Lets Talk about Road Acces

[Bugle M In]

I believe you are right. Putting a sign on a resource road kindly asking everyone to keep out would be like putting a sign in a high school asking for no gum chewing and cellphone use. This has been interesting. I’m quite suprised by some showing their own personal access to backcountry has a higher priority than our F & W. someone mentioned jet boats and access. Yes rivers are just water roads.... so far the river doesn’t bring heavy industry capable of exucuting habitat loss.

That's my point.
From talking to a few folks now (looking for new areas to hunt), some areas are so full of jet boat traffic also.
From what it sounds like, there's more traffic on the rivers then on most of the roads I use to hunt in.
This isn't just taking a poke at ORV users.
Access comes in many forms, and everyone is using them, for all sorts of reasons.

So, is the real issue access?, or is it much much more than that?
Here is some more pics of other areas to show the "transformation" from 1984 til 2016.

[Bugle M In]

One more set, as one could go on and on showing these pics all over the province (and again, only up to 2016)

[Bugle M In]

Makes you wonder "what should we be discussing"??
Access is on created mostly by industry.
Access comes in many forms of transport.
Signs and even rules don't limit access.
And, even if access is removed, things like ski doo go right over open areas like this come winter.
Law abiding people will obey, but others feel the rules either don't apply or don't care.
Makes you wonder how we let some industries remove so much timber. without allowing other areas to fully re-generate
first?

Other question is, how much do you want to restrict and how.
Remember, the more you close off, the more we get lumped together elsewhere where it is open.
The more that happens, the more that area gets run over.

I brought this up to show that I see a lot of us pointing fingers at each other.
Blaming this group of hunters or that group for problems.

Look at the planet from the sky down.
And pictures are worth a thousand words.
And we wonder why game is missing, or, not coming back?
Is it just hunters?

[Wild one]

The miles of choked in regrown pine are not really noticeable either.

A lot of areas beetle kill plays a big roll in the harvest area. The stands of beetle that were too small to harvest create another issue when a good chunk blows down creating a tangle mess creating almost a 5ft+ deep tangled mess for the forest floor. You don’t see much for ungulates or sign of them in these areas. A little blow down is good but not to this level

When beetle kill is a high concentration it is worse then logging so clear some of these areas was/is beneficial. Unfortunately this creates more spurs and the way things are sprayed and replanted becomes another issue

[Wild one]

Double post

[Bugle M In]

I guess in a nutshell when it comes down to it, there are a bunch of issues resulting in our hunting looking so dismal.
Even just looking at an issue like "road access" has issues inside of issues.
Truth is, not 1 person nor 1 organization has the ability to fix them all.
I am glad that someone like Jesse is looking at MD and wildfire as one fix in the end.
I am glad that some see Access, in all it's forms as an issue.
The list goes on and on.
This is an effort that takes multiple people, multiple organizations and industry to fix it for the better.
Even some out trying to protect hunting and it's heritage.
Yet, there seems to be a real lack of involvement by many.
The issues are not just a sign here or a reg there to fix it.
It's going to take a lot of people to get involved.
It's going to take a lot of money and many "working together", not "against each other".
Hopefully the pictures helps to "open some eyes".
Because it seems from the lack of people entering the "raffle", many don't really get it, or really don't care ???

[Bugle M In]

The miles of choked in regrown pine are not really noticeable either.

A lot of areas beetle kill plays a big roll in the harvest area. The stands of beetle that were too small to harvest create another issue when a good chunk blows down creating a tangle mess creating almost a 5ft+ deep tangled mess for the forest floor. You don’t see much for ungulates or sign of them in these areas. A little blow down is good but not to this level

When beetle kill is a high concentration it is worse then logging so clear some of these areas was/is beneficial. Unfortunately this creates more spurs and the way things are sprayed and replanted becomes another issue

Yup, absolutely.
And nothing close to what the landscape looked like before we went in there to extract.
Turn the house upside down and wonder why the main occupants can no longer live in it!!???

[Bugle M In]

A request to have posted:

[walks with deer]

wow yes agreed above

[RobU]

Yup, absolutely.
And nothing close to what the landscape looked like before we went in there to extract.
Turn the house upside down and wonder why the main occupants can no longer live in it!!???

This is so true. As hunters we need to take a good hard look at where we stand as we are swinging a double edged sword. We should all have to agree we need to be conservationists first and hunters second. If we stand by endless habitat loss and infinite road building to ensure our access then I firmly believe we’re on the wrong side of the fence. The best interest of our F&W should come first and foremost then I promise you we will see the benifits through our binoculars and fishing rods for years to come.