Are our moose dwindling? David says so

[300Sniper]

Did you guys notice decreased moose numbers last fall? I'm not a moose hunter so i don't really take note when I'm hunting.

4 years ago we got 1 bull
3 years ago we got 2 bulls
2 years ago we got 2 bulls
last year we got 4 bulls and 1 cow

we hunt wmu 13. I don't know what happened over the winter but things sure were looking pretty good.

With the no bull guarantee in 13 and the high number to get a cow, we will be going elsewhere....

[Wahoo]

It certainly sounds like the moose population is in trouble................... If I could I would close the season and make it illegal to take a moose by everyone (natives, outfitters and hunters) until I figured out exactly why the decline and I had a feasible plan to turn things around.

My understanding with respect to aboriginals is that hunting is an individual right. As such, there can NEVER be any kind of regulation imposed on that right. All that can happen is that the bands/Chiefs ask the status folks not to hunt, ergo; it would have to be voluntary.

As to why the sudden drastic change in 2014 allocation numbers, I'd guess that things may have been on a slight downward trend but the MNR was cautiously optimistic going forward. But then along came a very long, cold, brutal winter and it made things go from kinda bad to worst case scenario.

[B Wilson]

Elk tags have been reduced this year too.

[exgunner]

I don't know where there 18% comes from there is just over 10000 tags this year down from just over 16000 last year that is a drop of over 34% by my calculations but I don't understand not dropping cows more for a year or two. It looks like a lot of the units have wolf tags in place I wonder how much this added with no spring bear had to do with things. I also think deer entering moose zones (15b) as when we started hunting there twenty years ago there where no deer there is lots now. Shame they waited so long to have any actions

[bird blaster]

I don't know where there 18% comes from there is just over 10000 tags this year down from just over 16000 last year that is a drop of over 34% by my calculations but I don't understand not dropping cows more for a year or two. It looks like a lot of the units have wolf tags in place I wonder how much this added with no spring bear had to do with things. I also think deer entering moose zones (15b) as when we started hunting there twenty years ago there where no deer there is lots now. Shame they waited so long to have any actions

Sadly the ministry seems to be very reactionary instead of being proactive about such issues. The problem with being reactionary on such a large scale is that by the time you react it is a bit late. All of these current issues could have and probably were predicted 5+ years ago. Sad that instead of doing something then they are scrambling now. Will it make a difference? Probably not, they will continue to see dwindling moose numbers I suspect for the coming years. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a no hunt year in the upcoming few years similar to what was done in Minnesota.

[ginochipchip]

sad to hear all this bad news .........
i love hunting but it is getting way to hard to do it ........
have to drive 1.5 h to shoot gun off at some clays and go ask people for permision to hunt and they give you that look like you are a killer lol i have decided to save some money and buy some land were i can drive up and do what i want ...

[robster]

So in the northwest 14/30 wmu's, northeast 7/27 wmu's and in the south 4/15 wmu's had aerial surveys and they come to this conclusion. Seems to me a lot was missed here. Can the biologists realy make a judgement about the population considering they only surveyed 25/72 wmu's? Has this been how it was done over the years? Or have the hunting surveys been miscalculated?

[Hawkman]

I hear you ginochipchip ... However, be very careful what you buy and where, because it is not automatic that you can do "what you want" on your own land. Rules and regulations still apply to private property anywhere in Ontario. We photograph a bunch of moose on a private property every year but have never drawn a tag for there yet. Haven't gone there to shoot a calf either.

I have only ever bought three moose tags, and the groups that I hunted with never harvested a moose anyway. It is considered to be a big adventure by many hunters and I wish I could go every year myself.
The tag draw system is quite sophisticated already but they seem to be making up even more rules on the fly! Them scientists have a job to do I guess and have to justify their pay-cheques by coming up with new data, new management strategies, etc.

I honestly agree with fratri, I think we should just STOP hunting moose for a couple of years and dedicate our collective time, money, and effort to just figure out what's going on with the populations in various areas of Ontario. Catch our breath, get re-organized, and start hunting moose again after a two year break. A simpler draw system would be appreciated too!

This harsh winter that we have just witnessed might have reduced moose populations in many WMUs. Maybe, the MNR knows something that they are not sharing. All we can do for now is comply with the rules as usual and hope for a "better tomorrow". Maybe this IS their way of giving the moose herds a break for a while...?

[exgunner]

If you start reading some of there press releases from last year they were asked about the decline in moose south of the border and they said "our moose populations are just fine we don't know what happened in the states " this is last year Lot seems to have happened over the course of five months I don't think the government has a clue spending the money covering up there stupidity like gas plants anyone who votes liberal are deaf to the real world

[hunter391]

Do these numbers include the outfitter tags or are they just for the draw? If our moose are in that much of a decline then the first tags to be chopped should be the outfitters and stop the non resident hunting.