Ontario Moose Hunt - What's Everyone Going To Do Now?

I will hunt as per normal.

But I'm one of those guys that hunts "north of north".

Been hunting WMU 25 for over 40 years now.

Yes it's a 10 hour drive to the train station in Cochrane then a few more hours "north" on the Train.

And then we get "dumped off" at the side of the tracks with whatever gear you can carry, because while you could load up an ATV (at extra cost of course) the ground is just "not suitable" - swamps, peat bogs and stunted black spruce, the remnants of are so inter-twined that it's difficult to walk, forget driving an ATV.

So all the hunting is done from a primitive camp (propane stove/heater are the luxuries of course) ON FOOT.

The moose must be shot and drop where it can be recovered - forget trying to follow a blood trail, you wouldn't recover it - so a precise hunt where anything but the "perfect" shot is not even considered.

And it's because of all of the above that a single pool 1 hunter can pull a Cow or a Bull just about every second year. The difference now will be, because of the proposed changes to calf hunting, that in years we "don't pull an adult tag", we will save some gas and there will be no hunt that year.

Unfortunately I and my hunting buddy are getting old and that is a young man's hunt, but still have one or two more left in me :)
 
My moose hunting group is totally pissed about this. We are now thinking about a different hunt. Moose hunters spend a lot of money in northern communities and I think the MNRF should remember that.
 
galamb said:
I will hunt as per normal.

But I'm one of those guys that hunts "north of north".

Been hunting WMU 25 for over 40 years now.

Yes it's a 10 hour drive to the train station in Cochrane then a few more hours "north" on the Train.

And then we get "dumped off" at the side of the tracks with whatever gear you can carry, because while you could load up an ATV (at extra cost of course) the ground is just "not suitable" - swamps, peat bogs and stunted black spruce, the remnants of are so inter-twined that it's difficult to walk, forget driving an ATV.

So all the hunting is done from a primitive camp (propane stove/heater are the luxuries of course) ON FOOT.

The moose must be shot and drop where it can be recovered - forget trying to follow a blood trail, you wouldn't recover it - so a precise hunt where anything but the "perfect" shot is not even considered.

And it's because of all of the above that a single pool 1 hunter can pull a Cow or a Bull just about every second year. The difference now will be, because of the proposed changes to calf hunting, that in years we "don't pull an adult tag", we will save some gas and there will be no hunt that year.

Unfortunately I and my hunting buddy are getting old and that is a young man's hunt, but still have one or two more left in me :)
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Ahhhh, good ol 25. We hunted there for a half dozen years, but we drove in. (West of Hearst, right on Fushimi Lake Rd, and continue to the end)
We went in on Bannerman Rd one year but got badly stuck.

I'm very well versed with that disastrous terrain. We have been successful on a number of occasions though. Did 5 hunts there and got 3 bull moose.
 
galamb said:
But I'm one of those guys that hunts "north of north".

Been hunting WMU 25 for over 40 years now.
Click to expand...

You must be in the GTA if you think WMU 25 is "North of North..."

Your not even North until you get into the single digits...
 
Forgive my ignorance, but other than the new calf regulations, has something else changed? Pretty new to this.

I just started hunting Moose last year "north of north" and we plan on going back. 6 of us shared 1 Bull.
 
hoytcanon said:
You must be in the GTA if you think WMU 25 is "North of North..."

Your not even North until you get into the single digits...
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Other than three zones, 25 is pretty North...further North than 4, 5 or 6....just sayin...;)

WMU_North_400.png
 
berger said:
Other than three zones, 25 is pretty North...further North than 4, 5 or 6....just sayin...;)

WMU_North_400.png
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Should have clarified... I was referring to the "1's"... not single digits as previously stated... there is lot of country North of 25... you could drop three or four Eastern provinces into that space.
 
They should stop the hunt for 3-5 years to let the population rebound a bit I love moose hunting but the last 2 years have been a bust with little to no fresh sign it couldnt hurt, I would have to hunt deer a bit more thats all
 
Nismojunky said:
They should stop the hunt for 3-5 years to let the population rebound a bit I love moose hunting but the last 2 years have been a bust with little to no fresh sign it couldnt hurt, I would have to hunt deer a bit more thats all
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Personally, I've seen no degradation of moose populations in Ontario over the past 12 years. I'm actually seeing more moose than deer right now.
Atop that, even if population was an issue, I don't think hunters are to blame. And even above that, why can Quebec have a sustainable moose population from year to year. (And they have a completely different licensing system)
 
hoytcanon said:
Should have clarified... I was referring to the "1's"... not single digits as previously stated... there is lot of country North of 25... you could drop three or four Eastern provinces into that space.
Click to expand...

The older guys I was lucky enough to start hunting with, used to rough it further North, but now we rent a cabin/lodge of sorts. More comfortable for their ol'bones :). There is a big part of me that likes the idea of packing the large army tent and camp stove an roughing it, they way they used to.
 
Just how far north do you have to go to be pretty much guaranteed a moose tag between 2 guys?
Looking at the map, 25 is touching James bay, which is pretty north to me, and i grew up just north of Sudbury.
Going to be my first year applying for a tag, from the stories i hear, people are getting their wives and children of age to apply just to have half a chance at a tag.
Back in the day a group of 9 or 10 was pretty much guaranteed a tag.
 
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