Bad news for Ontario Moose Hunters

I was talking with a guy at work who hunts in northern ontario (didn't say exactly where) but he went up to his cabin during the winter to clear the roof and do maintenance and said the snow was so deep and hard packed that the predators would have had an easy winter feeding on the moose and deer. In the spring 3-5 deer were in my yard on a regular basis. I have yet to see one since the snow melted.
 
Might be time to call it quits....

12 years in a row of moose hunting in area 28
10 people in our group for the first 10 years, maybe 3 tags during that time and not a moose taken
11th year we have 12 people and a bull tag so we send a guy up a couple days early to get the camp ready, he goes for a walk with the 410 for birds and sees a bull moose walking down one of the gravel roads in our area where we hunt. Suddenly a pickup truck pulls up next to him as he watches the bull walking down the gravel road. Guy (native guy) gets out and says "you gonna shoot that", his response was "not until Saturday when the season opens", a few seconds later BOOOOM, moose drops on the road, native takes out cell phone and calls other natives to help him chainsaw it in half and toss it into his truck, native drives away.
12th year (this past season) we get a cow tag, FINALLY we get our first moose in 12 years, we get a calf, 1 calf between 12 guys netted me a whopping 25 or 30 pounds of moose.

Why do I even bother......
 
A calf between 12 hunters doesn't go far at all, we got a bull between 7 guys, and my share all fit in a banana box coming back from the butcher.
 
I would like to see the MNR make the moose draw like they do for the Elk draw. Charge 15 bucks or whatever they do for elk, then if you get a tag you buy your license! But I'm sure that would never happen.
 
rubberdown said:
Suddenly a pickup truck pulls up next to him as he watches the bull walking down the gravel road. Guy (native guy) gets out and says "you gonna shoot that", his response was "not until Saturday when the season opens", a few seconds later BOOOOM, moose drops on the road, native takes out cell phone and calls other natives to help him chainsaw it in half and toss it into his truck, native drives away.
Click to expand...

The guy should have shot the grouse in the long grass that just happened to appear when the native was going to go shoot the moose.. Moose would have gotten the hint and taken a long run ;)
 
3 recent moose kills on our 600 acre property right now. One of our camp members went to check it out, Said he just followed the sound of ravens and found them. Snow is still very deep and he said he even followed a bit of blood trail in the moose tracks, Figures about 5-10 wolves following.
 
We will apply and go if we get the tag as usual... if we don't get the tag we will target grouse and walleye... as usual... but I can't complain, we have done well by reading the stats and applying to the right units for the right season... even if it means driving 12 or more hours.
 
I personally think the moose population where i am is doing better than a while ago. I can't remember exactly how long ago but for a couple of years we saw a lot of moose with brainworm walking in circles. last season we saw more calves than we have in a long time. Can't say how the winter was for them because I'm not sure how much snow it takes to start affecting them. We had lots of it this year and the deer population is very low but i think the wolves had a rough winter too because the snow was deep and not hard for a long time.
 
First time moose hunting trip planned in 11A. Cabin all booked Should be a group of 6. Looking at last years guaranteed group sizes it was looking good for a tag or two. Now I'm not so sure.

What do you guys think? Should we be looking for a cabin in another wmu?
 
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