Moose GOS

[ratherbefishin]

Is there any moose GOS anymore in BC ,or is it all LEH ? The days of driving up to cache creek and harvesting any bull seem to only be a memory now

[stoneramhunter]

Is there any moose GOS anymore in BC ,or is it all LEH ? The days of driving up to cache creek and harvesting any bull seem to only be a memory now

Yes there are areas that have general open season for moose region 7 for example has zones open

[high horse Hal]

BC now has conflict moose and conflict-free moose
good luck out there

[mike31154]

Most if not all region 8 MUs have moose GOS, but it's spike fork, so a bit tougher to fill a tag.

[ratherbefishin]

With the decline in hunting licences fewer numbers of LEH and increasing number of restrictions I’m begining to wonder about future of Moose hunting for the average guy in BC.Is it going the way of salmon fishing?

[elch jager]

It is obvious that they apply no actual science to their wildlife management policies. (and fish)

It is about controlling the food supply. They are removing wild game opportunity incrementally.

Hungry people are obedient people. If you riot - off to zee camps...

You will eat bugs and be happy.

Hunger Games was not just entertainment, it was a glimpse of the future Klaus has planned for zee vorld.

[ratherbefishin]

Other countries seem to manage their game populations and provide a healthy recreational opportunity, he we seem to be trying to placate other self interest grounds by taking it away from recreational hunters .Doesn’t give you much confidence in wildlife management as we see our harvest opportunities diminish to the point of no return .The worst of it is I see no reversal to the days when we had generous GOS and hunting was not politically incorrect

an example of rules is the antler restrictions,,too easy to make an honest mistake and shoot what you were convinced was a legal immature only to walk up and see a 1’’ spike making your legal two point immature,an illegal 3 point..but now the moose is on the ground,,I’d rather not hunt at all with those rules,if I don’t get the once in five years odds of drawing an LEH ‘any bull’

[ratherbefishin]

If it is true that legal hunting only accounts for 15% of moose mortality,( disease,accidents, ticks, age, wolf/bear predation, highway and railroad kill, and FN) all of which are totaly un regulated, 24 hours a day,365 days a year, then attempting to ‘manage’ the resource by hunting restriction has virtualy no impact on the population,although it sustains a large government workforce even if all resident hunting was eliminated

[Arctic Lake]

I’m tempted to hit a region that has immature bulls open but man a long way to go in hopes of getting one . Don’t get me wrong I love the outdoors and the adventure , maybe if I just looked at it as a camping trip with the idea “hey I could take an immature if one was to present itself “.
Arctic Lake

[walks with deer]

The hard part is making sure hes small enough i have a couple spots where they drow a third tine at the base of the skull take lots of time on id with a immy.. i only have shot one and they where tall spikes.

[RackStar]

Lived in a spike fork gos for 5 years. Only seen 1 and it was 3 days before opener. People get them though. Tough go , I just look at is as a opportunity if it presents itself while hunting elk and deer

[ratherbefishin]

I once came into a camp where there was what I thought was a legal immature rack on the ground and stopped to show my boys what an immature was ..much to my surprise,when I walked up on it,I only saw then the small 1’’ spike that made it ILLEGAL. I asked a CO later, how in the world could you accurately decide an immature was legal ,100 yards away and moving ? He said ‘you need good glass’ nice theory but not in real life..how many ‘legal immatures ‘ are abandoned when the hunter finds out when he walks up on it? After that,I only hunt moose with an LEH which I draw only on average once every five years and at 75, I guess my moose hunting days are iover …..killed by beurocracy guess .my only hope now is to go with an outfitter .my idea of a moose hunt is to go with my kids and grandkids ,camp out and enjoy ourselves,see some game and maybe take an animal..not just book a hunt all on my own
I’m of the conclusion that the government is not interested in resident moose hunting and while not outright banning it,making it so dificult people are just giving up on it ,just like the recreational salmon fishery off sooke..

[RackStar]

I’m moving to Alberta for a stint this winter. The wildlife management seems much superior to B.C. I’m looking forward to actually being able to hunt moose every year there. Almost get a full month with a bow where I will be living.

[stoneramhunter]

I’m moving to Alberta for a stint this winter. The wildlife management seems much superior to B.C. I’m looking forward to actually being able to hunt moose every year there. Almost get a full month with a bow where I will be living.

I could be mistaken but dont you have to be a resident of alberta for a certain period of time before you can hunt as a resident?

[RackStar]

Yes for sure, I will be loosing out on most of a season. I will just catch the white tail rut if I move by November. It’s 1 year I believe.

I will be missing out on caribou goat and sheep , but thankfully still have friends to do sponsored hunts in BC untill I come back.

seems like some decent big horn opportunities in AB though.

Chasing the mighty dollar and checking out some new country. Never thought I’d leave BC, but Alberta has some amazing elk and deer hunting. Way cheaper cost of living also and higher wages.

[HappyJack]

I once came into a camp where there was what I thought was a legal immature rack on the ground and stopped to show my boys what an immature was ..much to my surprise,when I walked up on it,I only saw then the small 1’’ spike that made it ILLEGAL. I asked a CO later, how in the world could you accurately decide an immature was legal ,100 yards away and moving ? He said ‘you need good glass’ nice theory but not in real life..how many ‘legal immatures ‘ are abandoned when the hunter finds out when he walks up on it? After that,I only hunt moose with an LEH which I draw only on average once every five years and at 75, I guess my moose hunting days are iover …..killed by beurocracy guess .my only hope now is to go with an outfitter .my idea of a moose hunt is to go with my kids and grandkids ,camp out and enjoy ourselves,see some game and maybe take an animal..not just book a hunt all on my own
I’m of the conclusion that the government is not interested in resident moose hunting and while not outright banning it,making it so dificult people are just giving up on it ,just like the recreational salmon fishery off sooke..

Sometimes those little 1 spikes get broke off when they are scraping the velvet off, if you know what I mean.

[high horse Hal]

.........
I’m of the conclusion that the government is not interested in resident moose hunting and while not outright banning it,making it so dificult people are just giving up on it ,just like the recreational salmon fishery off sooke..you're getting it, changes in reg 7 have never been about moose pop. numbers or conservation, they are just a people control

[ratherbefishin]

The government stats say there are approximately 170,000 moose in BC..WHY are there so few LEH tags issued ? Why were the numbers slashed to under 600? Given the average 30% success rate, is the government saying a population of 170.000 moose can only sustain a harvest of 200 animals? Something isn’t adding up here.please enlighten me..

[mike31154]

Some years ago sitting in a tree stand waiting for a deer to wander by I spied a group of moose at the edge of the lake. Moose season was still a week or so away. Cow, calf & young bull. Even if it was on, I doubt I would have tried for him being alone, no way I'd be able to get the bugger out of there by myself. Distance from the tree stand to the edge of the lake is about 200 meters. I had seen the group in the bush across the creek earlier & after they disappeared I didn't think I'd see them again.

If I interpret the regulations correctly as long as one side of the rack has the 2 points, it doesn't matter if the other side is a small palm with multiple points. But yeah, from that distance & if I'm wrong, I wouldn't want to be in a position to hafta 'splain myself to a CO or when bringing it in for inspection. Here are some photos. I was able to put my phone camera lens on the spotting scope to get some decent shots.

What do you think, legal spiker?
https://dsm01pap004files.storage.live.com/y4mxHhkmACfzwPd8sTQLuXqDz0owIARfOckl72FwiHvCDcdGr7 kCPI25XP0xPBbm6rm1JcAcfRE78PlsutrvCNNjKCA4AyOmFA7M RZW4K-cjMHSzzT8LTs4pAWulib8VifkGZls8GCbg24dSq7oStqGd-jJrbxFRMsNafluQpHj_1RAx1-Bt2NIBQKX6dWEZBsN?width=1013&height=1024&cropmode=none

https://dsm01pap004files.storage.live.com/y4muNBc_rFjLJRTbhaErMpa-N_EUYRu5FBh8OM6wo3BOYH055lwycneqGkPyo2RrOJpuFGwLo6 _px5oJOuTd-JHsodPSRL1KLwwle3bptOJa5_zHQrBuVKkd-nenbmm1gWPPbD-Da2_7RGEcFFiIvr_CvyWeeohxIIbQ80WfI2UpQZa-z9clPqcuwZYo_Nwk0s-?width=958&height=1024&cropmode=none

The entire group, young bull on the right.
https://dsm01pap004files.storage.live.com/y4mtdvw4LBONxCYYwUddHsdDZa9Rm1I0rbbL6xL2jxQQ4TUAqV oh6z1oeKCri-iEBFyFugXjG0S2RcyrL2E4OVbp_V_8zoiE-PrMf6sGa_fn6piUsE4Ehk1pocLlHfY6JYuV-ZpPBqvkGdBKBC7sHvzgLJwh6iLOa0AhWiPCZ2mWWUO0vm43doe YdBpdbEU1AFN?width=768&height=1024&cropmode=none

View from stand with the naked eye
https://dsm01pap004files.storage.live.com/y4mGlItNSRBo9b-SEziv0tBAYApdT_1JXkI8kmIcKkIbc2Ki1bV-LGGSva0u66zYEx9jWd2fi5X4YxedXaW3E-y2xig2M9Bz1MDtC0e86VRAoW_dBtC1QpC_keXJxmiSFhm8kzGz j0WC0HsF_-6MDknuZGgciMRPYFlUUPR0svhbJBuCY_-8s_dyfR6tLEpKCb7?width=768&height=1024&cropmode=none

[CranePete]

I’d pass, based on these pictures

[Sharpish]

Is there any moose GOS anymore in BC ,or is it all LEH ? The days of driving up to cache creek and harvesting any bull seem to only be a memory now

Read the regs?

[HappyJack]

Lived in a spike fork gos for 5 years. Only seen 1 and it was 3 days before opener. People get them though. Tough go , I just look at is as a opportunity if it presents itself while hunting elk and deer

Many moons ago when they first started up the LEH we hunted for spike fork moose, we saw over 180 moose that season and not one was a legal spike fork. Keep in mind this was when the moose population wasn't decimated by wolves and run away bear populations.

[ratherbefishin]

My point exactly, you just can’t be 100% sure..

[wallz]

In all my years of hunting, I have only ran across a few spikers during the season.

1st moose kill was a spiker, and in fact there were two together, so I took one home with me.

Last one was about 3 years ago in an LEH only zone, and we didn't have LEH that year, so of course we seen 6 moose that year, of which one was a spiker.

The comment about good glass is the difference of being able to shoot one or not most of the time. I have heard too many stories of I just couldn't tell if it was legal, so I passed. Lol, that would drive me bonkers, so I have the proper glassing gear, and will take the opportunities as they come.

About 5 years ago came across a moose on the other side of a HUGE clearing. It was getting late, with only 1/2 hour of legal shooting light. I ranged the moose at around 560 yards, but could not tell with the 10x binos what it was, being a cow or a spiker. Aligned my 22.5 power scope on it and could easy tell it was a cow, and not legal for us to take. The only saving grace, was the better glass, and don't think they were bad binos, as they are swaro, but the 10x power was lacking at distance to tell.

Few years back, had a similar situation on elk. less than 1/2 hour shooting left and out walk to elk. The one in question was a 3 point on one side, with a mangled mess on the other. My swaro bino's could tell he was only 5, as my brother fought his bino's to see anything clear enough to even start to count points.

But this is a moose thread. Glass, Glass, Glass, is the difference most of the time. Saved my hide last year on moose as well, only counting 8 points in 10 point season, and only 2 brows, and not the required 3.

[HappyJack]

There are too many moose shot and left due to honest mistakes, there are also some shot because of an overzealous shooter. What they should do is just put all bull moose on LEH and ban completely all cow/calf hunting.

If they did that, they should also shit can the bullchit enhanced odds BS and put LEH applicants in a queue from year 1, as long as you apply year after year you get closer to the top until it's your turn for a bull moose tag in the zone of your choice.