Annual Haudenosaunee deer hunt in Dundas Valley starts on Monday

The annual Haudenosauneedeer hunt in the Dundas Valley Conservation Area starts on Monday.

Harvesting will happen on Mondays to Thursdays from Nov. 9 to Dec. 3 in two sections of the conservation area.

The number of deer to be harvested is limited at 60 total.Meat from the deer willgo to longhouses for ceremonies, to elders, and to feed hunters' families.

There were 15 deer harvested in 2019, saysHamilton Conservation Authority's director of conservation area services, Gord Costie. The previous three seasons have all had harvests of 15 deer.

Signs will be posted on the trails, and nearby residents will be notified about the harvest and the closed area.

The hunt takes place across two sections.

The first, Schedule A, is a swatch of land between Paddy Greene Road and Martin Road, andPowerline Road and Jerseyville Road West.

The second, Schedule B, includes an area between the railway and Governors Road, and east of Binkley Road to Weir's Lane. This section has no public access or trail system.

Hamilton Police Serviceand enforcement staff with the Ministry of Natural Resources have been consulted about public safety and the closed areas.

This will be the hunt's 10th season, though deer harvesting has been a tradition for the Haudenosauneefor thousands of years.

The Nanfan Treaty or the Treaty at Albany of 1701 gives the Haudenosaunee the right to harvest and fish in this area.

In 2011, the Haudenosaunee Wildlife and Habitat Authority (HWHA) and Hamilton Conservation Authority (HCA) came up with protocol for deer harvesting on HCA owned lands. They have a specific agreement for the 2020 season.

A joint release from the HWHA and HCAsays that the latter recognizes the importance and validity of the treaty, and "respects the important cultural role that deer harvesting plays in the Haudenosaunee's way of life."