Originally Posted by
J_T
I might offer this up.... First, it seems often when hunters of the EK speak of concerns in the local region, hunters from other parts of the province seem to speak that, the observations presented by EK hunters, are false, that "things" are fine. "Our group limits out every year, things must be fine". (Like going on an elk hunt and taking 6 does is a good thing) Look back to old threads on this site. EK hunters expressed concern about wolves, about whitetail populations, about elk populations, about predators in general. Few hunters from around the Province believed, or respected the comments coming out of the EK. I'd suggest most real hunters in the EK, are more connected to the reality than hunters who visit here. Why not start with listening to them and giving them respect.
I believe, the link between front country populations and back country migratory populations is directly linked. Without high numbers in the front country, there is no need for back country elk. Why would an elk want to do that hike when everything they want and need is in the low lands? In the 90's there were false numbers of elk in the trench. It was an estimate of 20,000, and going forward, the number showed a trend, stating there were 25,000 elk. We knew the population was increasing, but there were no hard numbers on that population. Until this most recent airborne survey (6,000) the closest we have come to actual numbers, was 14,000 in the trench a few years ago. And, under pressure from the ranching community, the decision was made to bring that population down to 5,000. That objective (based on the recent count), was successful.
Under the present Government, what we lack, are wildlife management plans with measurable objectives. We lack a plan that has forest management, focused on wildlife. We lack an idea of land use, access. We lack support for increased 'huntable' populations. We lack appropriate decisions on Grizzly bears, on Caribou and on Indigenous peoples wildlife objectives.
We talk about balanced eco-systems. The problem talking about balanced ecosystems though is what is a balanced ecosystem? In a low density equilibrium, the prey base is at very low densities. It cannot increase because they are suppressed by predators; predators are also at low densities and cannot increase because they are limited by the prey base. As Bob Hayes said in his book “Wolves of the Yukon”, once in a low density equilibrium there is little if any prey available for hunter harvest. Is this a balanced ecosystem? If so is that what we are aiming for. Maybe hunters and Gov wildlife biologists see the objectives differently.
Wildlife management based on balance, trends and percentages is misleading. If a guy has 20 elk in his back 5 acres. With the right number of bulls, cows and calves, we could say that the elk population is balanced and sustainable. But there is no huntable population. And that is a missing objective.
We need increased resources to write wildlife management plans. We need to carry out cumulative impact assessments, evaluate logging practices, post burn management, vehicle access, climate change, when, where and how we hunt. We need to have a statement that we want, and will have, an increase in wildlife populations. Not just sustainable populations. We want more animals. We need to think of hunting as 'management hunting'. In support of a wildlife population objective.