Is anyone else sick of getting sidelined at our own game?

[canishunter22-250]

I just submitted feedback in regards to the proposed regulations changes for Skeena North Moose.

I'm curious if anyone else feels the same way as I do.

My feedback was as follows:


To whom it may concern:

I am distressed to read that the any bull season in Region 6 North is currently under scrutiny. I have lived in the north my entire life and it is of great importance to my family and I that I can fill my freezer with moose meat on a yearly basis. I am a 4th generation resident hunter of BC and do not understand why my rights to fill the freezer keep getting eroded because someone else's rights to do the same thing allegedly trump mine.
There are plenty of moose in the northern areas of region 6 and I am appalled that this regulation change is being considered, in part, on the basis of "Addressing First Nations concerns of high licensed hunter use of culturally important areas." I'm sick and tired of the First Nations lobbying wildlife managers to more and more whittle away the seasons for licensed hunters. Anyone who thinks it is going to stop here is delirious.
I was raised by two wildlife biologists in this province and have always had great respect for the hunting and fishing regulations and what they aim to accomplish. I am completely on board with tightening hunting seasons when there is a legitimate conservation concern but this is not at all the case here. This is a case of re-allocation of wildlife resources based on ethnicity.

If resident hunters are going to have any stake in the game at all in 20 years, wildlife managers are going to have to grow a backbone and stop pandering to First Nations lobbying attempts to cut everyone else out of the game but themselves. So far it has been working fantastically for them. If I submitted a regulation proposal to restrict all licensed hunters with the exception of myself and my hunting buddies from hunting moose in our favourite drainage, based on the rationale that we didn’t want to have to deal with any competition for the moose, it would get laughed right out of the office! Why then is the exact same tactic working wonderfully for the First Nations lobbying efforts?
I am completely supportive of First Nations rights to hunt and fish for food, social, and ceremonial purposes. But they have no right to restrict the rights of every licensed hunter in this province just because we are all competing for the same resource. Competition in the hunting world is nothing new. But systematic reduction of the competition based on ethnicity is definitely a new trend and it is catching on with frightening success.

Throughout the hunting and fishing community in BC, there is currently growing frustration and resentment towards both First Nations people as well as the wildlife regulations that protect our treasured resources. For many, many people in this province, filling the freezer with wild meat each year is an activity deeply embedded in our culture and history just as it is within the First Nations’ culture and history. As British Columbians, we all have a right to the wildlife of this province just as the First Nations do. It’s time that the wildlife managers acknowledge our shared rights and stop letting special interest groups convince them otherwise. Everyone has a right to fight for their best interests, but it’s not always right that they should win.

In the words of George Carlin, “Narrow, unenlightened self-interest doesn’t impress me.”

[IronNoggin]

Very Well Said Sir! http://bigshotsbc.ca/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/Pozitive.gif

Unfortunately even though bang on, and right well spoken, the message will fall on deaf ears.
We are the third or fourth class of citizen in BC & Canada now, and until we pony up and deal with that, the erosion I am afraid will continue... :cry:

Sadly,
Nog

[5jackz]

I concur . I grew up with natives in N Van and quite like them , but when I see BC hunter rights being eroded to satisfy a specific ethic group - not very thrilled .

[blazing billy]

Pale male, bottom of the food chain.

[HappyJack]

If there are plenty of moose around there is no legitimate reason to shorten the seasons for resident hunters. IF there are still guided hunts being sold in this region, then they should be the first to go if the moose population is in trouble.

[Jack Russell]

you lost me at third sentence. You have a RIGHT to fill your freezer with moose meat? Sorry. I can't take your letter seriously enough to finish reading anymore.

[Leaseman]

you lost me at third sentence. You have a RIGHT to fill your freezer with moose meat? Sorry. I can't take your letter seriously enough to finish reading anymore.

So sad, but true.....it is not a right for the majority of us.

[canishunter22-250]

Fair point.

But what's your solution? To just quit hunting because someone else tells you that they deserve the resource more than you do?

I think we all have a right to a share of the resources of this province.

[Leaseman]

Fair point.

But what's your solution? To just quit hunting because someone else tells you that they deserve the resource more than you do?

I think we all have a right to a share of the resources of this province.

We need to have the opportunity....you need to steer clear of the word "right" because they will use it to THEIR advantage!

Comments, especially printed can be great, or ignored depending on how things are worded. Comments can and are twisted to put us in a bad light

[David]

Fair point.

But what's your solution? To just quit hunting because someone else tells you that they deserve the resource more than you do?

I think we all have a right to a share of the resources of this province.

My solution?

Hammer home the idea of Science. Count the wildlife. Report wildlife "harvested". Allocate future harvest accordingly. For everyone.

It HAS been done. See this report on Federal Fisheries refusing to increase the Native alotment of sockeye due to low runs and the Feds WINNING in court:
http://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/federal-court-dismisses-b-c-first-nation-request-for-more-salmon

[Leaseman]

My solution?

Hammer home the idea of Science. Count the wildlife. Report wildlife "harvested". Allocate future harvest accordingly. For everyone.

It HAS been done. See this report on Federal Fisheries refusing to increase the Native alotment of sockeye due to low runs and the Feds WINNING in court:
http://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/federal-court-dismisses-b-c-first-nation-request-for-more-salmon

Was quite the surprise to see that win!!!

[Mike_R]

My solution?

Hammer home the idea of Science. Count the wildlife. Report wildlife "harvested". Allocate future harvest accordingly. For everyone.

It HAS been done. See this report on Federal Fisheries refusing to increase the Native alotment of sockeye due to low runs and the Feds WINNING in court:
http://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/federal-court-dismisses-b-c-first-nation-request-for-more-salmon

Not a good comparison IMO. Restricting access due to conservation reasons is a different "kettle of fish"

[Hublocker]

you lost me at third sentence. You have a RIGHT to fill your freezer with moose meat? Sorry. I can't take your letter seriously enough to finish reading anymore.

Yes, I think you're right.

Just because you live near an area that has an open moose season doesn't mean that the moose there are your own private herd of meat on the hoof for the taking every year. That is starting to sound like the FN argument.

For the rest of us mere mortals moose hunting is a luck of the draw event that if we are extremely lucky comes around every five or six years. And even then it is no guarantee.

David nailed it:

Hammer home the idea of Science. Count the wildlife. Report wildlife "harvested". Allocate future harvest accordingly. For everyone.

[canishunter22-250]

I dont mean that I personally have a right to shoot a moose every year. I mean that collectively the citizens of this province have a right to the moose as a resource. Obviously there are more hunters than available moose to harvest each fall and because of that we have to divvy them up fairly between us (whether through leh or restricting seasons so that only x amount if moose get taken). It's been happening for 100 years and it's nothing new. It's a good system.

My point is that they are now starting to restrict seasons not for this reason, but because it is being questioned whether us citizens of bc have a right to the resource at all. This is what we need to fight for. The simple fact that we collectively do have a stake in the wildlife of this province. The trend is moving towards a system that we do not.

We all collectively own the wildlife according to the basis of the North American model for wildlife management,so why would we not have a right to it?

[Hublocker]

You're right.



I dont mean that I personally have a right to shoot a moose every year. I mean that collectively the citizens of this province have a right to the moose as a resource. Obviously there are more hunters than available moose to harvest each fall and because of that we have to divvy them up fairly between us (whether through leh or restricting seasons so that only x amount if moose get taken). It's been happening for 100 years and it's nothing new. It's a good system.

My point is that they are now starting to restrict seasons not for this reason, but because it is being questioned whether us citizens of bc collectively have a right to the resource at all. This is what we need to fight for. The simple fact that we collectively do have a stake in the wildlife of this province. The trend is moving towards a system that we do not.

We all collectively own the wildlife according to the basis of the North American model for wildlife management,so why would we not have a right to it?

[markomoose]

I dont mean that I personally have a right to shoot a moose every year. I mean that collectively the citizens of this province have a right to the moose as a resource. Obviously there are more hunters than available moose to harvest each fall and because of that we have to divvy them up fairly between us (whether through leh or restricting seasons so that only x amount if moose get taken). It's been happening for 100 years and it's nothing new. It's a good system.

My point is that they are now starting to restrict seasons not for this reason, but because it is being questioned whether us citizens of bc have a right to the resource at all. This is what we need to fight for. The simple fact that we collectively do have a stake in the wildlife of this province. The trend is moving towards a system that we do not.

We all collectively own the wildlife according to the basis of the North American model for wildlife management,so why would we not have a right to it?Good call buddy!I like your way of thinking!

[HappyJack]

I dont mean that I personally have a right to shoot a moose every year. I mean that collectively the citizens of this province have a right to the moose as a resource. Obviously there are more hunters than available moose to harvest each fall and because of that we have to divvy them up fairly between us (whether through leh or restricting seasons so that only x amount if moose get taken). It's been happening for 100 years and it's nothing new. It's a good system.

My point is that they are now starting to restrict seasons not for this reason, but because it is being questioned whether us citizens of bc have a right to the resource at all. This is what we need to fight for. The simple fact that we collectively do have a stake in the wildlife of this province. The trend is moving towards a system that we do not.

We all collectively own the wildlife according to the basis of the North American model for wildlife management,so why would we not have a right to it?

We don't have any rights to wildlife, we have privileges that we have to pay for, and take courses for.

[Jimbob]

By a supreme court decision:

1. First and foremost, species have a right to survive. This means that if the species is threatened the government can shut down or restrict harvest. Like the Sockeye example.
2. Next, FN has the right to harvest above others.
3. General public does what government says.

This is a supreme court decision and has set a precedent for all of Canada. It doesn't matter what laws the government makes the FN's have a right that goes above the general public. The only way to put restrictions on FN is to show that a species is threatened. This is why the BC government cannot shut down the grizzly hunt even if they wanted to to. They have to prove the grizzlies are at major risk to restrict FN.

That means if a population starts to decline then the general public is restricted and the FN can continue to do what they do. Until it becomes so bad that the government, in the name of saving the species, can restrict the FN and have a legal right to do so.

THE GOVERNMENT CANNOT DO ANYTHING UNTIL THE SPECIES IS SEVERELY AT RISK.

You can complain about this all you want but it is the Supreme Court of Canada that has decided this not provincial government.

[HarryToolips]

If there are plenty of moose around there is no legitimate reason to shorten the seasons for resident hunters. IF there are still guided hunts being sold in this region, then they should be the first to go if the moose population is in trouble.
And this is it....as long as our bull:cow ratio is fine, that is..

[one-shot-wonder]

Winter '17/18 known as 'the season of the cuts'......will go down in history.