Roch LeDuc says he has been hunting for more than 40 years including the past 20 in the North Bay area but he has never seen what he has been finding in the woods near Redbridge.
It started back in January and February of 2024, and now he says deer snaring is happening again.
Roch LeDuc, a local hunter, had been frustrated trying to find a solution for the problem.
He has discovered dead deer snared on a portion of crown land on Glassy Lake Road in Redbridge which he says was set up right along a deer trail or what he calls a "deer runway."
The North Bay native who frequents one area of crown land, found at least three dead deer that he believed had been illegally snared and killed.
That was in February of 2024.
The Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) responded to LeDuc's complaint and offered this comment.
"MNR Conservation Officers found that the snares, though set up legally, were accidentally affecting deer due to changing snow levels," the MNR told BayToday in an email in February of 2024.
While LeDuc felt the problem had been addressed, he says the same thing happened in the same location again in late November of 2024.
"It's happened again this year, where the trappers have snared and left the carcasses of three deer to rot in the bush," LeDuc said.
LeDuc shared some graphic photos of the snared deer taken in late November and on December 18, 2024.
"It's one thing to have the right to trap but, no one should ever have the right to waste our natural resources," he said.
See related: Local hunter finds multiple illegally snared deer
See related: MNR responds to Redbridge area snared deer investigation
See related: LETTER: Trappers play an important role in wildlife conservation
LeDuc says wolves are almost nonexistent in the area.
He came to BayToday last February because he felt the MNR was not addressing the problem although he had met with them about the issue.
"All I want to know from the MNR, is why nothing is being done about the abuse of our natural resources," said LeDuc.
"People in the community need to come together around this topic and create discussions and speak out as to why this is allowed to continue every year!"
BayToday reached out to the MNR on January 2, 2025. They told BayToday that the incident is under investigation.
