road deactivations for sensitive habitat

[limit time]

The F & W Dept has being gonna Do it for Years The " Fire " Helped with the decision ! It will NEVER go away either and other MU's are in for closure too ! RJ

So you can still drive a car or truck just not an “atv/orv” style machine ? What I’m getting at is, can you still drive in and set up a hunt camp with a car/truck ?

[dana]

Seems many are not all that familiar with the reasons why we deactivate roads. 'Habitat' is rarely the reason. Slope Stability and Water Control are pretty much the main reasons and both can go hand in hand. Slides and serious siltation to downstream water sources are assessed and minimized. Pulling culverts, digging tank traps, pulling bridges, and recontouring roads are done for these purposes. We do not think, oh, this will slow down hunters. That isn't in the thought process. The only forestry practice where hunters are thought about is when we leave lots of screening next to the road so hunters have a hard time seeing into a cut block. Thus giving the animals more advantage. This is particularly focused on in critical moose areas. When you see roads that are pretty much not roads anymore, what you are actually looking at is the level the road was built. Temporary in-block roads can be built at a very low standard. Particularly in the winter. Pop a few stumps, mix a little bit of dirt in with the snow and freeze er in. Many temp roads are site preped to be planted. Again, has nothing to do with hunter access. Has everything to do with how forestry is conducted.

[Dannybuoy]

Something wrong with your brain Keta1969 ... and that's not a question ...

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[QUOTE=Keta1969;2052009]

Ahh you mean like the sense of entitlement of the elitist few that can access the backcountry .... and to be clear they are tearing up roads in the Kootenay that were there long before logging .... I know of one trapper that can't access his trapline due to road deactivation . He used an old trapline trail previously but it was destroyed along with the newer roads To me it's less about hunting but about accessing the backcountry as there is very little game left anyway .[/QUOT

Well lets kill it all then and then when you're driving the back country you'll be able to text and surf the web without worrying about missing anything or hitting a deer.

cool when you wanna go ? Text me bro!

[Jelvis]

It's the rut boys -- holy -- we gotta danny brook going on Hahahahahaha

Jelly Belly -- at least you got energy so what the H -- hahahahaha

[j270wsm]

The valley I live in has very few roads that your allowed to drive between sept 1 - June 16 and our mule deer, elk and moose populations are extremely low!! A guy i work with spends a lot of time in these closure areas and hikes his ass off when he hunts. He was telling me how little game he seen hunting during his 3 weeks holidays. Even 10yrs ago when ungulate numbers were high, these road closure areas didn't hold any more animals than the driveable areas.

[Jelvis]

One hunter told me one day the big buck I got a muley stuffed head a 180 typ ohhh yah know what now a daze it's a lot harder to get those bucks Hahahahaha

Jello -- OK Hahahahaha -- he dint get one yet cause it's way harder now -----

[Bugle M In]

The valley I live in has very few roads that your allowed to drive between sept 1 - June 16 and our mule deer, elk and moose populations are extremely low!! A guy i work with spends a lot of time in these closure areas and hikes his ass off when he hunts. He was telling me how little game he seen hunting during his 3 weeks holidays. Even 10yrs ago when ungulate numbers were high, these road closure areas didn't hold any more animals than the driveable areas.

This^^^^
Road closures "do not grow game pops"!!!
You would think it would, but it hasn't!
The proof is right there in the EK.
That why I shake my head when some suggest more restrictions.

Yes, tearing up some spur roads is a good idea only because it allows hunters to "walk in" without the sound of a ATV to disturb the hunt, and it will reduce the amount of hunters "hitting that spot".

We should all be concerned more about what is left in regards to Winter Range Habitat.
Think about it this, what are the biggest changes we have seen over the past 50 years.
(the young guys wont be able to answer this)
Watching places like the Columbia Valley being developed, or like all around the Okanagan like Kelowna etc.
Where is the game supposed to hang out during the winter months?

Then you looked at what the Beetle has done to the province, and what we have allowed the forestry companies to go ahead and cut down everything they can ASAP.
The lack of mature growth in some areas is beyond belief, and it is no wonder we the low game #'s.
And you all wonder why the wolves have moved in? (awesome hunting grounds come winter)
The roads are just a "by product" of the real problem.

If these roads existed, but rather than in cutblocks, but just traveling thru mature growth, most hunters don't even waste their time "getting out" of the vehicle.
Most hunters are travelling these roads to get to the next cutblock.
So yes, in this case, ripping up the roads "will decrease hunter activity" for sure.
BUT, "it wont GROW GAME!"

Again, ripping up roads is a very small piece of the puzzle, and more on the "minor side" of trying to get our game pops on the up and up for the future.
But, again, like for so many years now, let's point the fingers at hunters, ourselves, and lets restrict ourselves more, and add further regulations because, hey, it's the easiest and most inexspensive way to show that "something is being done"!
But, all the evidence points to all these restrictions over the years bing an utter failure.
But hey, carry on!.

The only thing that would be good is to limit where ORV's can go.
That basically they have to "stay on the roads".
Not blazing new gtrails.
Not just because it will help protect the land from being torn up.
Because ORV users have been taking them "off the road" and "making their own trails", many ranchers have started to
"ban hunters from some hunting areas".

I know a place where it was a grazing lease, but for years the holder of the permit never bothered going after hunters.
Even though hunters should of asked for permission, I doubt many ever did.
But nothing bad ever came from it as far as disputes.
Until, the dirt bike clubs, then followed by the ORV hunters starting to burn new trails up into the hills.
This is that ranchers "grazing land" and of course he does not want to see is grass feed obliterated.
Well, now signs are posted all over, and now, "NO ONE CAN HUNT THERE"!

Again, just forcing hunters into a tighter and tighter circle, and we wonder why we trip over each other more and more!?

There are bigger problems that require solutions.
And many of the problems were not/are not hunting related.

[walks with deer]

maybe as a whole more land has to be set aside period eg winter range in paticular.

[Bugle M In]

maybe as a whole more land has to be set aside period eg winter range in paticular.

Biggest problem I think that ever happened was that back in the day, when there was a chance, no one drew up
"Designated Winter Range", that cant be used by anyone, not developers, not ranchers.
Like an ALR (which is a bit of a joke itself, but atleast something)
Now you just have rancher/vineyard owners screaming "Cull ,Cull ,Cull".
Where are the ungulates supposed to go right now??
And then when they head back up hill in the Spring, where do they have to hide from Preds???

It's too late now, it's all developed in many parts of the province and never got protected when it should of happened.
If we start now, we might be able to protect the few that are still around, but we will never grow more.
The only other thing is Pred reduction, but in the end, even if the wolves are gone, you will still see a slow decline of wildlife 100 years from now.
Not unless some real changes are made in the habitat and winter range protection for future generations.
Can anyone see expropriating the land from a golf course to return back to winter range???
Better yet, kicking out all the Vineyards that have shot up all over the place.
Tons of problems not relating to hunters as to why #'s are declining.