Dear Editor:
My 91-year-old mother lives in Osoyoos and she told me a few days earlier a man with a crossbow was hunting across the road from her house.
She said she went out and asked him what he was doing and he told her he was hunting deer as requested.
Feeling this must be an unsafe activity on a busy road – she lives between Inkaneep Lodge and Stella Winery – she phoned the RCMP and was told that it was perfectly fine to hunt in that area.
Crossbow hunting requires a fair bit of skill and it worries me that my mom, a neighbour or my children might be hit by an errant arrow when we visit.
Who would be liable as this is an apparently legal activity? Is the Town of Osoyoos or the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) comfortable with this risk?
Aside from safety issues, it is calving season for deer, so it seems very inhumane to kill them when they likely have a fawn hidden somewhere.
As humans, we seem to feel entitled to wreak havoc on any living thing we find inconvenient, no matter the suffering.
My mom’s going to purchase No Hunting signs and have them posted around her property and hope that keeps the crossbow hunters at a safer distance.
In the meantime, it might be wise to warn children on the way to the school bus or any winery visitors that they could encounter crossbow hunters on public roads.
Thank you for allowing me to inform the public about this important issue in our community.
Moni Schiller
Kelowna, B.C.
