Atv's closed beginning of the end

[Jelvis]

It's way beyond the "Why" stage already box, asking why won't change sqwat, it's done for MU 3-28 - 29 and 30 don't matter why
Jel -- you get caught in MU 3-28 with any atv during GOS mule, and you'll feel like a fool --look like a tool -- Calling anybody you'll get a busy signal if your not connected to the team effort by a code, for the road. You wood have to have a special number to connect -

[curt]

I wonder what those who were active hunters 40 years ago before ATVs would think of this conversation..........

What difference does that make reality is the government is taking away our rights slow but sure it isn’t reasonable typically the guys that complain about quads are the guys not fortunate enough to own one the bigger picture here is the steady slow pressure to eliminate us

[curt]

There are lots of other places to drive a quad or side by side or whatever other expensive toy you find essential to hunt with.

Really because by next year there could be less again that’s the point

[Hublocker]

What difference does that make reality is the government is taking away our rights slow but sure it isn’t reasonable typically the guys that complain about quads are the guys not fortunate enough to own one the bigger picture here is the steady slow pressure to eliminate us

I don't argue for or against quads. You want to use one or a Side-by Side, fill your boots.

I'm 65, and to answer an earlier question, I had already been hunting for 10 years 40 years ago. What do I think? I have yet to lay awake at night wishing I had a quad.

"Fortunate enough to own one"??? I could go buy a Side by Side for cash today without going into hock. I just choose not to own one.

But at the same time I do not subscribe to the tin-foil -hat argument that "They're out get us."

[Ltbullken]

I just want to know the rationale so that we understand if the decision makes sense and if the reg change was put out for feedback. If not, then this decision is all arbitrary.

[Pemby_mess]

What difference does that make reality is the government is taking away our rights slow but sure it isn’t reasonable typically the guys that complain about quads are the guys not fortunate enough to own one the bigger picture here is the steady slow pressure to eliminate us

lol- I enjoy going out and still hunting precisely because it doesn't require fuel, paying consumptive taxes, listening to an engine all day etc etc. Has nothing to do with envy. Every time I get out into a stand of old growth, slowly and quietly looking and listening for deer, all I feel is gratitude. That's something I don't feel nearly as intently sitting on a quad. So the guys I see ripping about all day on their machines, and then complaining back in camp about the natives killing all the wildlife, are more often recipients of my pity than any inkling of jealousy. Quite often, if they're not complaining about the natives, it's their boss or the taxes they pay - things made all the more necessary due to misplaced pride in their machines and spending all their disposable income on gas taxes.

Curious, do we still have a right to sit in the mountains without machinery buzzing us every few minutes? What about the right to enjoy unbroken solitude in the wilderness? Sign me up for that gripe.

[Pemby_mess]

I just want to know the rationale so that we understand if the decision makes sense and if the reg change was put out for feedback. If not, then this decision is all arbitrary.

i don't have the curiosity required to investigate the rationale, but box-hitch made a good suggestion for those who do.

I will infer this:

you our have a burnt out area in recovery. The fire induced feed serves as an attractant for ungulates, while simultaneously reducing cover, opening up sightlines not previously available for hunters. The combination of those two factors serve as an attractant for hunters as well; from all over the province. Likely hunters of the impatient time pressed variety that like to ride up and down on roads all day hoping to bump deer/moose out. The improved sightlines make that method all the more efficacious, and present a risk for over harvest of the entire region. A potential solution is to put the whole region under LEH, but that would reduce opportunities for locals unnecessarily - so a ban on quad based road hunting seems to be a good compromise.

[dana]

If anyone has seen the history of the road closures in the 03 Barriere burn, you'll understand why the Region 3 boys did what they did with the 2017 burns. Hunters were constantly ripping down the signs on the closed roads and hunting them and claiming they never saw signs. It was a huge headache to police. Keep on putting up closure signs and hunters keep on ripping them down. I think they decided it is way easier to police if everything is closed. Way easier for charges to stick as well as people will have a hard time claiming ignorance as to where they are and what road they are on. Basically, what you have is hunters themselves ruined it for other hunters by not obeying the rules. Piss and moan all you want, I think these closures are a good thing in these burns.

[kootenaihunter]

I just want to know the rationale so that we understand if the decision makes sense and if the reg change was put out for feedback. If not, then this decision is all arbitrary.

It was one of the items put forth for feedback on regulation changes on the ministry website.

The rationale is based on science and best practices for land and wildlife management.

"The closure aims to support wildfire-recovery management strategies, and is in response to an anticipated increase of unmanaged recreational off-road vehicle use and camping pressures on sensitive ecosystems in the area.

Unauthorized off-road vehicle use can have many negative effects including soil compaction, erosion, increases in invasive plants, garbage accumulation, and pollution from camper trailer holding tanks. This affects grassland health and wildlife habitat, as well as quality and availability of water for wildlife and livestock."


This is good management. This area will become a wildlife haven in the coming years with awesome hunting opportunities.

Or, this is BS, the gov't is out to get us, hunters know best! Let us pound the area with ORVs this Fall and turn the fragile, recovering ecosystem into a deserted wasteland full of invasive knotweed and rutted trails and then complain the next year when there's no animals and that the government is managing to zero.

[Mulehahn]

The problem with the idea that ATVs cause too much damage and should be kept out of the area is that as far as I can tell it only applies to hunters.* The title of the regulation is "ATV for Hunting Closed Areas"! If I leave my rifle or bow at home I am free to rip around the area, destroying the new grasses and disturbing the soil as much as I want. Further, the ban doesn't take place until September; when the plants are dormant. Anyone is free to go atving in the area right now during the growing season causing significant damage before the fall rains/snow comes and starts the erosion process. If it truly was simply about protecting the area to allow it to recover they would of put a complete ban on all ATVs in the area. They didn't so that suggests this is indeed about something else directly involving hunters.

*There is a chance my google skills are not good enough. If anyone can provide a link stating all ATVs are banned from the area I will be happily proven wrong. Anything I find refers to the Hunting Closure