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  #181  
Old 10-28-2016, 11:51 AM
bmac bmac is offline
 
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a cutblock is not like a fire.a fire cleans the bush and makes habitat.
a sprayed cutblock does nothing except make more lumber 50 years from now.
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  #182  
Old 10-28-2016, 12:30 PM
Big Grey Wolf Big Grey Wolf is offline
 
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It is not very easy to go home skunked when you jack lite moose in the middle of the night on the road!
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  #183  
Old 10-28-2016, 01:55 PM
Mb-MBR Mb-MBR is offline
 
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Default Ontario Moose Article

https://www.thestar.com/news/queensp...port-says.html
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  #184  
Old 10-28-2016, 02:38 PM
woodsman205 woodsman205 is offline
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All I gotta say, especially after what I witnessed in 541 this year is that our Federal and Provincial governments better get their **** together, before it's too late!
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  #185  
Old 10-28-2016, 04:25 PM
Mb-MBR Mb-MBR is offline
 
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All I gotta say, especially after what I witnessed in 541 this year is that our Federal and Provincial governments better get their **** together, before it's too late!
Governments already have the tools in place to take action......
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  #186  
Old 10-28-2016, 04:30 PM
woodsman205 woodsman205 is offline
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Right now I must agree, we do have one tool in charge.
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  #187  
Old 10-28-2016, 05:01 PM
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Right now I must agree, we do have one tool in charge.
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  #188  
Old 10-28-2016, 05:04 PM
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When I was a kid there were no quads and not many roads either.

Over the years I've seen hundreds of square miles of bush land turned into industrial developments, residential properties and farm land.

Today we have less habitat, more hunters and far easier access.

It's not surprising that some animal populations are down. What I do find surprising is the increase I've seen in some populations, in some areas.

When I was in high school and living in Wetaskiwin the nearest Moose populations were an hour or more to the west.
Now there's a healthy populations within half an hour of that city, and they are spreading into the surrounding areas.

Up here Deer were sparse, now they are everywhere perhaps even overpopulated.
We had ducks galore and sighting a goose was a rare treat back then, now he Geese are so plentiful that folks from the south come all the way up here to hunt them, and Ducks are too few to be worth the time to hunt.

Things change. They always have and always will.
It only makes sense to conserve what we have, but we are not God, some things are beyond our control or at least beyond our desire to control, like the population of this country.

Simple fact, we, humans are the biggest threat to any and all wildlife whether that be plant animal or insect. A big part of that is our rapidly expanding population.

Even if you and I restricted ourselves to zero population growth, the politicians would bring in immigrants to replace what we would have contributed, and they place their own interested to get elected over the need to preserve any part of this country. Most immigrants vote for the government in power when they arrived, more immigrants, more votes. It's a tried and true formula.

Until we the people stop electing self serving lairs and until we the people stop consuming more then we need, nothing will change.

If we keep it up Moose will go extinct, but that will be the least of our problems.
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  #189  
Old 10-30-2016, 07:37 PM
R3illy R3illy is offline
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between 430-6 pm today saw 17 moose in different groups. Largest was a group of 6.. Wish i had gotten out this morning as well.
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  #190  
Old 10-30-2016, 09:43 PM
crblair crblair is offline
 
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I cant speak for everywhere but the moose in the wmu in which I hunt seem to have gone up the past few years. I see more moose than anything else. The numbers last year were ridiculous, every corner I turned there was a moose
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  #191  
Old 10-30-2016, 10:01 PM
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I cant speak for everywhere but the moose in the wmu in which I hunt seem to have gone up the past few years. I see more moose than anything else. The numbers last year were ridiculous, every corner I turned there was a moose
Guessing on prairie farmland? Mostly private land?

LC
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  #192  
Old 10-31-2016, 05:04 AM
woodsman205 woodsman205 is offline
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Guessing on prairie farmland? Mostly private land?

LC
That's my bet as well, went to do some scouting this weekend East of Red Deer, saw 5 bulls together in a famers front yard. Was that ever nice to see, 2 of them were crankers!

Unfortunately I did not have a camera so I could post a picture here, they were standing about 75 yards in front of the farmers No Hunting sign lol. I know where I will be hunting moose in the future and it won't be up north!

Last edited by woodsman205; 10-31-2016 at 05:09 AM.
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  #193  
Old 10-31-2016, 08:51 PM
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I still think predators play a big part in moose population. Example, some people say prairie WMU's have a healthy population of moose. What would the moose population be like if there was a pack of wolves living in one of those prairie WMU's??? That particular WMU would see a rapid decline for sure IMO.
No different than the eastern slopes or northern Alberta. Hunting pressure/mother nature or not, predation takes its toll.
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  #194  
Old 10-31-2016, 08:54 PM
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That's my bet as well, went to do some scouting this weekend East of Red Deer, saw 5 bulls together in a famers front yard. Was that ever nice to see, 2 of them were crankers!

Unfortunately I did not have a camera so I could post a picture here, they were standing about 75 yards in front of the farmers No Hunting sign lol. I know where I will be hunting moose in the future and it won't be up north!
If a pack of wolves moved into the area and were allowed to roam and do as they do, chances are they would eat those 5 Moose within the first few months.
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  #195  
Old 10-31-2016, 09:24 PM
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If a pack of wolves moved into the area and were allowed to roam and do as they do, chances are they would eat those 5 Moose within the first few months.
No doubt about that, every wolf I see I will kill, with shear delight!
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  #196  
Old 10-31-2016, 11:40 PM
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I still think predators play a big part in moose population. Example, some people say prairie WMU's have a healthy population of moose. What would the moose population be like if there was a pack of wolves living in one of those prairie WMU's??? That particular WMU would see a rapid decline for sure IMO.
No different than the eastern slopes or northern Alberta. Hunting pressure/mother nature or not, predation takes its toll.
Believe it or not, Ticks and Bears account for more Moose losses then Wolves do.

Ticks can wipe out half the population in one winter over hundreds if not thousands of square miles of territory and Bears take more then half the calves born each spring.

Besides, wolves take more Deer then Moose. Moose are large and powerful compared to a Deer or a Wolf and Moose have a huge advantage in deep snow or in water.

Remember, Moose are called Swamp Donkeys for a reason.

I know it's popular to blame Wolves for low Moose numbers but it's simply not true.

I believe the number one Moose predator is Man, followed by ticks, then Bears and then Wolves.
Keep in mind, not all Moose killed by man are shot, many more are killed on our highways and railways and many times that number are driven to starvation due to habitat loss from land development.
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  #197  
Old 11-01-2016, 09:22 AM
gsxrkiller gsxrkiller is offline
 
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This sounds like the same issues we are having here in Nova Scotia!
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  #198  
Old 11-01-2016, 01:15 PM
greywolf greywolf is offline
 
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Originally Posted by KegRiver View Post
Believe it or not, Ticks and Bears account for more Moose losses then Wolves do.

Ticks can wipe out half the population in one winter over hundreds if not thousands of square miles of territory and Bears take more then half the calves born each spring.

Besides, wolves take more Deer then Moose. Moose are large and powerful compared to a Deer or a Wolf and Moose have a huge advantage in deep snow or in water.

Remember, Moose are called Swamp Donkeys for a reason.

I know it's popular to blame Wolves for low Moose numbers but it's simply not true.

I believe the number one Moose predator is Man, followed by ticks, then Bears and then Wolves.
Keep in mind, not all Moose killed by man are shot, many more are killed on our highways and railways and many times that number are driven to starvation due to habitat loss from land development.
Agree with what your saying, would like to add,

Not solely blaming wolves, just using them as an example.
Bears are predators as well.
Ticks fall under the mother nature category.

I still struggle with population losses regardless of how it happens where I have moose hunted for 30 years. Today, it is still a remote area, no roads to access, (for about 10km), no logging, no oil leases, excellent moose habitat, unfortunately no where near the moose there once was. Plenty of bears and wolves though.
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  #199  
Old 11-01-2016, 01:51 PM
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^ those examples all fall under Mother Nature.
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  #200  
Old 11-01-2016, 01:56 PM
greywolf greywolf is offline
 
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true.
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  #201  
Old 11-01-2016, 10:52 PM
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^ those examples all fall under Mother Nature.
In a way, we do too, as much as some like to think of us a seperate from nature, we are in fact animals that evolved from the very first single cell life form that fist appeared on this planet.

And, I believe we have more to do with the decline in Moose populations than all others forces of nature combined.

We are by far the most efficient hunters on the planet, relative to our experience and skill. A wolf that put in as little time and effort into hunting as we do would starve to death within a month.

We alter our environment to the detriment of most species around us, and especially species like Moose. Our roads and cutlines provide easy access for other hunters like wolves and Bear, our farms and cities leave little or nothing for a Moose to eat and our technology kills more Moose then our hunting does.

No doubt about it, Wolves are a major predator of Moose. We are not only a major predator of Moose we kill way more though our other activities then all the Wolves, Bears and ticks combined.

And we blame them for the decline !
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  #202  
Old 11-01-2016, 11:04 PM
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Originally Posted by KegRiver View Post
In a way, we do too, as much as some like to think of us a seperate from nature, we are in fact animals that evolved from the very first single cell life form that fist appeared on this planet.

And, I believe we have more to do with the decline in Moose populations than all others forces of nature combined.

We are by far the most efficient hunters on the planet, relative to our experience and skill. A wolf that put in as little time and effort into hunting as we do would starve to death within a month.

We alter our environment to the detriment of most species around us, and especially species like Moose. Our roads and cutlines provide easy access for other hunters like wolves and Bear, our farms and cities leave little or nothing for a Moose to eat and our technology kills more Moose then our hunting does.

No doubt about it, Wolves are a major predator of Moose. We are not only a major predator of Moose we kill way more though our other activities then all the Wolves, Bears and ticks combined.

And we blame them for the decline !
So in pockets of land that see little to no human hunting...(or jasper for instance, moose are thick?)
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  #203  
Old 11-01-2016, 11:31 PM
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So in pockets of land that see little to no human hunting...(or jasper for instance, moose are thick?)
The last time I drove north through Jasper the only living creature I saw other than people was a 50" bull moose.

When I first moved to Valleyview in 1997, highway 43 was littered with dead moose. I hardly ever see a road killed moose on 43 now.
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  #204  
Old 11-01-2016, 11:35 PM
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The last time I drove north through Jasper the only living creature I saw other than people was a 50" bull moose.
Ya, my kid lives in valemont, I'm travelling through it 4 or 5 times a year for last 10 years, I've seen 2 moose, a ton of elk, a ton of sheep, and dozens of bears.
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  #205  
Old 11-01-2016, 11:37 PM
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When I first moved to Valleyview in 1997, highway 43 was littered with dead moose. I hardly ever see a road killed moose on 43 now.
They were all run over in the 90's...
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  #206  
Old 11-02-2016, 12:16 AM
greywolf greywolf is offline
 
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So in pockets of land that see little to no human hunting...(or jasper for instance, moose are thick?)
That's the point of my posts,
Not every square mile of Alberta (crown land) is accessible, there are still areas that have no roads, no logging, no seismic, no drilling, little to no hunting pressure, you get my point, but continue to see a decline in the moose population. This example is where I'm looking for answers.
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  #207  
Old 11-02-2016, 12:20 AM
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That's the point of my posts,
Not every square mile of Alberta (crown land) is accessible, there are still areas that have no roads, no logging, no seismic, no drilling, little to no hunting pressure, you get my point, but continue to see a decline in the moose population. This example is where I'm looking for answers.
Almost all of Alberta is cris crossed with cutlines except our parks and parts in the extreme north east. Wolves use them like hiways and cover much greater area and distance than 100 years ago before cutlines. They just travel many many miles up cutlines until they cut a fresh track and that animal is as good as dead.
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  #208  
Old 11-02-2016, 12:23 AM
greywolf greywolf is offline
 
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Now,
looking at the overall picture,
I still believe that if there were a complete moratorium on moose hunting in Alberta, that in most places over time there would be little increase in the moose population. Reason being, all the factors besides hunting that are working against the moose population would fill in the void left behind from the moratorium put in place.
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  #209  
Old 11-02-2016, 12:26 AM
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Almost all of Alberta is cris crossed with cutlines except our parks and parts in the extreme north east. Wolves use them like hiways and cover much greater area and distance than 100 years ago before cutlines. They just travel many many miles up cutlines until they cut a fresh track and that animal is as good as dead.
I have heard this from more than a few northern Alberta trappers over the past few years. The trappers are out in the wilderness throughout the winter and witness what you are saying.
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