moose fines

Oh ya, "shyte" happens ! One such "close call " happened to me several years ago. One member of our group shot what he said was a bull. At roughly the same time, on the other side of the cutover, I was watching a cow. Once he confirmed that he had shot a bull, I took the safety off and started to apply pressure on the trigger. Just then my radio crackled, that one if our guys was going to get his truck... My cow wheeled around and bolted into the timber. Well, I was ticked off to say the least, until I found out that my buddy's bull was in fact a cow. We had a tag for a bull and cow. So, as has been said, it can happen !

Absolutely,Rick. Our crew had two bulls appear to two different hunters that were only a ridge apart with only one Bull tag. They shot at exactly the same time. One Bull went down with two shots and the second Bull was a clear miss,but,what would have happened if both went down? That's also why I always apply for the Antlerless Deer draw simply as an insurance policy against a screw up. It can happen quickly,to anyone.

the whole question of this thread was about the feeling that the fine being equal to the value of the game animal. no matter what you think mistakes happen . Everyone says oops no one says to the warden I just was tired of not getting a tag so I shot it . In life you have to be willing to pay for your mistakes at a fair value

I almost got a cow for a calf a few years back. I had seen a cow, with what looked like a calf with her. I was straining pretty hard to get a good look at what I thought was a calf, my partner said don't shoot, it has a pretty long face. I argued with him about it being a calf, he said he didn't think so. We covered about another 100 yards, and it turned out to be a big cow and a lot smaller cow. If I had been alone I would have shot it. At the time I was sure it was a calf, and it was well within my shooting range. I just got lucky that day.

A couple incidences come to mind. One chap I know had a cow tag, and shot a cow in a cut. The cow ran in the bush and one minute later ran back out from the same spot. He downed her, and went over and it was a different cow that had been standing in the bush. Both were dead.

Another time, almost similar incident with another group, they shot a cow on a hydro easement, which ran in the bush. They followed in after her and she was standing in the bush. After shooting her again, they walked over and there were 2 dead cows.

fines were between $300-$500.

The fines get a lot steeper if you try to hide it, let it spoil, or if the CO thinks it was intentional.

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Originally Posted by woody1948

I almost got a cow for a calf a few years back. I had seen a cow, with what looked like a calf with her. I was straining pretty hard to get a good look at what I thought was a calf, my partner said don't shoot, it has a pretty long face. I argued with him about it being a calf, he said he didn't think so. We covered about another 100 yards, and it turned out to be a big cow and a lot smaller cow. If I had been alone I would have shot it. At the time I was sure it was a calf, and it was well within my shooting range. I just got lucky that day.

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If a guy this experienced has a close call, than none of us are immune.

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Originally Posted by mbhunter

I've hunted moose with my family and friends for 10 years. No, haven't harvested one myself yet, but have had plenty identified as the wrong age or sex within range.

My opinion comes from countless times of being questioned by MNR as to which group had been doing the shooting because there was yet another abandoned moose left to rot.

I've personally seen two cows left to rot after someone had had one of these "accidents". One the MNR was pulling out of the bush and the other we reported ourselves.

Trimmer, if you think I need to hunt longer in order to have an accident, you're dead wrong. I don't have an itchy trigger finger like some. I'd rather identify and safely harvest a moose and take pride in providing it for our group.

Our camp was purchased in 1981 and not once, with over 10 in the group, have we had an "accident". That's with 20+ moose being harvested in that time.

If you don't know, you don't shoot. Are you out shooting hens right now thinking they've got beards?

It's upsetting that there's forum members here still defending an "accident" situation. A real shame.

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I understand the message you are trying to convey here, but most of what you are saying is based on properly identifying your target and not pulling the trigger unless you are sure. Hopefully we all live by those rules but, as you can see by some of the replies from some very experience moose hunters in this thread, it's not always as cut and dried as we would like it to be. Sometimes you can be wrong, even when you are sure.

There is an important aspect missing from your argument. While you can do everything in your power to make sure that you don't make a mistake, you don't have total control over your group members. You can do your best to surround yourself with most trusted friends and family, but you can't guarantee that they won't make a mistake. If you're part of the group then you're involved, whether you like it or not.

You also don't have control over equipment (radio/phone) failures, changing weather conditions, freak occurrences like two different moose appearing to be one. Examples are mentioned in this thread. Shoot a bull, it goes down. You go over to retrieve it and it gets up to run and you shoot it again. You walk over to find two dead bulls and your group has one tag. Heck, my uncle shot a calf a few hundred yards from me one morning and due to high winds I never even heard the shots. One big hill between him and me meant that I got nothing but static from him on the radio. I was pretty surprised when I finally got enough signal to hear that a moose was down. That scenario made me think of what might have happened if he had shot a bull and two minutes later a bull walked out to me.

Your intentions are in the right place but the point that I (and others) are trying to make is that you can't account for every scenario. Don't assume that it's impossible for your group to make a mistake.

bunch of hijackers the thread was suppose to be based on the value of a moose which should be the amount of the fine .accidents, mistakes happen thats a fact poachers are using this low fine as a way out (the group of poachers get the moose out of the bush have discussion realize people saw them figure some one will rat them out so they do it themselves)(poachers shoot illegal moose haul it out get to truck someone comes along they decide better call themselves in) (poacher goes out shoots illegal moose goes home tries to find manpower to get it out people don't want to get involved decides to call himself in)this happens

Over my 40 years of moose hunting, incidents do happen. I've seen them happen and they are unfortunate and can make a good trip turn into a bad trip. Properly addressed we get over it at mininal cost. Trying to cover it up will cost dearly.

Mistakes do happen. Your a better person dealing with it than trying to cover it up.

"E"

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Originally Posted by manson

bunch of hijackers the thread was suppose to be based on the value of a moose which should be the amount of the fine .accidents, mistakes happen thats a fact poachers are using this low fine as a way out (the group of poachers get the moose out of the bush have discussion realize people saw them figure some one will rat them out so they do it themselves)(poachers shoot illegal moose haul it out get to truck someone comes along they decide better call themselves in) (poacher goes out shoots illegal moose goes home tries to find manpower to get it out people don't want to get involved decides to call himself in)this happens

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Okay well... Than.. How would you put an actual cosy on moose? Would it be a per lb. Basis? Would per lb dog pending on area the moose was shot? Sex? Age? Size of rack? I think if the prices were to go up less LAW ABBIDING hunters who may have made an error are less likely to report it. Which will cause more wasted meat.. Etc.. Unsure but is that not a cause of cwd? (I'll admit don't know wtf CWD really is..)