2023 Hunter Harvest Reports

[capncrunch1111]

For what it's worth, hunter harvest reports for regulated hunters from 2023 are out.

Never saw this in years past, but looks like they have separate breakout sheets for outfitters included this year. Link below.

https://mywildalberta.ca/hunting/hunters-harvest.aspx

[CBintheNorth]

In the couple zones I checked, outfitters are taking 25% of the bull moose that residents are. Yet, available draws for residents dropped by 10 and 15% in those zones this year.
Finding our how many allocations are in each zone is a cluster ****, but would tell a lot.
That information should also be readily available, instead of having to jump through hoops to get.
Why draw animals are still open for non-residents is beyond me.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by CBintheNorth

In the couple zones I checked, outfitters are taking 25% of the bull moose that residents are. Yet, available draws for residents dropped by 10 and 15% in those zones this year.
Finding our how many allocations are in each zone is a cluster ****, but would tell a lot.
That information should also be readily available, instead of having to jump through hoops to get.
Why draw animals are still open for non-residents is beyond me.

And some WMUs the outfitters are not tagging a single moose and this can translate to other species

At times hunts are low or basically no demand for a guided hunt do to low success rate or lack of trophy quality so outfitter so they harvest little to no animal in a WMU. In other cases residents success rate is lower do to access issues or factors that make it a tougher hunt unless you have in-depth knowledge of the area

Things are more complicated than just the number of animals one user takes vs the other

Personally I find harvest reports funny because the main thing they show is where is more popular not if an WMU is good or not. There is just way too many factors at play and let’s be honest a large portion of resident hunters just go into an area wonder around trying to stumble into the animal they have tags for.

There is a big difference between the outfitter/hunters who dedicate effort into truly learning an area and the average guy who just goes out winging it. For this reason alone success rates and % of game harvested are more complicated than the reports show

When it comes down to the outfitter and resident tag split it really just needs to be based on a % of tags available because trying to calculate % of harvest has too many variables

[elkhunter11]

Years ago our archery club used to do the phone harvest surveys, and it was interesting to see how each person's surveys differed from one another. My results showed lower success rates than some people, because I asked more specific questions. Several times when I asked if the hunter was successful, the reply was, "we" got a moose , or "we" got a deer. Then when I asked specifically, if the person used their tag, the response was often that another member of the party actually tagged the animal. Other callers didn't ask the extra questions, so as soon as the hunter said "we" got an animal, they checked successful, and let it go at that. Then end result, is that multiple people likely reported the same animal, which increased the reported success rate. So I have to wonder if the same thing happens with online harvest surveys, where nobody asks the extra questions, to find out of the hunter actually used his tag on an animal?

[Dr Death]

‘For what it’s worth’ is a key statement. It says 1 bull elk harvested in wmu 300. I personally know of 8 taken. How can’t government get it so wrong when it’s mandatory reporting??? 7 people lied on survey? I know 3 of the 8 were correctly reported for sure. Due to this fact none of us should believe ANY of these numbers.

[trapperdodge]

Outfitter allocations should be public knowledge. If not, why the secrecy?

A Freedom of Information filing should solve this. Maybe APOS would like to release this information.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by Dr Death

‘For what it’s worth’ is a key statement. It says 1 bull elk harvested in wmu 300. I personally know of 8 taken. How can’t government get it so wrong when it’s mandatory reporting??? 7 people lied on survey? I know 3 of the 8 were correctly reported for sure. Due to this fact none of us should believe ANY of these numbers.

This doesn’t surprise me in the least and I have questions numbers compared to animals I have heard taken in a WMU

[goatskin]

In the OP's link there is a category for allocations. Within it, the outfitter allocations and resident tags are broken out by type and species. There is some interesting information in there especially if you work between different years.

[jmullin]

Originally Posted by capncrunch1111

For what it's worth, hunter harvest reports for regulated hunters from 2023 are out.

Never saw this in years past, but looks like they have separate breakout sheets for outfitters included this year. Link below.

https://mywildalberta.ca/hunting/hunters-harvest.aspx

Thanks for the share