Quebec dispute puts access to a lookout in focus during hunting season

A hiker says a hunter stopped him from reaching a public site in the Chic-Chocs. A local quad club says it never granted hunters exclusive access.

Jean-Louis Arseneault told Radio-Canada that a hunter stopped him at a barrier and prevented him from reaching an observation tower in the Chic-Chocs a few days ago. He had planned to see the fall colours with his children. The tower is on public land near Saint-Jean-de-Cherbourg in the La Matanie regional county municipality. Arseneault, a former wildlife protection officer, said hunters should not be able to close state land to other visitors. He turned back to avoid a confrontation. Radio-Canada said it could not reach the hunter for comment.

Alain Desmeules, vice-president and safety director of the Club Quad de la Matanie, said the club had never given a group of hunters exclusive use of the area. He nevertheless considers walking in the forest during hunting season dangerous and discourages the club’s members from doing so, comparing the risk to jumping from a 300-foot waterfall. On the day of the incident, the trail to the lookout was marked yellow, indicating a warning, on the club’s online map.

The union representing wildlife protection officers told Radio-Canada that public land should remain open and that hunters cannot bar people who want to take photographs, cycle or observe nature. The Matanie Hunters and Fishers Association made the same point. The Gaspésie Hunters Federation called for sharing public land and urged users to reach agreements.