Nova Scotia’s Natural Resources Minister says he’s willing to revaluate how to reduce the deer population in Richmond County.
Tory Rushton says the population is up, and that’s why the government introduced bonus deer stamps.
“I welcome any municipality that wants to have the conversation about the deer population in their areas to certainly reach out so we can have a an educated conversation and a path forward to alleviate some of the concerns,” says Rushton.
Lois Landry, the warden of Richmond County, previously told our newsroom the municipality wants to find a group to collect data on the deer population and present that to the province. They hope the numbers would show that they need more to reduce the population, and particularly the doe population.
Landry says the bonus tags didn’t do enough, because deer are all over their roads, making it seriously dangerous to drive. And on top of that, she says some hunters would even leave the Richmond area and travel closer to Truro, where she says it’s easier to find a deer.
However, Rushton says he wouldn’t consider limiting where hunters are allowed to travel.
“Nova Scotians have the have the right to hunt, have the right to fish and in different areas of the province Nova Scotia, as long as they buy the proper license, as long as they have the proper training and education processes,” says Rushton.
He says the changes to deer hunting near Truro have helped reduce the population and has helped feed people across the province.
He encouraged the county of Richmond to reach out if they want to discuss the issue.
