Danielle Wong
While the Six Nations Confederacy is proposing a deal to have natives hunt deer in multiple conservation areas, the Hamilton Conservation Authority board chair says he’s only prepared to discuss the Iroquoia Heights Conservation Area at this time.
“I would suggest until our board has a chance to really get into the matter, it would be best to focus on one area,” Chris Firth-Eagland said today, adding the authority should look at other ways of managing deer in those other areas.
Meanwhile, there are new reports of hunting near the Dundas Valley Conservation Area, after a local couple reported seeing three men with arrows earlier this week.
The authority’s board will debate the hunting issue tomorrow night behind closed doors, but Firth-Eagland said there would be some staff direction or formal recommendation on the matter that would be made public.
Jill Winslow, 62, said she and her husband were driving on Mineral Springs Road when she saw the man, who wore camouflage and a black scarf over his face like a mask, standing at the end of the driveway to the authority’s headquarters.
He was holding a crossbow in front of him, with the arrow pointing to the ground between his legs, she said.
Winslow said the man was just staring out at traffic.
“(I felt) very intimidated. (It was) like he was making his presence known,” she said.
When they turned onto Binkley Road, the couple saw two men in an ATV turning in from Old Highway 99 and heading toward Dundas Valley. They had a sack of arrows with the feathered ends sticking out, Winslow said. She did not know if they were native.
She called the the authority Monday morning but a representative called back and told her she should have contacted police.
“Illegal hunting is a policing matter and we would encourage people who see hunters to contact the Hamilton police,” general manager Steve Miazga said.
Winslow said her friends who live near the conservation area were concerned.
“It’s scary,” she said. “You don’t know what’s going to happen next.”
Six Nations representatives will not be attending tomorrow night’s meeting.
The authority will continue to work with the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, the city and the Ministry of Natural Resources to look at the different different factors, including whether a controlled hunt would be inclusive of non-Six Nation hunters, Firth-Eagland said. He expects there will be opportunity for public input.