Originally Posted by
Bugle M In
Bownut,
No one is trying to put into question "how you hunt" etc.
Seems like you hunt like many of us, and your passionate about hunting like many of us.
We all want to see wildlife "flourish" in the end....we all want to see more game then we have in the future.
The sooner the better.
But "restrictions" is where you are being "criticized".
Example,
I hunt in a small area of R3 for Mulies, usually in the month of November.
Over the past 3-4 years, I have noticed that for the most part, that about 80% of the Does I see have
spring Fawns with them.
So, I go for my stalk, and each time I generally trip up/spot the same amount of deer, year after year.
I walk the same mountain side, and do everything to locate deer.
Now, I thought, hey, 80% of the Does have fawns...should equate to "more deer sightings" next year.
Maybe not a huge difference, in just one year, but, like I said, this 80% is happening for several years, so, by now, there should be a lot more deer in that same area come November......but there's not.
So, what's going on??
LEH for Does has been in effect for a long time, never seemed to be that big of an impact...in my opinion.
The biggest change was the closure of R5 for 10 days in November...I can defiantly see that there was now
"way more hunting pressure" in my area (as I hunt close to R5.....but...I can't really say that a lot more deer
are taken....although you would have to surmise that "there are some more deer taken" in that area, and may not
have been taken if R5 was open.....seems logical.
But in the end, it doesn't appear that it's a ton more deer.
So, I ask....why am I not tripping over more deer? when the doe/fawn ratio seems really, really good in November?
Okay...FN close by, and I know from speaking to a few individuals, they take a good amount....
Seems to be 4-5 deer on average per individual.....which for me, is a little hard to accept.
What I don't know is....is that any different from past years....are they taking more now?
Let's say they aren't...that it has been this way for years.....no change.
Is it poaching?....could be....I see the odd deer down that makes me wonder if it was "accidently shot" or
possibly poached, and just horns or some prime cuts taken?
But, is that any different then in the past??
Let's say it's not.
Logging...well heck.. like one individual said...it used to be you could "shoot across the cutblock"....
but now it takes you 15 minutes to "drive thru it".
That's a big change...definitely changed were the deer walked/migrated thru.....but, for the most part,
it is on the "high plateau" (as I like to call it), which the deer don't really stay on, come snowfall (2 ft +).
So....nothing new there....deer migrate down to where I hunt.
Yes , plenty of "spur roads" off of the main FSR's for sure!, so a bit more "vehicle traffic" in areas that were once
inaccessible....and a bit more opportunity for guys on foot for sure, but I doubt it equates to a ton of success.
But deer definitely get "pushed more" then in the past.
So, I ask...where are these extra deer?
What is going on "after" the hunting season?
Something must be going on? between The end of November of one year, til the next November the following year.
Sounds like hunter success hasn't gone up...about the same as always, maybe even less.
The only ting I can come up with, is maybe it is the fact, that there just isn't "enough habitat to support more deer".
Wolves, and Cougars...they are up, and have an influence on an area that "never had wolves" (not as long as I can
remember), but the studies do seem to say that it is not "predation".
(I may argue that they might be wrong to a degree.....Yellowstone did show the drop in elk after wolf introduction,
and it was noticeable....so, I am not sure where the studies don't see that....)
But again....let's say they are right....so what is the real problem???
I guess what I am saying is....restrictions and closure will not get you anything more then you are already seeing
and experiencing when you are hunting right now.....it won't make a difference.....because "ethical hunting" is not
the problem for the declines you are experiencing.
Yes, you can close off areas, and in the end...you will just sit at home....not hunting...and then you will be disappointed when it doesn't ever open again....because the animals still didn't come back, because it wasn't hunting
that was causing the problem.
Yes, we have to get involved with the FN, and ask for them to "start reporting" their kills, but that is not going to be
so easy....but it is the right thing to do, so we have "Better numbers for our science".
That will take "public pressure" probably in the end, but the talking has to start somewhere.
Basically, it's campaigning for change, but campaigning requires "Money".
Poaching...all we can do is report to RAPP, and to hopefully put more CO's in the field.
Not just more CO's....but money for them to actually leave the office with a full tank of gas.
Again....this requires public pressure on the Ministry to hire and fund for more CO's....but it requires "Money".
Predators...well again, to do it right and be effective...will require us to use "heli"...and again, public pressure
and "Money".
Logging...I think there is a long way to go to make it better for wildlife....getting those companies to really
deactivate those spur roads...but more importantly, to somehow just make those cutblocks a better
"future habitat environment".
Again...public pressure to have them change their practices "after they are done cutting".....they can spend the
"Money".
But the real theme is "Habitat"....
It's why I think the deer where I hunt just don't seem to be growing in size, even though the ratios look good going
into December.
Habitat. to make it better, or generate new ones.....that requires "Money".
The general themes are "public pressure and a whole lot of money".
If you want to see more game....that is what it takes...restrictions will just cause you further disappointment.
I have seen it...I have been hunting in restrictions for over 35 years now, and it hasn't made seeing game any better,
in the end, I just watch it "shrink"
The thing that people are saying to you is....money spent in the right way...will make the biggest difference.
And Public Pressure only works, if you have a large group, saying and shouting "the same thing".
(Does NOT work, if we continually show up as a group...and yet sit there and "quarrel amongst ourselves"!!)
Public Pressure to find and spend more Money is the "target you are looking for so you can see more game"
Now, like some are saying, if we all get on the same page and stop arguing, we now need to figure out way to
"Generate this Money".
Who should pay??how much??...how often???
Restrictions are just there to "fine tune" things....they will not fix what it is you are upset about.. that's were
others, like myself, say you are going wrong on...thus the replies you are receiving...not about you or your
hunting ability or passion....just your direction on finding a solution to these problems....
And remember, they are Province Wide Issues...happening in every Region.