spring turkey hunt and relatively no complaints regarding the small number of hunters which turkey hunt at that time of year. It is my opinion, that hunters present for a fall turkey hunt will be of much less disruption for residence and property owners than that of pheasant hunters. As well, turkey hunters must ask permission to hunt on a given piece of land unlike during the pheasant hunts on Pelee Island.

On the positive side, it may bring more tourists (hunters) to the island and therefore benefit the local economy. It may bring (though a smaller number) people to the island during what could be considered a shoulder season between summer tourists and pheasant hunters. This would increase profits for small business owners of restaurants and accommodations across the island during a time of year which may see little to no business compared to summer and late fall.

As well, on Pelee Island we have a very large turkey population compared to other parts of Ontario and reducing these numbers a bit with the addition of a fall turkey hunt may be of benefit to the current turkey population in Unit 95. Many other units and regions across Ontario have a significantly smaller population and still have a fall turkey hunt. On any given day, groups of turkeys can be seen in fields and running across roadways on Pelee Island. Therefore, I believe a fall turkey hunt would be a great opportunity to decrease the turkey population on the island.

I do not believe a fall turkey hunt should replace the annual pheasant hunt on Pelee as it provides a boost to the local economy, nor do I believe it would be safe or responsible to have both hunts occur at the same time. However, I do think it is possible to have both occur in the fall as long as their seasons does not overlap. This could be done by shortening the fall turkey hunt season in Unit 95 or by moving the annual pheasant hunt back into November rather than October, which I believe would be of great benefit regardless due to standing crop issues in the past. As stated above, the turkey population on Pelee Island is large, adding this fall hunt may be of benefit in terms of population control, as well it may even provide a small addition of income to local businesses during a slower time of year. In summary, I strongly believe the pros of a fall turkey hunt will out way the cons in the long run on Pelee Island in Unit 95, and that an open fall wild turkey hunting season should be implemented starting in the fall of 2020.