PUSLINCH – Hunting with a gun could soon be permitted seven days a week in Puslinch.
Inspired by a delegation from resident and hobby hunter Robert Stark at a Puslinch council meeting Wednesday morning, councillors have motioned for staff to begin public consultation and report back on what permitting hunting using a gun on Sundays would look like in the township.
According to Stark, permitting Sunday gun hunting would help with local wildlife management and contribute to the township's economy while allowing hunters unable to hunt during the week an extra day on the weekend.
"Things are different now than they used to be 25 or 30 years ago," said Stark during his delegation. "Allowing Sunday gun hunting will effectively double the amount of time people can spend in the field with their families and friends enjoying this heritage activity."
A hobby hunter and fisherman himself, Coun. Russel Hurst said he's generally supportive of the proposal but was curious whether the township has experienced any compliance issues related to hunting on days when it's permitted.
Interim CAO Courtenay Hoytfox said the township has no current records of hunting-related issues but later clarified the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) primarily deals with hunting complaints and staff know they have occurred- they're just not directly involved.
Hoytfox said staff recently saw one ticket issued by the MNR for trespassing while hunting.
Mayor James Seeley also said he's supportive of permitting hunting using a gun on Sundays- suggesting it could actually reduce noise complaints because residents going hunting aren't going to target shoot on their properties because they might scare away potential prey.
"I think that it's important that people, private landowners, have the choice to hunt on their property," said Seeley.
Coun. Sara Bailey was less sure about the proposal- asking several questions about trespassing, noise, permissions on public versus private property and signage before suggesting public consultation.
"What I'm trying to think about is the person that goes out on Sundays with their dogs on a forest walk or something like that, which could be surrounded by private property that now is allowing gun hunting," said Bailey. "So for someone like me- for 30 years, I've been walking my dog down a trail on a Sunday where it's quiet and then all of a sudden, there might be hunting happening 300 meters from where I'm walking potentially. I'm just trying to find a balance for that person."
In Wellington County, hunting with a gun is not currently permitted on Sundays in Centre Wellington, Erin and Puslinch.
Minto and Mapleton approved Sunday gun hunting earlier this year.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program
