Hunters criticize reduction in moose hunting near Thunder Bay, Ont.
Ontario has some 'explaining to do' over cuts to moose tags, says head of hunting group
The head of a northern Ontario based hunting group is questioning another cut this year to moose hunting tags in the Thunder Bay, Ont. region.
John Kaplanis, executive director of the Northwestern Ontario Sportsman's Alliance, said he doesn't understand why nearly 45 per cent of the bull moose gun hunting tags have been cut in Wildlife Management Unit 15b.
The popular area is located northwest of Thunder Bay, and is well used by the province's moose hunters.
Kaplanis said the winter survey done by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNR) did not show any steep decline in that area.
"The aerial fly-over shows that actually the population is not doing too bad," he said. "So we have some questions certainly as to why the moose adult validation tags for that unit have been reduced — MNR has some explaining to do."
In 2015, the bull tag quota number for gun hunters in the wildlife management unit was 463. In 2016, that number has dropped to 257.
Cow moose gun tag quotas have not dropped as much. They went from 377 last year to 315 this year.
Kaplanis said his group was briefed on the tag cut a month before the numbers were released to the public, so they knew a reduction was coming.
However, he said they continue to have questions about the reasons for the cuts.
Only one rifle bull tag available near Dryden
The reductions have been more drastic in some areas further west.
In Wildlife Management Unit 6, north of Dryden, only one rifle bull tag is available for the whole hunting season.
In Wildlife Management Unit 7b, near Lake of the Woods, only three bull tags are available. No bow hunting will be allowed in either unit.
Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunter biologist Mark Ryckman said low adult moose tag numbers are the new normal for hunters.
"We are dealing with some significant population declines," said Ryckman. "A lot of the causes are unknown, for the time being.
"We are certainly not alone in our situation," he added. "We are seeing declining moose populations in a lot of North American jurisdictions."
Ryckman said despite the low numbers of moose in the area near Dryden — just over 100 — and about 250 moose in the area near Lake of the Woods, the federation doesn't want to see the government push to close the hunt.
"I can promise you that there are people in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, who would do that," he said. "They would shut down moose hunting in those units and probably several others in the northwest of Ontario and maybe even in the northeast as well."
Ryckman said the federation believes if a season on moose was closed in a wildlife management unit, it would be very hard to open again.
He said allowing a hunt, even if it is only one tag in a unit, is preferable.
The Ministry's regional wildlife specialist for the northwest region, Brad Allison, said the cut to adult bull moose tags in 15b, the wildlife management unit near Thunder Bay, was a necessary step.
Allison said the aerial survey done last winter showed the moose population the area had dropped eight percent since the last survey in 2013.
Allison said another concern was the level of the harvest on bull moose in the area.
He said the number of bulls being killed by hunters there was substantially higher than the ministry had expected.
"The year prior, in 2014, there was a considerable over-harvest on bulls in the unit," he said. "We had planned for 92 bulls to be harvested and there was an estimated 153 that were harvested. When we see that in our data, that contributes to a reduction in bull tags."
Allison said the wildlife management unit is also below the preferred threshold for calf production in Ontario .
He said the last survey in the unit showed less than 30 calves for every 100 cow moose.