Cow moose hunting opertunities

[Gord]

I was just going over the LEH paper and last years synopsis and was wondering why some regions have openings for cow moose and other regions don't? No openings in all of region 5 except 5-15. Region 6 has none whatsoever either LEH or GOS. Were cow moose ever open in GOS anywhere? Had a very good hunt last year with the old man and we were successfull, but all other hunters I know don't ever seem to be hunting for cow moose. Just wondering what some responses are from HBC.

Thanks Gord.

[killman]

Different region managers have different idea's on how it should be done!

[elkdom]

I was just going over the LEH paper and last years synopsis and was wondering why some regions have openings for cow moose and other regions don't? No openings in all of region 5 except 5-15. Region 6 has none whatsoever either LEH or GOS. Were cow moose ever open in GOS anywhere? Had a very good hunt last year with the old man and we were successfull, but all other hunters I know don't ever seem to be hunting for cow moose. Just wondering what some responses are from HBC.

Thanks Gord.

Reg 5 had GOS seasons for antler-less moose not so long ago,

at one time Reg 5-2 and 5-1 were fantastic areas to hunt moose a long GOS season for Bulls and a generous GOS for antler-less,

poaching , over harvest, predation and poor MOE management were some of the downfalls to the Reg 5 moose populations,,,,

[elkdom]

here is some "trivia" in response to the OP of this thread, and others who may care to read,,

looking at a BC Hunting synopsis for 82-83 hunting season, there were Resident GOS moose seasons for both Bulls and Antler-less in Regions,3,4,5,6, and 7 !

wow!,,,,,,, how things have changed !

[Riverratz]

here is some "trivia" in response to the OP of this thread, and others who may care to read,,

looking at a BC Hunting synopsis for 82-83 hunting season, there were Resident GOS moose seasons for both Bulls and Antler-less in Regions,3,4,5,6, and 7 !

wow!,,,,,,, how things have changed !

In 1981 there were 14 of us in one camp near Big Lake, Region 5. We took 9 bulls and 5 muley bucks in only 5 days and called it quits........more than enough meat to go around for all the families and we weren't a greedy bunch.
There was a 5 day cow GOS at that time if I recall correctly, we saw lots of them but never took any. Bulls were GOS, "any bull" !!!!......no such thing as LEH. We were the only camp in the area too, so competition with other hunters was non-existent.
Great times and the parties at night were definitely something, some not ending until time to go hunting again the next morning.:)
Did all the hunting by truck, winching, and on foot. All in tents, no RV's, some nights it snowed so bad the tents collapsed. No ATV's in those days, the only machine in our camp capable of any off-road stuff was a "Terra-Jet" one of the fella's had......it got put to good use !!!
They were definitely the glory days.

[Gord]

I guess now a days you just have to try to find a few areas where you can hunt a few different species in hopefuly the same couple of weeks and the LEH is just bonus. A little trickier now but still possible it sounds like. Was a little discouraging when I started hunting 5 years or so ago, ie: SPIKE FORK, but I just kept exploring new areas with resonable hunting opertunities.

Come on LEH results! Gord.

[hunter1947]

Cow moose are the ones that have young ones as for other female species and when the numbers get down in a region the management cut out the harvest of the animals that are low in numbers in that region..

[CanuckShooter]

here is some "trivia" in response to the OP of this thread, and others who may care to read,,

looking at a BC Hunting synopsis for 82-83 hunting season, there were Resident GOS moose seasons for both Bulls and Antler-less in Regions,3,4,5,6, and 7 !

wow!,,,,,,, how things have changed !



Not only did they bring in LEH, they shortened the seasons. I can remember moose hunting in december with four foot snowbanks alongside the roads. I doubt we'll ever see GOS on cow moose again.

[boxhitch]

looking at a BC Hunting synopsis for 82-83 hunting season, Then the current situation....
half the number of hunters and more moose habitat than there ever has been.......
something else is keeping the numbers down

I have always questioned the sense in harvesting a mixed species forest and planting pine only
Time will tell

[mark]

Then the current situation....
half the number of hunters and more moose habitat than there ever has been.......
something else is keeping the numbers down

I have always questioned the sense in harvesting a mixed species forest and planting pine only
Time will tell

Pine trees mature at 80 years vrs. 120 years, easier to grow, faster green up rate, simple economics there!

I doubt its the planting of pine that keeps moose numbers down???
More roads, clearcuts, quads, and long range rifles, leave moose sitting ducks!
The populations wouldnt stand a chance with a long GOS, especially in a region like 5 with access everywhere! Just my opinion! :)

[GoatGuy]

Different problems for different regions.

Most of the antlerless opportunities token hunts. Reasons vary across the province. Around Revelstoke most of the antlerless was to reduce the moose population - those authorizations have been cut right down this year. Probably only be a handful of tags so that they don't have to close the hunt.

Problems are:

Lack of money for census is huge

Most inventory work is not done for density and total population only for limited number of MUs and sex ratios onlyPredation is high across most of the province - seen 50%+ declines in some areas just in the last 10 years
Habitat - no burns like they had in the 30s, 40s, 50s and lots of replanting
Some spots moose are dissapearing because old burns and cutblocks have grown in
Unknown FN harvest
Known FN harvest
Hunters and guide-outfitters oppose female and calf harvest
Overly conservative managers
Managers that don't understand or that ignore the data
Political issues


Region 6 antleress (calf) opportunities were tried in the 90s but the outcry from hunters so high the opportunities were cancelled.

Just like every other species Region 5 is simply a mess. Couple areas with high predation, guide-outfitters that are over-allocated, some FN issues and FN harvest is high.

Region 7A still has antlerless opportunities and juvenille hunting opportunities because they manage based on science.

[GoatGuy]

Pine trees mature at 80 years vrs. 120 years, easier to grow, faster green up rate, simple economics there!

I doubt its the planting of pine that keeps moose numbers down???
More roads, clearcuts, quads, and long range rifles, leave moose sitting ducks!
The populations wouldnt stand a chance with a long GOS, especially in a region like 5 with access everywhere! Just my opinion! :)

Resident moose harvest in Region 5 averaged about 2300 (2000-3000) in the 80s and early 90s.

Now it's well under 1000.

[mark]

Resident moose harvest in Region 5 averaged about 2300 (2000-3000) in the 80s and early 90s.

Now it's well under 1000.

Thats because there was a long open season, and now its only LEH????

I can remember the open season days, near the end moose were becoming a rare item, all hunters were saying that they had been shot out!
Shortly after, LEH came out and they complained about that! :-D

There is certainly no reason region 5 couldnt support a spike/fork season though!

[GoatGuy]

Thats because there was a long open season, and now its only LEH????

I can remember the open season days, near the end moose were becoming a rare item, all hunters were saying that they had been shot out!
Shortly after, LEH came out and they complained about that! :-D

There is certainly no reason region 5 couldnt support a spike/fork season though!

The bull:cow ratios were good in the 80s and 90s. LEH didn't happen until 99.

Spreadsheets from a couple years ago show a pile of extra moose that could have been allocated on top of what was being used by FN, residents and non-residents. Never happened.

After 99 the harvest has been relatively steady since 2000. Strange that moose would bounce back and level off in one year after a severe die-off.