At their convention in February 2011, the Alberta Fish and Game Association passed a resolution to allow the use of pack dogs by hunters. I understand this resolution will be discussed at the upcoming stakeholder’s meeting in late April and I just wanted to give you a bit of background on the use of pack dogs in North America.
1) Hunters in all Rocky Mountain States, British Columbia, Yukon, NWT and Nunavut are permitted to be accompanied by a pack dog while hunting big game. Alberta is the only jurisdiction in North America that offers mountain hunting where the use of pack dogs by big game hunters is not permitted.
2) Dogs are already permitted to accompany hikers, bird hunters and cougar hunters in Alberta so there really is no new ground being broken here.
3) These pack dogs are working animals that must be in direct control of the hunter at all times and they are not permitted to assist in the hunt. The Yukon deals with the use of pack dogs by saying: “It is unlawful to: allow your dog to chase or molest big game animals, furbearing animals or specially protected wildlife.” If your dog is chasing or molesting wildlife, you are breaking the law.
4) The only real opposition to the use of these dogs comes from those afraid of abuse or those afraid of untrained dogs being in the mountains. As for abuse, all laws are open to abuse and if this is reason enough to prevent new opportunity, we really need to worry about the future of hunting in this province. Anyone carrying a gun or bow should be suspect then. Laws will be in place to deal with those that don’t follow the rules and as with all hunting activities, self policing will be prevalent. Serious pack dog users value the opportunity to use these dogs just as hunters value the opportunity to hunt and self regulating is the most effective means of preventing and dealing with abuse. Abuse is not an issue in the other jurisdictions where dogs are permitted so there is no reason to believe it will be in Alberta.
The concern over untrained dogs in the mountains is not really an issue either as we currently have dogs in these areas, just not accompanying big game hunters. Big game hunters that use pack dogs quickly realize that their dogs must be well trained or they can ruin an opportunity, just as a poorly trained bird dog can ruin a bird hunt. Those with poorly trained dogs will either receive better training or not take their dogs to the mountains.
5) The use of pack dogs creates opportunity. Many backpack sheep hunters can not always find hunting partners and must hunt alone or as more often happens, stay home. The pack dog becomes their hunting partner, bearing part of the load and more importantly, becoming an early warning for danger.
6) Pack dogs increase hunter safety. Dogs are keenly aware of their environment and the anecdotal evidence from pack dog users as to the number of times their dogs have alerted them to danger and allowed the early mitigation of the problem is overwhelming. Please take the time to read some of these first-hand accounts at http://outdoorquestblog.blogspot.com/
Tavis Molnar of Arctic Red River Outfitters, Paul Deuling of Deuling Stone Outfitters and Stan Stevens of Mackenzie Mountain Outfitters all use pack dogs as a regular part of their operation and credit them to saving both hunters and guides’ lives.
7) Pack dogs save bears’ lives. The best way of dealing with a bear encounter is with early detection and pack dogs are keenly aware of their environment and alert their handlers to a bear’s presence long before the handler is aware of the bear. This allows the handler to better deal with a situation, in a non-lethal manner. Just the presence of a dog and the associated scent in back country camps is often enough to prevent bears from coming into camps and if they do, the dog makes their handler aware of this early in the bear’s advance.
Tavis Molnar of Arctic Red River Outfitters offers some hard evidence in regards to the dramatic drop in problem bear kills in a statement that can be found at http://outdoorquestblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/pack-dogs.html
With grizzly bears listed as threatened in this province, hunter opportunity could one day be limited in grizzly country if self-defence kills continue to happen. Pack dogs are one means to ensure that bear/human conflict is reduced.
8) Pack dogs can carry a load. This allows lone hunters more opportunity to extend trips and it allows hunters to get their game packed out quicker, once again reducing the chance of human/bear conflict. Dogs can carry up to 50% of their body weight so even a 50 pound dog can take a sizeable load.
9) These are serious working dogs just as retrievers, flushing dogs and hounds are and they have a long heritage of accompanying hunters in North America, yet Alberta still relies on an antiquated law that dates back to the original Wildlife Act in 1907 to deal with them. That law needs to be changed. Pack dogs will create hunter opportunity and they will reduce human/bear conflict. There is no reason to prevent their use in Alberta, especially when they have been working well in other jurisdictions for decades.
If you require more information, please don’t hesitate to contact me or if you would like to speak directly with some of North America’s established pack dog users, telephone interviews can be arranged.
Yours truly,
T.J. Schwanky
sheephunter@shaw.ca
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