Up For Discussion: (Proposal) Apply 6 pt antler restriction to west Kootenay bow only

[dapesche]

Apply 6 pt antler restriction to west Kootenay bow only elk season





Last updated on February 20, 2024The public is invited to comment on the proposed hunting regulation described below.
Status: Proposed
Region: 4
Management unit (MU): 4-8, 4-9, 4-14 to 4-19, 4-27 to 4-33,4-37 to 4-38
Regulation type: General Open Season
Species: Elk
Closing date: 16:30, March 22, 2024
Decision statement: Pending
Current regulation
4-8, 4-9, 4-14 to 4-19, 4-27 to 4-33,4-37 to 4-38 6 point bulls Sept 10 to Oct 5
Bow only 4-1 to 4-9, 4-14 to 4-38, 4-40 Bulls Sept 1 to Sept 9
Proposed regulation
4-8, 4-9, 4-14 to 4-19, 4-27 to 4-33,4-37 to 4-38 6 point bulls Sept 10 to Sept 30
Bow Only 4-8, 4-9, 4-14 to 4-19, 4-27 to 4-33,4-37 to 4-38 6 point bulls Sept 1 to Sept 9
Bow Only 4-1 to 4-7, 4-20 to 4-26, 4-34 to 4-36, 4-40 Bulls Sept 1 to Sept 9
Rationale
Elk composition surveys have shown a steady decline in bull:cow ratios in the West Kootenay (2022/23 survey indicated 13:100 bull to cow ratio), despite shortening the season by 10 days in 2020. Harvest modelling suggests that more bulls are being harvested than recruited so a further reduction in harvest rate is needed. A substantial proportion of harvest (30%) is coming from the archery season, when hunters are able to harvest any bull elk. The proposed season changes are expected to reduce bull harvest by approximately 35%, while maintaining GOS opportunity for 6-point bulls. Harvest rates and composition will be closely monitored to evaluate change in harvest rates and bull:cow ratios.
Restricting the bow season to 6 point or better, and shortening the general open season should reduce harvest enough to provide some opportunity for bull escapement through the hunting season. Providing this escapement will 1) help meet ministry bull:cow ratio objectives, 2) continue to provide hunting opportunity, and 3) increase representation of mature bull elk.

[dapesche]

[Bullreaper]

If they are gonna implement an archery point restriction, I think it should be 5pt+. Not sure what the influx of hunters flocking to the East koots is gonna be like…. Time will tell I guess. So much for the 7B moose closure only being 2 years. Nothing about opening that back up. All I can say is engage, make sure you voice your opinion, whether it benefits you or not. Fill there inbox’s and make sure they know there’s still lots of people who care about hunting in B.C.

[Steeleco]

I'm NO expert on these matters, but now my Son lives in Cranbrook I hunt there 1 or 2 weeks annually when I can. Last Oct we saw so many bulls and BIG bulls it was hard for a coaster like me to not be in awe. Problem was NONE of them were 6pt, all the huge ones were big 5's. Can the 6pts be closed and only target the 5's?

When I was a young man fishing in the Georgia straight a spring was a spring size be damned. Nobody wanted small ones. Now there's no big ones left. IIRC there is now an upper and lower size restriction. Can this logic not be used to protect all mature game, elk, deer moose and on?

[Bullreaper]

Exo’s Backcountry hunting podcast just did a really good one with Idaho fish and game. They have a biologist on who talks about point restrictions and studies that have been done in Utah with mule deer. Basically the point restriction has done the exact opposite of what they wanted to accomplish. Here’s a link for anyone (with Apple Podcasts) who wants to listen.
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcas...=1000643675699

For those of you who use different podcast app. Hunt Backcountry Podcast by Exo mtn gear. Episode #442

[Gateholio]

Exo’s Backcountry hunting podcast just did a really good one with Idaho fish and game. They have a biologist on who talks about point restrictions and studies that have been done in Utah with mule deer. Basically the point restriction has done the exact opposite of what they wanted to accomplish. Here’s a link for anyone (with Apple Podcasts) who wants to listen.
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcas...=1000643675699

For those of you who use different podcast app. Hunt Backcountry Podcast by Exo mtn gear. Episode #442

I'll listen in the future but could you fill us in on what they wanted to achieve and what actually happened?

BC oves it's point restrictions and many have questioned if it's the best way.

[Bullreaper]

I'll listen in the future but could you fill us in on what they wanted to achieve and what actually happened?

BC oves it's point restrictions and many have questioned if it's the best way.

Please don’t quote me word for word, you’ll hafta listen to if for yourselves. The jist of it was they had a 4 point season and it ended up killing off a lot of the mature bucks and then more and more 2 points and less mature bucks were showing up. They found that it was actually the younger bucks that were more susceptible to winter kill and much lower survival rates than the mature bucks. There’s a lot more to it, I’ll have to go back and listen again to be able to have a good conversation about it, but at the end of the day, point restrictions were not good for deer populations. I really encourage people to have a listen, it was a really good, informative piece and if it’s a topic that interests you, there’s a lot of rabbit holes to go down on different studies going on in the states about antler restrictions and there impacts. I warn you, the podcast is a bit dry at the start, talking about Idaho draw system and a few things that don’t matter (unless you wanna learn how to hunt Idaho) but it gets good.

[savage10]

Initial reaction is that this will mean more guys will be heading to the east koots for bow season. Thus putting more pressure there, increasing harvest numbers. Then what? Make the east koots bow season 6 point next year? Makes no sense. Has to be another way.

[stephane110]

Still don’t understand why they don’t just follow what the western states do for elk management with a long archery season only during the rut. Surely they know what they’re doing…Idaho is 5x smaller landmass than BC, but they spend 4x the money on their Fish and Wildlife. The table on page 3 of this report (2019) data compares our spends. Idaho has 107k elk, bc estimates between 15-40k.

https://bcwf.bc.ca/wp-content/upload...atResponse.pdf

[grouse14]

How effective and what’s the thoughts on road closures? I just listened to a podcast where they talked about how they killed a koots bull from the truck mule deer style. I feel like Elk hunting shouldn’t be that easy.