https://oceola.ca/
http://bcwf.net/index.php
http://www.wildsheepsociety.net/
I Give my Heart to my Family....
My Mind to my Work.......
But My Soul Belongs to the Mountains.....
Can I ask this, and to get back to one of the OP topics ( I know, I was walking away from this thread)
1) What was the latest fawn to doe ratio in the WK MU's?
2) When was it done, year and month taken?
3) Is it considered by Bios a good or strong # or % ?
4) how often is this count down, every year or what?
If that is not good enough for some, then I don't know what is or would be?
As for hunters giving input, yes some of us have a good view of what it looks like out there, but I surely would not rely on hunters in general having "the facts" just from each others personal observations that for sure.
Hey, while we're at it, why don't we just throw in the "get rid of all the whitetails in the WK" so there is more room for Mulies to rebound debate!....lets make this whole thread even more colorful and all over the place then it already is
You make a good point.
On the one hand, BV complains about moose numbers being dismal.
On the other hand, BV is telling us that hunters achieved 160% harvest over 5 years.
How is it possible to achieve 160% harvest for 5 straight years with dismal moose populations?
Something ain't adding up, and I suspect that it's from somebody trying to suck and blow at the same time.
Now, of course, this extreme example may be the result of an AAH in one specific subunit of 1 moose per year, and having 8 shot in 5 years. 8/5 = 160%. Unlikely 3 moose will make or break a population unit, especially since huntable units generally require 100 or more animals to be open for hunting.
The question is what is the percentage of does that have fawns, how many are being born late and how viable is it for those fawns to survive.
Antlerless seasons, horn regs etc don’t mean s***....what’s the big picture causing the mule deer decline.
Is it too much pressure on the breeding bucks causing a fawn crop with little chance of surviving the first winter?
FD, I’m not real big on sucking and blowing but a couple of government staffers were probably wishing they could do both when this came out...instead they chose to throw their colleagues under the bus.
As to numbers the 5 year resident number was 100, the harvest 160....all 5 guides in the region were reduced to .8 of a moose annually.....do the math.
This is only one MU....apply it province wide as I’m sure this won’t be a stand alone case.
Long seasons and high access....
Lets talk elk for a second, and the best example is in the EK.
Road closures for 40+ years, because some R&G Clubs thought this would reduce hunter success and help keep
Wildlife Levels High.....restrict hunter access=less hunter success=more wildlife....
6pt Restriction for the past 20+years, because, there wasn't enough mature elk and a lack of "Trophy Sized Bulls"!
(starting to sound familiar doesn't it..to this thread???)
Guess What????............still NO MORE ELK....if anything, the #'s have declined!
And, lets not forget!!..elk hunting is from Sept 1 til Mid October...it's even a shorter season then mule deer is....
What does it mean??...not hunting related that's for sure.
It is well to try and journey ones road and to fight with the air.Man must die! At worst he can die a little sooner." (H Ryder Haggard)
bugle they have buck/doe ratio targets for scientific reasons. Point restrictions are a tool so is killing Does that is all I have been saying. For the most part managers have used the tools to maintain targets as they should and apparently for the most part buck/doe ratios are okay because of regs.Point restrictions/season duration/leh are other tools to maintain there targets. Pic your poison.
It is well to try and journey ones road and to fight with the air.Man must die! At worst he can die a little sooner." (H Ryder Haggard)
Theres a hole alright, but as long as the system continues to allow hunter opportunity based on a questionable sustainability wildlife will carry on declining.
Resident Access was the Mandate for the longest time and now it turns out to be one of the top drivers along with habitat, was that based on science?
Funding for better science, and yet management claims the numbers are ok. What does a guy believe?
INDEPENDANT AUIDIT!!!!!!!