reduced limit

[swampsinger]

Ok I'll give you easter however if you really need to smell gun powder you got turkey on Vic' day and dove on Labour day, so bit of a stretch to say it was just an effort to restrict gun use.

I suppose there are pigeons and starlings as well. Still looking for a legitimate rationale for reducing rabbit season in the north. Especially wmu 59,
less than an hour away.

[Fenelon]

I hunt the lower Somerville Twp concessions south of Kinmount (wmu 60) and the snowshoe hare numbers are super low. They have been since the mid 1990's which pretty much coincides with the fisher population explosion. Probably a good idea that they cut the limit back IMO, at least for the lower end of 60. Hare do not cycle down here. They never have from my observations over 50 years of small game hunting. Boreal forest - that's different. Have old friends who have/had registered traplines north of Sudbury and Timmins. It was easy to see the hare cycle mirrored in the furbearer population on their lines eg. peak of hare population would coincide with greater numbers of lynx, fox, and fisher on their lines.

[swampsinger]

I hunt the lower Somerville Twp concessions south of Kinmount (wmu 60) and the snowshoe hare numbers are super low. They have been since the mid 1990's which pretty much coincides with the fisher population explosion. Probably a good idea that they cut the limit back IMO, at least for the lower end of 60. Hare do not cycle down here. They never have from my observations over 50 years of small game hunting. Boreal forest - that's different. Have old friends who have/had registered traplines north of Sudbury and Timmins. It was easy to see the hare cycle mirrored in the furbearer population on their lines eg. peak of hare population would coincide with greater numbers of lynx, fox, and fisher on their lines.

I should have said 1 thru 59. However over the years I have had great snowshoe hare hunting in 60, 61 and 62 and 67 and 64a and 66a and witnessed the population cycles in that area first hand. Its delusional thinking that you can manage snowshoe populations, especially when the only tools in the box are seasons and limits. The mnr puts 0 resources into studying or managing habitat for snowshoe hare. IE there is no survey of small game hunters in any way by the mnr. Look at the annual hunting forecast for small game "sorry insufficient data". I think I would put money on the assumption that hunters harvested more deer than snowshoe hare in ontario last year. Maybe OOD could poll readers.

[swampsinger]

I hunt the lower Somerville Twp concessions south of Kinmount (wmu 60) and the snowshoe hare numbers are super low. They have been since the mid 1990's which pretty much coincides with the fisher population explosion. Probably a good idea that they cut the limit back IMO, at least for the lower end of 60. Hare do not cycle down here. They never have from my observations over 50 years of small game hunting. Boreal forest - that's different. Have old friends who have/had registered traplines north of Sudbury and Timmins. It was easy to see the hare cycle mirrored in the furbearer population on their lines eg. peak of hare population would coincide with greater numbers of lynx, fox, and fisher on their lines.

I know a couple of Beaglers west of you { monck rd area} and I have had good running with them over the years. I will be seeing them near the end of sept. at a field trial, I'll check with them and see they how they doing for hare.

[finsfurfeathers]

I know a couple of Beaglers west of you { monck rd area} and I have had good running with them over the years. I will be seeing them near the end of sept. at a field trial, I'll check with them and see they how they doing for hare.

my guess is seeing more and more. Last fall ran into more hares than have seen in previous years. Last spring one day had 4 different Jacks walk past me while waiting on a tom. This summer the number of cottontails in the back yard is just ridiculous.

[Frank16]

The biggest Joke is the limit on wild pheasant!!!!!! How many of you have shot a limit of Ontario wild pheasant? I saw two in the last 15 years. Or even the better the limit on Jackrabbits???? I know there are pockets of jacks left but to say shoot a limit is a joke.

[finsfurfeathers]

The biggest Joke is the limit on wild pheasant!!!!!! How many of you have shot a limit of Ontario wild pheasant? I saw two in the last 15 years. .

The limit on wild pheasant was more to please special interest than anything else. When the MNR realized wild birds were gone there was a change put forth to increase the limit to 10 day. My guess it was to encourage those to do their own put and take hunts. That was shut down by those who still admin the few remaining pheasant releases. North were there aren't any public releases the limit is 10

[Couliewalker]

Snowshoe hare is the largest bio mass we have in northern ont.The season had always been till June 15 and in 30 yrs of hunting them i never came across another hunter.Why was the season curtailed by over a month but was added by a month in southern ontario where hares start breeding earlierThis was done .Right under the nose and with the participation of the OFAH.If they cannot be trusted with an issue regarding hares,how can this voice of ours (whisper I say) tackle the big issues .They lost big points here in the north with this.The point being, and taken here (from Thunder bay to the quebec border) that the north is not as important in the eyes of the OFAH, and I challenge anyone with facts to prove me wrong, yet every fall a motorcade comes north to play in our backyard.

[swampsinger]

The latest move really hurts. For nearly ten years the beaglers of ontario alongside the OFAH have lobbied to preserve the traditions of beagling and rabbit hunting. We reached consensus and the government passed bill 91 in june 2023. After all that work and cooperative consultation the government refuses to accept license applications under the new act. They have done a complete reversal and now are supporting a group of anti hunting lawyers and a group called animal justice. Yes the government has chosen a fringe animal rights group over rabbit hunters. The ottawa valley beagle club and the cornwall beagle club have operated in the community since the mid fifties without causing any harm in any way. Cornwall has 750,000$ facility that we are now not allowed to use. Its a crying shame.