Hunting in Alberta mountains coming to an end?

[Keeleclimber]

Has anyone else noticed the massive decline in available tags for Elk and Moose in the WMU 400s!?

See link to the 2016 draw summary:

http://mywildalberta.com/hunting/Hun...t/Default.aspx

WMUs 416, 417 418, 420, 422, 428, 430 Have all decreased from 15 to 5 available tags for elk!

The decreases for moose are worse!

Check out the priority points required!!

Whats next? closed hunting seasons!?
Then bighorns go on draw and our fish and wildlife biologists will have successfully eliminated hunting in the Alberta mountains.

[MooseRiverTrapper]

Email apos see what they hold in the area. Will be like most 400 zones where apos holds more allocations for moose and elk then draw tags given out to residents.

[Justahunter]

The real issue in virtually all of the Mountain zones is quite simple. The biologists have NOT followed the agreed to Integrated Resource Plan. This plan specificly called for PRESCRIBED BURNS , HABITAT RESTORATION and MANAGEMENT, and PREDATOR MANAGEMENT to name a few methods to keep population balances at desired levels. NONE of the above actions have been effectively carried out resulting in some devastating results.
Apos will only tell you that the allocations are being managed within the current guidlines allowed by the gov`t. The more effective method to deal with this is to contact your MLA , Brian Jean, the conservative Party of Alberta, the Minister and the premier and ask them why the previous resource plan was not followed by the people hired to follow it. Ask why those people are still employed by us when in any other line of work they would be terminated. Demand that this gov`t and any to follow will follow the agreed to rules.
The real problem on the Eastern Slopes is not that outfitters have allocations and that resident hunters can sometimes go out and do what is our heritage.
The problem is SRD , Parks and Rec.or whatever name they are now HAS simply NOT DONE THEIR JOB. Specificaly the biologists They have lied, altered data and done everything to shut down hunting in general. And guess what , looks like they are being successful

[kujoseto]

Good points above.
The wolves killing elk and feral horses eating the food sources elk normally saved until winter has really impacted their numbers. When those grasses are eaten early, brush sets in and takes over too. Get rid of the wolves and horses

[Grizzly Adams]

The decreases for moose are worse!

Used to be lots of moose there 40 years ago, rare to see one now, should probably be closed entirely.

Grizz

[Grizzly Adams]

Originally Posted by kujoseto

Good points above.
The wolves killing elk and feral horses eating the food sources elk normally saved until winter has really impacted their numbers. When those grasses are eaten early, brush sets in and takes over too. Get rid of the wolves and horses

Sunpine has reopened what we call the second Williams Creek road, west of Sundre, after a thorough reclamation job. Reason, I'm told, is because the feral horses have destroyed all the replants in the cut blocks.

Grizz

[Newview01]

I have seen more moose per visit to 300, 302, and 400 than 353 and 531.

[porkfatrules]

Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams

The decreases for moose are worse!

Used to be lots of moose there 40 years ago, rare to see one now, should probably be closed entirely.

Grizz

You could even say that for 20 years ago.
A good exmple is in 434. Hardly any moose left in there. The same can be said for elk.

While not the only cause the outfitter there has had more moose tags than Resident tags for quite a while. There needs to be some realignment there for sure.

[Okotokian]

Originally Posted by Keeleclimber

Has anyone else noticed the massive decline in available tags for Elk and Moose in the WMU 400s!?

See link to the 2016 draw summary:

http://mywildalberta.com/hunting/Hun...t/Default.aspx

WMUs 416, 417 418, 420, 422, 428, 430 Have all decreased from 15 to 5 available tags for elk!

The decreases for moose are worse!

Check out the priority points required!!

Whats next? closed hunting seasons!?
Then bighorns go on draw and our fish and wildlife biologists will have successfully eliminated hunting in the Alberta mountains.

I'd look at more than one year before I started pronouncing the end of anything. Go back, say, 20.

[David Henry]

What's the sense in issuing tags when there is next to no game in many of the 400 zones. A little while back on the AO forum there was a link to the provincial game harvest data, the reports were bleak to say the least. I would surmise that predator management has to be taken seriously (Grizzly included) if there is any hope at all of re-population. And I would also like to see elk relocated out of the Suffield block and released west of the forestry trunk road. D.H.

[Ox Head]

Originally Posted by David Henry

And I would also like to see elk relocated out of the Suffield block and released west of the forestry trunk road. D.H.

I completely agree with your statment

[Grizzly Adams]

I would also like to see elk relocated out of the Suffield block and released west of the forestry trunk road. D.H.

That's where they came from, lot of irony there.

Grizz

[Mercoal]

Originally Posted by porkfatrules

You could even say that for 20 years ago.
A good exmple is in 434. Hardly any moose left in there. The same can be said for elk.

While not the only cause the outfitter there has had more moose tags than Resident tags for quite a while. There needs to be some realignment there for sure.

Hunted 434 a couple years ago. It was P9 for Moose. Decades ago so many moose in there. None of us saw one moose....bull or cow....in 7 days of hunting. Chungo Creek outfitters is back there. We did, however, hear wolves every night. Large numbers of wolves. Probably last time we ever hunt moose there again. I think they give out 1 or 2 tags now !

[NCC]

Re-locating elk would be a waste of resources unless the wolf, cougar, and g-bear populations are controlled. In the settled areas where there is significant hunting pressure by both subsistence and licensed hunters there are still reasonably high game numbers. In areas such as inside the Blackstone gap where there is virtually no hunting pressure but high predator numbers there are virtually no elk, moose or mule deer. Mountain hunting in Alberta and BC is doomed unless something is done to reduce the wolf population. None of us will live long enough to see the game numbers rebound if we let nature take its course. Maybe they'll all get parvo or distemper; I think that is the only real hope.

[JimPS]

Originally Posted by kujoseto

Good points above.
The wolves killing elk and feral horses eating the food sources elk normally saved until winter has really impacted their numbers. When those grasses are eaten early, brush sets in and takes over too. Get rid of the wolves and horses

Get rid of the wolves, horses, cougars, bears, white tails, clear cut logging, O&G drilling, pipelines, quads, grazing leases, ranching, subsistence hunting and outfitting and reduce Alberta's population to what it was 40 years ago, and in a few years time, big game populations are guaranteed to come back.

It's that simple. Now - now where to start?

[walking buffalo]

Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams

I would also like to see elk relocated out of the Suffield block and released west of the forestry trunk road. D.H.

That's where they came from, lot of irony there.

Grizz

Would those elk be wearing a 1080 vest?

[diamonddave]

On a good note, it looks like my P14 for elk should assure me my pick of zones, when I decide its time to take a month off and go elk hunting.....

[David Henry]

Good luck Dave, there's still some out there, but shoot some wolves while your at it. The wife and I spent four days and nights up the Onion Creek road on a camp out last week and saw two mule deer and one whitetail. Every evening as the sun was setting we heard wolves howling trying to stir up what they could. D.H.

[buckman]

Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams

I would also like to see elk relocated out of the Suffield block and released west of the forestry trunk road. D.H.

That's where they came from, lot of irony there.

Grizz

Have to get rid of the wolves first,also re evaluate the cougar management in the mountains.

I remember when they relocated elk into the NSR valley in 430/328 they were lost and disorientated. The unlicensed hunters in the area had some easy hunting along with the predators.

The only reason the Elk proliferated in Suffield was no predators and no hunting of any kind. It wont work well in any of the 400 zones at the moment.

[David Henry]

Point taken, buckman.

[amosfella]

Originally Posted by JimPS

Get rid of the wolves, horses, cougars, bears, white tails, clear cut logging, O&G drilling, pipelines, quads, grazing leases, ranching, subsistence hunting and outfitting and reduce Alberta's population to what it was 40 years ago, and in a few years time, big game populations are guaranteed to come back.

It's that simple. Now - now where to start?

Maybe start with NDP members...

[diamonddave]

Originally Posted by David Henry

Good luck Dave, there's still some out there, but shoot some wolves while your at it. The wife and I spent four days and nights up the Onion Creek road on a camp out last week and saw two mule deer and one whitetail. Every evening as the sun was setting we heard wolves howling trying to stir up what they could. D.H.

Shoot every one I see, well I should say, shoot AT every one I see.....

[Keeleclimber]

Originally Posted by Justahunter

The real issue in virtually all of the Mountain zones is quite simple. The biologists have NOT followed the agreed to Integrated Resource Plan. This plan specificly called for PRESCRIBED BURNS , HABITAT RESTORATION and MANAGEMENT, and PREDATOR MANAGEMENT to name a few methods to keep population balances at desired levels. NONE of the above actions have been effectively carried out resulting in some devastating results.
Apos will only tell you that the allocations are being managed within the current guidlines allowed by the gov`t. The more effective method to deal with this is to contact your MLA , Brian Jean, the conservative Party of Alberta, the Minister and the premier and ask them why the previous resource plan was not followed by the people hired to follow it. Ask why those people are still employed by us when in any other line of work they would be terminated. Demand that this gov`t and any to follow will follow the agreed to rules.
The real problem on the Eastern Slopes is not that outfitters have allocations and that resident hunters can sometimes go out and do what is our heritage.
The problem is SRD , Parks and Rec.or whatever name they are now HAS simply NOT DONE THEIR JOB. Specificaly the biologists They have lied, altered data and done everything to shut down hunting in general. And guess what , looks like they are being successful

Well said,
Its an exhausting and a thankless job writing letters to politicians and pressuring the bureaucrats, but its our only hope on the regulation/management side of things.
As for the reality of the situation in the west country, vigilante justice is now our only hope. Snares, traps, poison and disease introduction are required to check all types of predator populations. Desperate circumstances call for desperate measures. I'm sad its come to this, but we all must do our part with predator management, just like our ancestors did, if we want to continue enjoying the wildlife in the west country.
History has proven that decimated predator and ungulates populations can rebound fast if given the chance. We've left our predators unchecked for to long and they have gotten way out of a sustainable level. We're long overdue for extreme and drastic measures.

[walking buffalo]

Does anybody have a spare Baleen whale or two laying around?

[Yaha Tinda]

Cougar hunting is quite good in those areas.