http://mffp.gouv.qc.ca/english...-detail.jsp?id=11881

Is this necessary for conservation or is it politically motivated by the 'First Nations?'

Twenty years ago I was seriously looking at going on a caribou hunt. Wish I would have gone when I could.

The Cree, Inuit and Naskapi nations will also monitor their own harvests

Of course, being Stewards of the Land and all.

Grizz

it was a story to come.

i was expecting the news to come earlier.

not only due to FN issues. some hunters came to shoot sci record book and didnt bother about the meat. some communities still rely on that kind of meat so seeing all the neat wasted especially during the rut trophy hunt happened.

that is not the only reason why caribous are vanishing but i remembered speaking with some crees and within 50-100 years that was not the first it happens and they still do not know why.

closing wont stop the animals to disapear, predator controls has to be done too ...

I have thought about this issue somewhat having hunted Quebec winter caribou for 14yrs and seeing the decline in numbers and quality.There was never a good reason given for the decline only many opinions and none to do with over hunting.I have never seen a report on the herd population growth rate before winter hunting was introduced in 93.Did the natural death rate of both herds balance or equal the birth rate? If there was a net population growth of twenty or thirty thousand animals that could have justified the taking of that many annually.If there wasn't however and the death and birth rate balanced then knocking off thirty thousand animals a year for 25yrs would diminish the herd to where it is today.

Hunting is an insignificant factor in this decline. It's being seen right across caribou range. There are much larger factors at play here. Hunting is just a casualty.

leaf river :
199 000 in 2016
430 000 in 2011
600 000 in 2001
269 000 in 1993

George river
8 900 in 2016
10 000 in 2015
14 200 in 2014
27 000 in 2012
79 000 in 2010
384 000 in 2001
800 000 in 1993

for both herds the main reasons are: lack of food, predation (hunting and wolf-black bear), lack of renewal for calf ... less than 30 calf for 100 cows, weather change too. the lack of biggest bulls for reproduction during the rut ( that is the big bulls that were aimed for hunting)

this is not words but coming from the group studying the declines.

quote:

Originally posted by medved:
leaf river :
199 000 in 2016
430 000 in 2011
600 000 in 2001
269 000 in 1993

George river
8 900 in 2016
10 000 in 2015
14 200 in 2014
27 000 in 2012
79 000 in 2010
384 000 in 2001
800 000 in 1993

for both herds the main reasons are: lack of food, predation (hunting and wolf-black bear), lack of renewal for calf ... less than 30 calf for 100 cows, weather change too. the lack of biggest bulls for reproduction during the rut ( that is the big bulls that were aimed for hunting)

this is not words but coming from the group studying the declines.

What??? Little bulls don't breed things sure have changed since we were told "take larger older males out of the herd to keep the breeding pool younger and stronger" Maybe we should call Europe and Africa and tell them not to cull the old and feeble. HOGWASH!

Guys,

Like the AK, F&G biologist told me "You can't manage caribou". The herds grow until they run out of range and then they crash. When I arrived in Dillingham, AK in '82 there were about 20,000 animals in the local Mulchatna herd and hunting was limited. in the 22 years I lived there I saw the herd increase to 200,000 plus with a limit of 5 per person and just before I left the numbers started to decline rapidly. They are now once again on the increase and I expect the Quebec herds will do the same.

Mark

Far North is is definitely prone to rapid rise and fast decline in populations
Lemmings are good example and they don't get hunted, at least not by us

I hunted Woodland Caribou on Newfoundland in 1996 and Central Canadian Barren Ground in 2000 in Nunavut.

Numbers in both areas decreased after I did my hunts.

There were/are several factors involved in those declines. I am just glad I got to hunt those two varieties while they were still plentiful and the hunt costs were reasonable.

Certainly not an expert but I remember reading a long time ago that caribou as a species have had pretty dramatic fluctuations in their numbers. This was independent of hunting pressure on them. I wish now I could remember where it was that read it.

We have had spring unrestricted seasons on white geese for how many years and the biology folks tell us we are not dropping the snow goose numbers enough.

The caribou may be the first ones showing number decline. The tundra hasn't been doing well for a while.

I hope it is just normal herd swings, but who knows at this point.

I remember in the talk around camp in Nunavut with the guides, that they depended pretty heavily on the caribou for meat. They sold it just like we do beef and the head guide of the camp claimed that during the period of time when thew caribou were being shot and processed, he would average 10 cows/calves daily.

The Bulls were left for the "Sports" to shoot.

In 1996 on Newfoundland the concern there was that coyotes had reached the island and they would be a major predator on the caribou fawns/calves.

I remember reading the outdoor mags as a kid in the late 60's and early 70's, and they had stories of the cyclical rise and fall of Caribou populations going back for a very long time. Mark Young described it best, they eat themselves out of habitat, and the population crashes. The lichen that they feed on is very slow growing, and takes years to recover. The fact that Snow Geese are at high levels probably influences that fact as well in areas where they are present. There may well be other factors that we are not aware of as well, but most likely this is an entirely natural phenomenon. I am glad that I hunted them in Quebec in 91, and the NWT in 93, the hunts were cheap then, and big bulls were available with a little luck and hard work.

I miss the winter caribou hunts that we went on years ago . We would drive up , and hunt the areas around LG 4 and also Laforge 1.

You could make the hunt better , by taking your snowmobile off the road, following the frozen rivers , and shoot your caribou .

Some years the caribou were every place , other years you could not find them !

Also shot some near Brisay, by Laforge 2.

In January , while I was there it was 42' below zero at night . Temps like that are dangerous , and you must protect against frostbite