Q: Which scenario best honours such a unique animal?
A. Moose falls through the ice and rots at the bottom of a lake.
B. Moose is attacked by wolves and bits of its white coat dot raven and wolf sh*t for miles around.
C. Moose is struck by a logging truck on the Trans Canada, and rots in the ditch.
D. Moose is harvested by a hunter, all meat is used, and hide is preserved to show others for generations to come.
Every moose dies. Average life expectancy for a Bull is 8 years. There is no hospice for moose. No passionate care. EVERY “natural” death a moose endures provides substantially more suffering than a bullet through the lungs. They feed, f**k, then they die. Might as well fill a freezer and have a skin to remember it by.
That said, follow the regs for the WMU you’re in.
Follow the regs is right. First and most important. Whether you agree with them, or not.
If you disagree with them, and are unwilling to do anything more about it than type on your keyboard on some internet forum, then you really have nothing to say.
As for the rest, (and BTW kodiakjack, you have some extremely valid points in your post, is why I quoted it. NOT to single you, yourself out), we as humans generally speaking do not observe natural law. If humans did not exist, points A and B could still happen. The biggest difference is in both points A and B, natural law takes course, and everything will work out just fine. Nature does not need us. And nature does not need anyone to lay out a blueprint or rules of what to do when "____". It just happens, because nature knows what to do - natural law. Simple. Just as in point C, natural law will take over once the carcass is down, and fix what intervention f'd up.
In point D, the first part is possible (again, regs matter). I have a hard time believing even in half of all moose harvested is "all meat is used". (Moose nose soup, anyone?) A good portion, perhaps, but hardly all. (Again, properly taken care of after this point, natural law will deal with the rest).
My answer would be the scenario that best follows natural law. Mostly because I also would be one of the ones that would pass on the shot (if it was legal and such an opportunity presented) based on my own personal set of guidelines. To each, their own. I will never be that hungry or desperate that I would need to take the shot. I'm also not of the type who will wait on the edge of the WMU until it "crosses the line" so I can eradicate it. And I'm also fine with my own ego, so I don't need to hang it on a wall to prove whatever to the world, or anyone. Natural law made it, and it will also provide others for other generations to see.
Another thread that points out a simple truth. One group put some time and effort into getting protection for such an animal in some specific areas. I would surmise there may have been some opposition at the time, but quite evidently - not enough. So protected in those specific areas, it is. End of story. But many find it more important to whine.
Interesting that no post in this thread recognizes that Woodhouse, who happens to be willing to put up cash for info in the matter, also is willing to divert that same cash to the legal defence of an individual if they step up and take the hit for what they did. I'd say that guy is fairly decent, not "shocked". If someone "made a mistake", seems like there is no angst involved, at least from that individual. Unless I read the article wrong.