Are you, or your friends quitting the Ontario moose hunt due to no tags?
- Thread starter John Y Cannuck
- Start date
Well sheeet, he aint too picky.
The tag system when you use to get an automatic calf tag worked in my area it has not hurt the moose population in area 28 and 40 How many calfs do you think actually get harvested hell how many adult tags actually get harvested ive seen lots of hunters eat tag soup at the end of the season mind you if you don’t know how to hunt moose chances are youll actually get skunked. Personally i have harvested 25 moose some seasons i would fill 2 adult tags within the first two days and more sometimes through the season withing our hunt group. Sometimes the guys with the adult tags would ask for the first half of season to allow them the chance to fill there tag but after that it was game on for me iam an excellent tracker and caller was taught from a young age by the best a Floyd twain. A native friend of my fathers and the uncle to non other than the Shania Twain
- Location
- The Conservative part of Ontario
The numbers of moose in our hunting area have if anything dropped, at least from personal inspection.
To my mind the fact that the numbers have not gone up despite the dramatic decline in tags, indicates hunting is not the issue, at least hunting via MNRF issued tags isn't.
Years ago, there were several camps, in the area. They all gathered at some point in the 1950's and set boundaries, so there were no fights. We all got on famously and talked on the CB radio. The day before opening at least one of the camps was a bunch of heavy drinkers. They'd tie the mic switch down on the CB and get to singing, with one guy on a guitar. As the night progressed, the singing got pretty slurred, and the tune was fading too. I always wondered how many were in shape to hunt the next day.
To my mind the fact that the numbers have not gone up despite the dramatic decline in tags, indicates hunting is not the issue, at least hunting via MNRF issued tags isn't.
Years ago, there were several camps, in the area. They all gathered at some point in the 1950's and set boundaries, so there were no fights. We all got on famously and talked on the CB radio. The day before opening at least one of the camps was a bunch of heavy drinkers. They'd tie the mic switch down on the CB and get to singing, with one guy on a guitar. As the night progressed, the singing got pretty slurred, and the tune was fading too. I always wondered how many were in shape to hunt the next day.
Last edited:
Killing cows/calves is a very silly thing to do for anyone. Trusting the government to manage the numbers is a joke. Do they manage anything responsibly? That calf season was a big mistake for all participants.
In Manitoba we have unregulated hunting of all kinds in the north. It’s just a pay to play situation, every lake in the province gets 3 or 4 groups of hunters a season flying in and they also wonder where the moose have gone…
People really need to stop pretending that the government knows best. They are “managing” all big game populations into the ground. Two years ago they issued as many elk licenses in one unit as we had elk, according to their own aerial survey data. They only reduced the amount of tags issued the year after..
The future seems bleak for us outdoorsmen. For now we travel far each season to hunt where we can, but even then the populations are noticeably lower each year. All things seem to be going bust, what a ride.
Hopefully we can make some positive change happen. The governments in western Canada cater more to crop//vehicle insurance companies than they do us hunters. Cow elk culls in sask.. Overkill moose license draws in Alberta where semis have hit too many on the highways.. Deer culls in MB.. Elk culls on AB farmland where the landowners don’t allow access to hunters..
I hunted an area where AB had issued 250 bull moose licenses AFTER the regular draw, thinking damn, this is going to be amazing! Didn’t see a single moose in 12 days! Turns out in that area, they just issue tags to give in to hunter opportunity demands.. So many things to make a guy shake his head.
Good luck to you.
In Manitoba we have unregulated hunting of all kinds in the north. It’s just a pay to play situation, every lake in the province gets 3 or 4 groups of hunters a season flying in and they also wonder where the moose have gone…
People really need to stop pretending that the government knows best. They are “managing” all big game populations into the ground. Two years ago they issued as many elk licenses in one unit as we had elk, according to their own aerial survey data. They only reduced the amount of tags issued the year after..
The future seems bleak for us outdoorsmen. For now we travel far each season to hunt where we can, but even then the populations are noticeably lower each year. All things seem to be going bust, what a ride.
Hopefully we can make some positive change happen. The governments in western Canada cater more to crop//vehicle insurance companies than they do us hunters. Cow elk culls in sask.. Overkill moose license draws in Alberta where semis have hit too many on the highways.. Deer culls in MB.. Elk culls on AB farmland where the landowners don’t allow access to hunters..
I hunted an area where AB had issued 250 bull moose licenses AFTER the regular draw, thinking damn, this is going to be amazing! Didn’t see a single moose in 12 days! Turns out in that area, they just issue tags to give in to hunter opportunity demands.. So many things to make a guy shake his head.
Good luck to you.
By killing calves and breeding age females absolutely does hurt the population. About 50% of moose calves don’t make it their first year due to natural predation. So if humans are shooting half of that number during hunting season now you have 75% that don’t make it to 1 year old. Add in a tough winter with lots of snow and mortality climbs even higher.
As a cattle farmer if I killed my cows and heifer calves every year, in short order I would not have a herd left.
Every predator that I see on my land gets shot. I figure by thinning out the black bears and coyotes it will at least give the elk/moose calves and deer fawns a better chance at survival.
I have a cousin who hunts north of Thunder Bay, gets a bull tag nearly every time he goes because of the WMU. I'd be up for a partner or small group next year, I have 10 or 11 points now, we could even likely choose which season to go, rifle or bow, heard bow is easier to call bulls in, as they are still rutting. Have a son coming of age who would likely come along, should be licensed by then too.
well hell no...sister /mother granny piece of meat is a piece of meat....moose we talking about eh
I know much ink has been spilled on this thread, but it is on point as it seems we have fewer and fewer opportunities every year here in BC.
British Columbia = 944,735 sq km
moose population is about 115,000 to 192,000
number of hunters approximately 103,000
annual moose harvest approximately 10,000 (licensed harvest)
Ontario = 1,080,000 sq km
moose population is about 94,000
number of hunters approximately 600,000
annual moose harvest in 2024 approximately 2721
Sweden = 447,425 sq km
moose population is about 300,000 - 400,000
number of hunters is about 300,000
Annual moose harvest is about 100,000
So Sweden has less than 1/2 the sq km of BC, but double the numbers of moose. Their annual harvest is 10x higher, yet they maintain their healthy herds. They shoot more moose in a year than the entire moose population in Ontario.
Yes, we have factors they don't, but we have an idea what those are yet do nothing (or very little) about it. Things could be much better if the government cared enough to do something other than simply restrict opportunities.
British Columbia = 944,735 sq km
moose population is about 115,000 to 192,000
number of hunters approximately 103,000
annual moose harvest approximately 10,000 (licensed harvest)
Ontario = 1,080,000 sq km
moose population is about 94,000
number of hunters approximately 600,000
annual moose harvest in 2024 approximately 2721
Sweden = 447,425 sq km
moose population is about 300,000 - 400,000
number of hunters is about 300,000
Annual moose harvest is about 100,000
So Sweden has less than 1/2 the sq km of BC, but double the numbers of moose. Their annual harvest is 10x higher, yet they maintain their healthy herds. They shoot more moose in a year than the entire moose population in Ontario.
Yes, we have factors they don't, but we have an idea what those are yet do nothing (or very little) about it. Things could be much better if the government cared enough to do something other than simply restrict opportunities.
- Location
- WMU248 near Edmonton
oh I remember decades ago buying a general moose tag.... but not in recent history, any accessible zone is all on the draw.
I think I was in my early 20's
never understood the Ontario system, or hunt camps and hunting parties.
here I hunt WMU 349, 507, 510, 511. depending on what I am looking for, and that is a lot of crown land to cover.
the draw system here has always been based on individual priority, and you build priority every year you don't get drawn or you can build priority by selecting a priority only code.
I am sitting with pri 2 calf moose, pri 7 Bull moose (antlered), pri 0 cow/calf moose (antlerless) I don't hunt cow moose.
pri 14 antlerless mule deer and pri13 mule deer antlered, and pri 5 antlered Elk pri 15 antlerless Elk, pri 11 antlered Whitetail.
with those numbers I know I can get draws in many of the zones I am looking at hunting.
However there are still the general tags for Elk and Whitetail in the zones I hunt but they have cut down on the supplemental antlerless tags and those have been reduced to only 1 and not valid in most areas now. But the reason for issuing them was to decrease population and it seems to have worked, so good time to stop issuing them.
the general tags are usually enough for me to go out and put some meat in the freezers. I will maintain my priorities for when I know I have enough time off to take advantage of the draws. I figure I have a few years of good hunting lined up for when I retire. Some of those draws I'll likely never use but its only money.
I think I was in my early 20's
never understood the Ontario system, or hunt camps and hunting parties.
here I hunt WMU 349, 507, 510, 511. depending on what I am looking for, and that is a lot of crown land to cover.
the draw system here has always been based on individual priority, and you build priority every year you don't get drawn or you can build priority by selecting a priority only code.
I am sitting with pri 2 calf moose, pri 7 Bull moose (antlered), pri 0 cow/calf moose (antlerless) I don't hunt cow moose.
pri 14 antlerless mule deer and pri13 mule deer antlered, and pri 5 antlered Elk pri 15 antlerless Elk, pri 11 antlered Whitetail.
with those numbers I know I can get draws in many of the zones I am looking at hunting.
However there are still the general tags for Elk and Whitetail in the zones I hunt but they have cut down on the supplemental antlerless tags and those have been reduced to only 1 and not valid in most areas now. But the reason for issuing them was to decrease population and it seems to have worked, so good time to stop issuing them.
the general tags are usually enough for me to go out and put some meat in the freezers. I will maintain my priorities for when I know I have enough time off to take advantage of the draws. I figure I have a few years of good hunting lined up for when I retire. Some of those draws I'll likely never use but its only money.
