SCI: Relevant to Deer
Farmers?
This article was originally printed
in the December 2000 / January 2001 issue of Tracking The Industry. .
.
Safari Club International (SCI) What's it
all about and what does it have to do with us Saskatchewan deer farmers? It's
all about hunting and the promotion of hunting through education, but does it
have anything or nothing to do with us? Perhaps the choice is simply ours to
make!
I like to debate intelligently, and quite
honestly, I know little about this huge organization. As a deer farmer, I was
hearing it all! We should join! There is no sense in joining! So I attended a
recent SCI informational meeting in Saskatoon. It was poorly attended, but
SWAMDPA was represented by director Brad Nielsen. Lack of numbers was made up
for in interest as SCI field co-ordinator Tim Dobson led the
discussion.
Of course, Mr. Dobson outlined the issues
facing hunting today and all that SCI has and is doing to protect and promote
hunting throughout the world. Without a doubt, SCI is a powerful organization
and far-reaching in its influence. Tim Dobson is also a dynamic speaker with
enough "down home" in him to be very captivating. It's not hard to convince me
that my rights as a hunter are being eroded away even in "good ol'
Saskatchewan", what with Bill C-68 and all, but that may be a hard sell to the
average deer farmer. I cut to the chase and asked point blank, "Why should we
as game farmers, support SCI?" Tim never missed a beat, "because we are the
organization, that when the crap hits the fan, we are supporting you!" He
explained how 95% of hunters are SCI members, and the more involvement with SCI
in Saskatchewan and Canada, the more support we can be given. Tim continued,
"we support high fenced hunting if it is done ethically - not canned hunting.
We support what is legal. If older or handicapped or younger can hunt and have
a little easier time of it. As long as the animal has an element of fair
chase."
Willard Ylioja
of the Saskatchewan Chapter of SCI joined the explanation. Many are against the
making of money off of wildlife, but "there has to be a commercial/economic
side in order for the social side of hunting to survive. We are not as big as
we think we are as Canadians. Americans are supporting us and protecting our
future of hunting". Hey, personally I don't mind some help from our southern
neighbors. As Willard added, "the first step to solving your problems is in
coming together. None of the smaller conservation groups can lobby on such a
large scale." Tim summed things up quite well, "we need to bring the element of
emotion back into it. Yes, we hunt. And here is why we hunt: we are utilizing
God's great earth for what it was intended. That's a good thing!"
It's pretty tough to argue against the fact
that if we are deer farmers, we are also involved in hunting. After all, it is
our market, and a healthy lucrative one at that. I learned a lot that day and I
hope, whether we choose to support SCI or not, that we put just a little more
thought into the preservation of our fine industry. Is an umbrella organization
just another organization after our funds, or is it the unifying factor needed
to forge a secure deer-farming future? I have invited Tim Dobson to share his
ideas. Agreeing or respectfully disagreeing, let's get educated about what we
do or don't support.
Randy Barks
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