Any Ontario Elk shot by mistake this season???

glang1

glang1

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Just wondering if anyone has heard of any Ontario elk being shot by mistake this deer season. I think it happened once or twice last year. Sure would be nice to have an elk season in Ontario, even if it was a limited draw. It appears that CWD scares have halted the reintroduction program.

George
 
I have not heard anything yet, the population around Bancroft is doing very well, they are roaming a lot, maybe there will be a hunt in a few years.
 
There are certainly a lot of them around the Bancroft area, especially near Little Ireland, L'Amable, etc.

A lof of local hunters are missing deer opportunities because you really need to be 100% sure that it's a whitetail you are shooting at. I have heard from more than one hunter who had the crosshairs on a nice doe only to take a second look and determine it was a calf elk.

When you are running the deer with dogs, it's a split second decision to make, but it's best to be cautious and make sure it's a deer you're shooting at.
 
I saw 3(cow and 2 calf’s) just south of Bancroft on 62 south by the side of the road.. There were a few cars pulled over taking pictures.
 
at first i was wondering how anyone could mistake an elk for a deer. but i think i can imagine that if elk are unknown/uncommon that a calf could be mistaken for a deer when the local custom is "if it's brown it's down". that said, if you see many elk at all, i think they are instantly distinguishable from a whitetail, even the calves.

please note, i am not trying to dump on you ontario guys, but i live in the land of antler point restrictions and numberous species with over the counter tags so shooting without having a good long look is a novel concept to me.
 
Damn, I'm still trying wrap my head around the idea that Canada's largest province does'nt have an Elk run. Whats the problem? Overkill?
 
haggiswalker said:
Damn, I'm still trying wrap my head around the idea that Canada's largest province does'nt have an Elk run. Whats the problem? Overkill?
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Ontario's native elk herds were extirpated by the late 1800’s; their demise was due to unregulated commercial harvesting and habitat loss. Since 1996 the people and government of Ontario have been working to restore elk to four different geographic areas of Ontario. Some have been successful, others didn't do as well. I believe the Bancroft herd is doing quite well.

George
 
last year when I was getting a surplus doe tag in kenora ON, they gave us an info sheet that showed the differences between a calf elk and a whitetail doe. we hunt near the manitoba border so I guess there are a few odd ones around. I would never have crossed my mind that there might be a small elk around. I think thats good on their part to give that info sheet out
 
sbound said:
A lof of local hunters are missing deer opportunities because you really need to be 100% sure that it's a whitetail you are shooting at. I have heard from more than one hunter who had the crosshairs on a nice doe only to take a second look and determine it was a calf elk.

When you are running the deer with dogs, it's a split second decision to make, but it's best to be cautious and make sure it's a deer you're shooting at.
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:agree:
A bud & I drove down to MaCarthers Mills a few yrs ago to check them out. Was looking at a small herd when I noticed a cow standing off to on side with the sun setting above & behind her, I looked to my bud & said
"How easy would it be to mistaken her at 150yds for a Doe standing at 100?"
He said if it was deer season & I saw that standing the way it is now it would be a dead Doe :runaway:
With her body all in shade it would have been an easy mistake!
 
redlaker1 said:
last year when I was getting a surplus doe tag in kenora ON, they gave us an info sheet that showed the differences between a calf elk and a whitetail doe. we hunt near the manitoba border so I guess there are a few odd ones around. I would never have crossed my mind that there might be a small elk around. I think thats good on their part to give that info sheet out
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They also re-introduced a herd at Lake Of The Woods, which is not far from Kenora, and is why you received that pamphlet. Nothing to do with the Manitoba border. From what I understand though, this herd is not fairing too well.:(
 
I was not aware that they had put any elk in around lake of the woods, at the time we just figured that some manitoban elk might have wandered over. after some reading I see that they were hoping the lake of the woods elk and eastern manitoba elk herds would eventually merge. I read that some of the elk have wandered from the north end of the lake to the south east side around rainy river.

I guess it could be just as likely to be a manitoba elk as one of the planted alberta ones. either way it would be illegal to shoot
 
Knowing the difference,, READ THE regs, take note of the obvious differences, and just KNOW them. See the animal in the field, you should be able to make a split second confirmation of species based on what you know and what your brain sees through the scope on your target. GET IT, LEARN IT, DO IT.

I can be done and there is really no excuse for making an error.
 
I just think it was nice that an info sheet was given to us in an area that has very few elk and no elk season.

having never seen an elk in any of the places that I hunt, and no knowledge of the remote chance of seeing one. I think I could have made the mistake if I saw what I thought to be a whitetail doe and it turned out to be a calf elk. If however I was in an area that has an elk population and elk hunting season I don't think the case could be made for a mistake like that.

I have never seen a small elk and a doe side by side, but I think about it now and was glad that they made me aware that an elk could be found in an area not known for having any elk
 
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Having hunted elk,whitetails and muledeer,for many years,I have never found it difficult to tell an elk from a deer.However,if you can't see the rear end,it isn't always easy to tell a whitetail from a mule deer.If you aren't 100% sure,don't shoot.
 
We hunt in mixed whitetail, mule deer and elk habitat. Today I saw 5 elk and three whitetails. NOBODY around here shoots elk and claims they made a mistake and thought it was a whitetail. Know what you are shooting at before you pull the trigger. Simple as that.
 
I have never made that kind of mistake before, but the areas I hunt in don't have elk. we have moose, deer, and caribou. pretty easy to tell them apart.
the only elk I have ever seen in the wild was in montana and it was a bull.
just to make it clear I don't take reckless shots at targets I am not sure of

I just was saying it was nice of them to give an informative pamplet illustrating the difference. I am talking about hunting in ontario, and at the time I was not aware that there were any elk in that part or any part of our province. so a small antlerless elk might have looked like a weird looking doe to me, because I have never seen a calf elk in the wild before

thanks for the "know your target and beyond" lectures though, I am sure there are people that need them.
 
We in Ontario are hard on game, we killed all the turkey, elk and are so hard on black bear they had to cancel the spring bear season? We have been know to shoot a farm donkey in a barn yard during the moose season. Next year all Ontario hunters will have to carry a picture of the animal they intend to shoot.

BUT we are all honest hunters reporting all our mistakes?
 
K98ACTION said:
Knowing the difference,, READ THE regs, take note of the obvious differences, and just KNOW them. See the animal in the field, you should be able to make a split second confirmation of species based on what you know and what your brain sees through the scope on your target. GET IT, LEARN IT, DO IT.

I can be done and there is really no excuse for making an error.
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Durn, wrong gun today no scope :rolleyes:
 
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