Rob Chipman
"The idea of wilderness needs no defense, it only needs defenders" - Ed Abbey
"Grown men do not need leaders" - also Ed Abbey
LEH management is not going to hurt the sheep..it will sheep hunters.
Last edited by horshur; 01-24-2022 at 03:44 PM.
It is well to try and journey ones road and to fight with the air.Man must die! At worst he can die a little sooner." (H Ryder Haggard)
I would like to see the age breakdown on the "full curl" rams being harvested. I think that there is a problem with some marginal rams that are young and lamb tipped getting some special cranking treatments before being inspected. I dont want a LEH hunt, but also am kinda sick with those that think shooting a marginal ram and doctoring it is okay. I hunt sheep every year because I love being in the country they live in. I don't hunt sheep with any expectation of killing one. Be super sad if that yearly activity is taken away.....
I spoke with the Government person responsible for these proposals. He pointed out that the Regional biologists wanted more time to discuss this proposal, which is why there is a 'Note', along with the proposal. The note reads:
[NOTE: The posting of this proposal on the Angling, Hunting, and Trapping Public Engagement website was delayed to provide more opportunity for local stakeholders and provincial wildlife managers to explore and discuss alternative options to mitigate concerns regarding mountain sheep populations and harvest rates in the region. The deadline for commenting on this proposal has been set at February 11th to allow people adequate time to provide feedback.]
He added that the notice may not have been done as well as it could have been, but they were clear, they wanted to start to collect feedback as soon as they could. While most regional bios wanted more time to discuss this with stakeholders.
I know where a couple of the largest Ram's came from that are in the BC books.
When they were taken, back in the 80's, for 5 or 6 years, that area was heavily inundated by avid sheep hunters for sure.
But after 10 years, you rarely see anyone in there.
Reason being, those sheep ad their numbers have dwindled away.
Also, it's damn hard country to hunt, with little water to be found and plenty of mountains chained together for them to wander
on.
I know some areas in R4 that hold sheep, tend to have easier access, better trails, and the sheep tend to stay put.
Those areas are under LEH for a long time now.
The few that arent, like i spoke above about, arent heavily hunted by hunters and their success has not been much to be
concerned about, and certainly not harming those sheep.
However, something else certainly is.
Maybe its all the logging, when the sheep come down to winter and all the preds?
As a matter of fact, most of the game in these areas are way down, along with the sheep.
So, limiting hunters wont hurt the sheep, BUT, it isn't going to do much to bring them back either.
All it looks like to me, is just more of the ministry "Managing to 0".
Managing hunter opportunity to 0.
Managing wildlife #'s to 0.
How is limiting hunters going to make it better when the reasons for the declines tend to be other factors to begin with.
Just prolongs the inevitable by a few years, imo.
Terrible management, no money, no pred control, and allowing other special interest groups to just carry on with
"business as usual".
Going to LEH will have zero positive influence on the breeding sheep population (ewes). This is population biology 101. Of course the ewes are getting bred during the rut. It only takes 1 ram to breed all of them. Going to LEH is to address a powerful lobby group (Guide Outfitters). They have been pushing this agenda for years as it will basically eliminate resident harvest. When the GOs in Reg 6 and 7 see this they will be messaging the politicians and wildlife bios constantly until thinhorns go to LEH.
If it was actually about increasing sheep populations why wouldn't they just shorten the season so both residents and GOs would both be impacted? Because the GOs would scream murder.
If you are a resident hunter who cares about future hunting opportunities for your kids please disagree with this proposal. Send your MLA a letter. It will basically take our opportunity and give it to rich Texans who wont be contributing squat towards habitat. Thinhorns will be next, the GOs are more powerful than the BCWF and resident hunters.
Well Said ...
The inside talks they have behind closed doors, or thick willow Bush has been going on for years.
They have certainly swayed bios, managers and politicians minds on more than just sheep.
Just ask some retired bios..
WSSBC
BCWF
CCFR
BHA
Actually, it is the GO's that harvest most of them anyways.
I agree, take their share away then.