No day of rest for hunters or geese as Sunday hunting ban lifted in P.E.I.

It's now legal to hunt on Sundays in P.E.I., but not everyone with a permit will be locked and loaded in their camo gear on what has traditionally been a day of rest.

Lorne Yeo, who has been hunting for 70 years, said seven-day-a-week hunting sends a mixed message about conservation.

"It's unfortunate because giving hunters the opportunity to hunt on a Sunday, the only day of rest, is taking away wildlife's only day to rest and not be shot at," he said.

"If we're not going to church, that's not the issue at all. It's whether or not wildlife should be given a break."

Duringthespring sitting of the P.E.I. Legislature, the provincial government repealed a long-standing ban on Sunday hunting. In a statement to CBC on Tuesday, the Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action said the change brings P.E.I. in line with the other provinces and territories who all have some form of Sunday hunting.

The province did not enforce the previous ban on Sunday hunting on Mi'kmaq from Prince Edward Island.

Healthy duck and goose populations

"Duck and goose populations are healthy, thanks in part to decades of conservation efforts, both here in P.E.I. and throughout North America," the statement said.

"This is a common-sense amendment to bring this legislation in line with every other activity on P.E.I. that is available on Sundays."

Goose hunting season began last Sunday and will continue until Sept. 15. It will resume from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31. Duck hunting season also begins Oct. 1, and has been extended to Jan. 15.

Yeo, president of Hunters for Conservation in P.E.I., said the extra days are not necessary. When he began hunting in 1955 at the age of 10, there was an abundance of ducks, pheasants, partridges and rabbits. Now, he said, those numbers are down, and adding more opportunities to hunt won't help.

"Some members of the public, I would think, would think that Sunday hunting is actually overdoing it when it seemed to be acceptable for 100 years or maybe more," Yeo said.

I think it creates opportunity for working families that don't have the opportunity to go hunt during the weekdays. John Clements, Delta Waterfowl

John Clements, a former P.E.I. conservation officer who is now the regional director for Delta Waterfowl, disagrees.

He said there simply aren't enough hunters on P.E.I. to make a difference in terms of conservation the number of hunting licenses has decreased to about 1,600 from about 8,000 in the 1980s.

"We're trying to maintain our numbers. It's important because hunters donate lots of money to conservation. We build wood duck houses, another organization creates wetlands," he said.

"I think it creates opportunity for working families that don't have the opportunity to go hunt during the weekdays."

Clements said hunters will still have to get permission from landowners to hunt on their property no matter what day of the week. And big game like deer or moose will never be part of the hunting landscape on P.E.I.

As for the public's reaction to Sunday hunting? He thinks people would be thankful for a few less geese around.

"The early season here is set to harvest some of the resident geese that are generally hanging out on golf courses, and everybody has had the detriment to stand on goose droppings on golf courses," Clements said. "So it's to try and keep that number back a little bit."