Great thread to stimulate the conversation. I am not one to recommend shooting on age alone, unless you have a fair buffer - say you think the ram is 10 or eleven. That's just me though.
Great thread to stimulate the conversation. I am not one to recommend shooting on age alone, unless you have a fair buffer - say you think the ram is 10 or eleven. That's just me though.
All of the support for the boneheads at MFLNRO, or whatever their new title is (perhaps MFLNRO2 to keep up with all the fluff) is just splitting hairs!
What other species in B.C. is "managed", and I use that term very loosely, on the basis that you can hunt only males and they need to be 8 years old (defined by a bureaucrat that has likely never hunted sheep) or with a horn tip that rises above the bridge of the nose?? This is all about creating "trophies" that bring in $50,000.00 U.S. a pop. The charges laid against this kid are an embarrassment to the gatekeepers at many levels.
And, therein lies the rub with Mr. Expert Witness who just wishes to be so self important. The sheep guides will lay it on heavy when millions of dollars of broomed rams can no longer be legally taken in any given 6 to 8-week period of each year. The BCWF won't say a peep of course. Too concerned about looking bad to their perceived strength.
C'mon now!! If it wasn't for the G.O.'s influence we would no longer be hunting sheep at all. Calling any species a "trophy" is a huge mistake however, as we have learned from the cancellation of grizzly bear hunting. Perhaps that will change over time.
So let's learn one lesson from this event … and realize what the real threat is. It is not the DIY resident hunters, the guided hunters or the F.N.'s. It is a bureaucracy (public service by definition) that is out of control, turning each group against one another … while the hawks in the anti-use movement take it all in and use it to stop all hunting.
Time to get on the same page!
Well SAID 40incher ! RJ
40, you touched on several issues in one post, not going to quote it and give it traction
You probably already know why the regs select for a sustainable hunt, why try to muddy up that one ?
Never say whoa in the middle of a mud hole
Yeah, lost me on that one. 8yr is a sustainable management tool to ensure that there's a viable breeding population of mature rams. Full curl ruling I don't care as much for. There are some who are happy to pop a tight 6yr or 7yr over the nose whenever they see them, which is not a sustainable practice.
Your point is valid about full curl 6-7 year olds.
I think the only reason for the "full curl" id s there is a better chance for the average sheep hunter or
newb to get that right over aging.
Sheep are an oddity really compared to other species when hunting.
Far harder to tell if its legal either way at times.
Even Goats for many are hard to define between gender.
Different than just counting points.
I just think this is one of those "borderline" situations that should have been let go, imo.
There are many other instances where the hunters were totally out to lunch and should be fined etc.
Sure does make one think twice about hunting sheep.
Also makes me wonder how many sheep might get left to rot because a hunter has 2nd doubts suddenly
after they inspect it hard and wondering if the Inspector will see it as they did?
Just like in this OP.
I would like to see much stiffer penalties for poachers and people who just don't care, and there is more
than enough of them.
(Even know of an outfitter that kept shooting nannies just to make money until they got stopped)
But then there are these cases that are on the borderline.
Just glad it wasn't me and I am getting too old to do that hunt anymore.
Geist is the premier expert in the world.
INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY
Sheep are not that tough. Grizzlies are. Grizzlies eat what sheep eat, plus they eat sheep
Not trying to muddy anything … if anything let's have some clarity.
Do you think a guided rich dude would have had that ram taken away? That's not a rhetorical question BTW! … but let's pick on a young resident hunter to make a bureaucratic point.
And just another quick question … what has sustainability got to do with it? You must be familiar with the "Skeena Model", which has allowed for ridiculously high quotas in Region 6 that have nothing to do with sustainability.
To be clear … the ram is legal and was a good one to take. Problem is, the bureaucrats want to further their personal agenda with least risk.
I hope the family of the young man pursues an appeal of this B.S.