Hunt Camp Woes

Rugdoc said:
Boy, all I can say is that I'm glad I live in BC.

I couldn't stand the cluster####s that folks call hunting camps in Ontario.

I just pile my stuff into my pickup and go bear or deer hunting.

Moose, well yeah, that is an issue and depends on winning the limited entry lottery but usually I do that with two other guys and we set up a more elaborate camp.
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In ontario most guys hunt deer and bear alone while moose hunting involves camps due to the distance required for most to travel, to share costs, and the limited tags. Many travel 8-10+ hrs for moose.

Southern Ontario is full of deer, but many guys goto Northern Ontario where there's fewer deer. Why? It's basically a vacation with your buddies to take in the beautiful scenery, socialize and maybe bring home some meat. Many camps will see little to no deer all week when they could have stayed home, saved money, and seen dozens of deer. But they still go to camp every year.

It seems most guys in hunt camps don't really care if they bring home any meat...
 
Grizzly Adams said:
Calf hunt every year with 10-12 guys usually getting a calf which ends up with about 10lbs of meat each. I dont agree with this and dont participate anymore)


Kill all the game and there won't be any left. Always shake my head at is hunt camp thing. Seems to be no thought of management ?

Grizz
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That's the Ontario mentality. The MNR is supposedly "managing" the game populations, but at the same time every moose hunter seems to think he is entitled to shoot a moose every year and expects to do so. All those guys are buying licences and the ministry is not about to cut off that revenue stream.

Shooting calves made no sense to me when I lived in Ontario and started moose hunting a few decades ago. As moose numbers fell, it made even less sense...and that trend continues.

This just in: Ontario MNR to start issuing Moose Embryo licences and open a mid-winter Pregnant Cow season. Any cow that is shot and then shown during mandatory check-in testing to be not pregnant will be confiscated and destroyed. You must have both a Pregnant Cow tag and an Embryo tag to legally shoot a pregnant cow.

Tags will be available over the counter, no draw required.
 
^ Good point, well taken. Hard to say which province is worse off, but they're definitely both contenders...for what appear to be different but equally bad reasons.
 
At least in Ontario they are finally revising the regs hopefully to a more sustainable model. And we can blame the MNR all we want but don’t forget how many hunters willingly took part and complained when tags were reduced. We should look in the mirror from time to time. Myself included
 
my uncle used to go up North - the younger hunters would run around with atv's the day before - not listen to the older guys not to do that - and - to wait till after the hunt to go atv'ing needless to say no - deer, then you have the scoped rifle guys that would sight in their guns using 155g then use 180g to hunt with and wonder why they missed. He since gave up going and no longer wasts his time and whatever time he has left on the planet.

Conservation goes a long way - do not hunt for a couple of years until the population increases and follow strict rules when going.
 
FishHog said:
At least in Ontario they are finally revising the regs hopefully to a more sustainable model. And we can blame the MNR all we want but don’t forget how many hunters willingly took part and complained when tags were reduced. We should look in the mirror from time to time. Myself included
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Very true. I grew up in that atmosphere, and as I mentioned in my earlier post, every hunter seemed to think that he/she should be allowed to shoot a moose every year. Even as a youngster I felt especially bad about shooting calves or cows with calves, but the prevailing mentality demanded it; the hunt group with which I was involved for years successfully bullied me into it several times, and dissension was dealt with very harshly. Deer hunts were similar; the deer population was much lower then, and if you happened to come across 2 or 3 you were fully expected to kill them all. The idea of shooting one and stopping, allowing more people a chance to get one themselves, was ridiculed...and not in a good-natured or humorous way either.

It's called party hunting, but with guys like that...it ain't no party. It's more like a military assault on a poorly stocked grocery store. Great thought and effort went into figuring out ways to beat the system, whether by finding a legal loophole or drilling an illegal one. For several years after I left that group, I would receive calls from different members, inquiring if I had entered the draw individually, did I have a tag, was I going to use it that year, was I willing to allow my name to be "ghosted" by the group, etc. It was sickening.

So, did the MNR create this environment...or was it the hunting public? The chicken or the egg? Never easy to answer, but nowadays I much prefer to hunt solo, and it's in large part due to my exposure to that mindset.

Sorry, getting a bit side-tracked in this thread; apologies and rant off.
 
jjohnwm said:
Very true. I grew up in that atmosphere, and as I mentioned in my earlier post, every hunter seemed to think that he/she should be allowed to shoot a moose every year. Even as a youngster I felt especially bad about shooting calves or cows with calves, but the prevailing mentality demanded it; the hunt group with which I was involved for years successfully bullied me into it several times, and dissension was dealt with very harshly. Deer hunts were similar; the deer population was much lower then, and if you happened to come across 2 or 3 you were fully expected to kill them all. The idea of shooting one and stopping, allowing more people a chance to get one themselves, was ridiculed...and not in a good-natured or humorous way either.

It's called party hunting, but with guys like that...it ain't no party. It's more like a military assault on a poorly stocked grocery store. Great thought and effort went into figuring out ways to beat the system, whether by finding a legal loophole or drilling an illegal one. For several years after I left that group, I would receive calls from different members, inquiring if I had entered the draw individually, did I have a tag, was I going to use it that year, was I willing to allow my name to be "ghosted" by the group, etc. It was sickening.

So, did the MNR create this environment...or was it the hunting public? The chicken or the egg? Never easy to answer, but nowadays I much prefer to hunt solo, and it's in large part due to my exposure to that mindset.

Sorry, getting a bit side-tracked in this thread; apologies and rant off.
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WOW!! Congratulations on shaking off the bullshyte and finding a better crew to hang with.
 
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