Dear Editor:
I own a cow-calf ranch near Rockwood with a herd of 85 angus cows with calves of varying ages. We pasture-raise our cattle which means during hunting season our cattle are in the same areas deer, geese and turkey’s graze.
There have been events on my property lately that have enraged me.
Last week I was putting up electric fence with cattle grazing nearby. My dogs heard an unusual sound coming from the neighbouring property (an animal calling whistle) and as all dogs do, they went to investigate. Next, I hear screaming and yelling to get out of the way from hunters in the field. I called my dogs off and screamed I was near the fence line with my tractor. Next, four shots rang out so close me that my cattle stampeded. I panicked as I had just had a calf born three days earlier. Luckily, the calf is still alive to tell the tale.
As a woman who could shoot a 12-gauge rifle at 10 years old, and a surprisingly good shooter at that, my hunter father raised me to respect both the animal shot by him and the owners of the properties that he hunted on. Ethical hunters would have stopped shooting when they realized cattle, dogs and humans were within 30m of their range. Not these hunters.
There is an attitude with hunters recently that shows to me they just want to “kill baby kill.” These individuals have good jobs, drive expensive trucks and own extremely high-calibre rifles. I am sure if I came to their place of work and carried a weapon and shot it off at their office that might upset them a little. My farm is my office, and hunters have no right to interfere with my business. Shame on the few that did this to my business and my herd.
To make matters worse, I found a dead but otherwise healthy eight-point buck today – it seems a hunter wounded it, but since the shot wasn’t fatal, the buck wandered onto my property before dying. The hunters couldn’t find him, so he died in the wild and was eaten by coyotes.
Wild animals must cope with the harsh reality of our changing planet as well as hunters, and deserve better treatment, as do farmers trying to make a living. I suggest that these hunters choose meat from animals that have been raised and slaughtered humanely, without harming farmers’ livelihoods. You can afford it.
Stephanie De Grandis,
Guelph/Eramos