The mystery of an Ontario island’s extra-long hunting season
Posted December 15, 2022 8:18 am.
Most Ontario rifle hunters get less than two weeks a year to bag their deer. On Griffith Island they got 11 weeks—until the provincial government recently raised it to 13. Why such a long season? Nobody wants to talk about it. Not the government, and definitely not the exclusive hunting club on the island with its secretive membership list.
Emma McIntosh is an Ontario reporter at The Narwhal. She joined us to discuss her coverage of Griffith Island and the mystery behind its special hunting privileges.
“Technically deer are public natural resources… the provincial government is charged with managing them on our behalf,” she said, “I think it’s very fair to question how they’re managing [them].”
On the surface, Griffith Island is an interesting curiosity that can spark discussion of privilege. More than that, though, it raises questions about who sets hunting laws, who those laws are designed to benefit, and whether those decisions are driven by the best interests of conservation, or the best interests of the wealthy few.
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