Saskatchewan is the only province where paid hunting for elk and deer is allowed. David Powell is anything but an anti-hunter. It's shooting preserves, not hunting preserves,'' he declares. This is not a case of us saying yes or no,'' says Alberta Agriculture spokesman Bard Haddrell. It's going to cost somebody a lot of votes to do that.
Controversy is nothing new to game farming.
Alberta's approval for elk slaughter in 1990 came amidst a bovine tuberculosis scare after an elk cow imported from the U.S. in 1988 died of the disease on an Alberta game farm. Outfitters aren't worried paid hunting will horn in on their business. It's got nothing to do with what we do. The people getting into this business tend to be outfitters,'' says Sherri Dobbs, livestock specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food. John Carson, who raises about 200 head of elk on his farm near Sherwood Park, wonders what all the fuss is about.