Right on the nose!

[Sitkaspruce]

Huevos

Did you own your territory prior to the 2007 allocation and the crash of 2008-2010??

I worked as a guide thorough this time and I can tell you from first hand that the crash of the US economy is first and foremost the biggest reason why there was a reduction in hunter numbers. The biggest % of hunters (~75%) are blue collar workers from the US and they tightened their belts and stopped spending the extra $$$. Most of my clients were returners and even they stopped coming or the odd one spread their trips out over 3-4 years instead of every 2-3. They all told me it was because of the economy, their work slowed down, their "pension contribution" was reduced, the investments, which usually helped with the trips, was non-exsistant and yet their month medical and dental stayed the same or even went up. The economy and the dollar parity were the biggest factors, so lets face it, the allocation played a small part in the "whole circle" Yet the guides want us and the Gov to think the 2007 allocation is to blame for ALL their problems. Not the economy crash and the loss of 20% on the dollar......now they are looking to get the "60" animals back and the 20%+ again.....not bad timing.

The GOABC is feeding us all BS when it comes to allocation and the "whoa is me" because of the reduction of animals. There is so many animals that are not under quota with GOS that the reduction to true numbers affects only the smaller outfits south the the Terrace-FSJohn line, those above are not really affected by the allocation, yet they use the smaller outfits as pawns in their quest to get everyone on LEH.

It would be curious to see how many bear, deer, elk, moose and goat hunters actually were reduced due to the 2007 allocations these species are all on GOS/non-quota somewhere. My guess is the 2007 never really affected the hunters like the GOABC would like us to believe.

Cheers

SS

[Whonnock Boy]

Same thing happened in the the charter fishing industry, exactly.

I worked as a guide thorough this time and I can tell you from first hand that the crash of the US economy is first and foremost the biggest reason why there was a reduction in hunter numbers.

[40incher]

Just speaking from my limited experience in our area. Are moose in the Skeena on LEH? Skeena is a rather large area no? Looks like there is GOS for moose in the Skeena Aug 20th to Oct 31. What does it matter if guides don't kill their quota in the Skeena if you can hunt moose on GOS? How does this affect resident opportunity? If you can't get it done in two and a half months, maybe you should consider hiring an egghead guide, or getting a buddy that can actually hunt. Which area has 207 bulls per year, or is that a 5 year quota? Is this same area quoted in an LEH area?

There are no internal negotiations about moose quota between outfitters. It is based on area calculations and nothing more. If you have a small area, you get less tags. Large outfits have more tags because they have more area, not because they are better negotiators. That was the old days when the regional manager could shift quotas around a bit, but no more.

Considering that you are "new" to the B.C. situation I will respond to your queries ... despite your disregard for resident hunters that I would guess is based on poor advice you may have received from others in the guiding industry trying to cover their butts. There must be more than a bit of guilt associated with what transpired in the industry when the GOABC reps chose to "eat their own", as it were ... BTW, I strongly sympathize with the small GO's who were turned on during the negotiations prior to the 2007 protocol, and in the time shortly after when the "big" guides robbed the "small" guides. Also, BTW, if I was one of those guides that were negatively affected I would investigate how their quota's "became" based on new terminology pushed by the GOABC reps during the negotiations. This is how the quota robbery worked in South Skeena, and it can be exposed very easily.

South Skeena (Bulkley Valley-Lakes) moose regulations for BC resident hunters are a creative mix of 3 separate LEH restrictions, a 7-day GOS for any bull post rut, and 3 separate any-bull bow hunts (22 days in total) spaced between September 1st and November 20th. The guides in South Skeena (MU zones 6-04, 6-05, 6-06, 6-08 and 6-09) are on loose quota, which means they can kill their entire quota in even a small portion of their territory (that's another very concerning story for different time).

These moose-hunting regulations have worked very well over time, as proven by recent population surveys. Region 7B (North Peace) also has some innovative moose (non-total-LEH) regulations that have obviously worked as well over time for their situation. One size does not fit all when it comes to hunting, and we in Skeena recognize that very clearly.

To be clear, the 207 per year moose quota mentioned is specific to the area of South Skeena described. North Skeena is still GOS for residents and non-quota for guides on bull moose.

Bottom line, while you as a guide think you may have lost quota because of BC resident hunters, you should look at your own "industry" reps for the real truth!!