Hello hunting fellows.
I am thinking over often how do you hunt moose in Northern America.Is it mostly solo,or only few men together,sneaking in the buch,using dog,using people in chain to chase mooses to ambush,or how.

Do you have huntingclubs (circle).What kind of permits,licensies,tests,limits,etc.

How many animals taken down/year.Do you count aproximately the moose population,do you regulate the population with hunting.
Does your authorities give out certain number of permits/year,or is it free.
The prise of permission/moose.The land,on governments land or private area only.How regulated is hunting there.
Is poaching a problem/habit.Can anybody hunt,or how can you become to be an hunter.

There was quite many questions If somebody could little open the curtains for us Finns

Thanks,I can explain our systems aswell...

Elias

[ 11-13-2003, 13:06: Message edited by: Elias ]

Once a year, in the fall (Sept to Nov). there are licences to buy, and tags. About $70 CDN ($50 US/Euro)total cost (for residents). You can hunt on crown (public) land, or on any land that you have the permission of the landowner. No dogs are allowed. You can hunt solo, or with friends, it doesn't matter. There are special draws for antlered/antlerless moose in certain areas (like a lottery with seniority). There is a hunter education course and test, which you don't have to take if you have held a hunting licence before. There are no shooting tests. The test is mosly about species identification and laws. Sometimes in the bush you walk, sometimes you sit and wait. if you are hunting with other people they can walk through a section of bush and "push" the moose towards you. Estimates of moose population are done by the provincial Gov't wildlife management staff, and the number of tags issued are based on that. Poaching is a very big problem, as public land here is very large and there aren't very many wildlife officers (fish cops). There are fools who believe they can kill anything they see, and some who do it for profit. There is also what amounts to legalised poaching involving aboriginal people (still an ongoing issue here). Anyone over the age of 12 can hunt, but you have to be 18 (I think) now to have a firearms licence. You can go out with an older friend or relative however, and as long as you are under thier supervision, and hunt. I think that answers your questions. IHTH - Dan

Dan pretty well coverd most of it but be aware that every province is different in it's regulations.

Ontario for instance allows some "Party Hunting" where a group of people can hunt together and take moose on the same licence. (For example 6 people may be allowed to take 2 moose. It doesn't matter which party member shoots them.)

British Columbia will not allow non-residents to hunt big game without using a licenced guide and except for a couple of experimental seasons for residents group hunting is not allowed.

Alberta has minimum calibre restrictions on rifles while in British Columbia any centrefire rifle is legal for all game except bison. (If someone was silly enough to try it you could use a .22-250 on moose)

Here is a typical British Columbia moose my hunting partner shot last Monday:

Rifle is a Sako 75 in .338 Win. Bullet was a hand loaded 250 grain Hornady SP. Moose was shot at ~150 yards.

Some days you get lucky and they caught this guy on a skid trail when they were moving between hunting areas.

Moose hunting in Finland.
First. You must have huntinglicence,like a drivers licece but concernin huntingrules and regs etc.Costs 25 USD/yr.
2.Rifle,which energy is minimum 2700J/110yds and bullet minimum 8g semijaket.
3.Shootingtest certificate,must be shot ewery third year.
To hunt moose you must have consistent land area minimum 1000Ha(hectares).This is usually made so that landowners combine their areas together,and they constitute a huntingteam,club,circle,or what you call it.They usually register it,have their board of members with authority.They can take outsiders also as members in a board meeting.All members are equal,and can hunt on clubs area following rules or restrictions.
In Finland we have roughly 4000 hunting clubs like this,the ave size I dont know,but maybee 3500Ha and 15 riflemen could be close average size of one team.Theese teams takes care of all hunting activities on their area,also estimating and calculating the size of animal population,and taking care of winterfeeding etc.Also interaction with authorities conserning whatewer.
Hunting is made either with dog(one dog) or with using people,(friends,family memb,)as a driwing chain chasing the animals to ambush.
Usually shooters are placed to tactical plases where the moose is assumed to trespass.The dogman goes in to the area,shooters have VHF fones,so they can communicate and move their situation if needed.Here ALL who takes part in moosehunt must wear red vest and hat.Every club have an "huntingleader",boss whos word is the law,he is in charge that safety and all included is followed an ok.
Moose meat is chared equally with the members.
Shooter who shot the moose,gets the horns.
Clubs can be based on rented land or on states area also.(paperclub)
Moose take down permission costs about 550USD which gives you right to shoot one mature animal or two calves.
The total amount of mooses and dears taken down every year is round 100.000 (varies)is chared to the clubs depending of the part of country and size of clubs area.

So there was the main figures how we do here.

Elias

Elias....Moose Hunting in Saskatchewan:

I live in "Moose Jaw" Saskatchewan. The name would indicate hunting in this area but not so. When you drive by this city one can see a 12 foot high moose visible from the trans Canada highway. Although we are getting more and more sightings near here, (not so when I was a youth) we are not allowed to shoot them in this Southern zone(mostly grain farming area). One must travel several hours North of here to hunt. I usually hunt about five hours North East of here(South of Hudson Bay Sask.) not far from the Manitoba border. This area is referred to as a "Provincial Forest". Residents of this province can purchase a license for $32.00 which allows them to take a bull or calf moose. One can also apply for a "Draw" and hunt in a different time period and take any moose they see.

We hunt from a log cabin built in a small subdivision (mostly hunters). Some of the time we hunt alone and other times in a group of four or so. Often will use radios and GPS to keep track of each other. It you try and "Push" bush without this help, often you never see each other again until the end of the day. When there is good snow cover one of us will follow fresh tracks while others will parallel each other, perhaps 1/4 or 1/2 mile apart. Most often moose will not travel in a straight line for long and we hope they turn into one of our party. There are lots of trails in the bush left over from logging. During the big game season(in this area) we cannot use our quads until after 1200 noon (except to retrieve downed game).

In the past year or two on the East side of the province we have lost many moose to tics. Is has been a big problem and we may loose the ability to buy a tag over the counter and may have to enter a draw to get a tag. People from out of province can hunt moose as long as they hire an outfitter(guide) who is issued a limited number of pemits.

We can also purchase three deer tags in this area in one season(one doe and two buck tags). It was a good year for us as we managed several deer in the 150 class range. There were a number of 180 class deer taken by other hunters as well. (remember, Saskatchewan holds the present worlds record deer)

Mark..

I hunt in Quebec with my US-resident friend Rockhead and his father, who lives in Quebec. We hunt crown land, stay in a shack back in the forest, "owned" by Rockhead Sr. under some perpetual lease program that he is grandfathered in on with the Quebec govt. All hunters buy a license, one moose per two hunters. Years alternate between bull only, calf and cow, cow only, anything goes, etc.

We hunt from stands, calling with birchbark calls, as do most of the others in the area.

boilerroom
Not much different from the guys that sit on their atv's, and cruise the trails all day 'till they find one.

Sorry guys but I just have to add something here about the reason that more areas are being closed to the general open hunting season of moose and other species and that they are now implementing the Limited Entry draw system more. One reason is that I believe that our governments are learning that we'll pay more for the chance to harvest moose and other animals through the limited entry draws that we apply for. This is a good system where control is needed but should not be abused. In other words this is just becoming another cash grab. I have personally seen and spoken to others including Wildlife Conservation Officers that have seen the killing of pregnant deer, elk and moose in the spring months, as well as the killing of these same animals in the fall by Native Indians hunting for sustanance! These animals should not be touched by anyone especially if there are not enough animals in a given area to sustain the breeding population of those species of animals being shot out of the regulated hunting season. The loss of these animals is directly related to this terrible problem. I am not against sustanace hunting or fishing but please take the abuse out of this type of hunting and leave the female breeding animals alone! British Columbia has one of the most extensive hunting regulations in the world for a reason! Please follow them and help my son's sons and your children's children to be able to enjoy the hunting pleasures that we all enjoy today.

Well, let's see, in the past couple of years we've had aboriginals hunting on leased land without permission, grazing leases without permission, and selling copious amounts of wildlife (far more then any subsistance argument can defend). Everytime they go to court, we get the "yeah, they're guilty, but...." speech. I call that "legalised poaching, I'm not sure what you call it. And as pointed out, through the revenues collected and paid out to native groups (who are also immigrants, they just came here earlier) they are compensated for any and all uses of the land. Not to mention, there are more aboriginals alive today then ever before, and a lot of that is because of "white man's medicine" and the social net put in place by those same evil white folks. My family qualifies under the rules as Metis (although I can say, I neither care, nor have ever used any of the benefits of such racial typecasting, I don't believe in it) so I guess that would make me a partial breed racist. You might want to get a little more info before you go bandying terms like "racist" around. Seems like everyone who figures they can somehow profit from the gov't liberal white guilt money train squeels that word out whenever they can. Which sadly, does seem to prove some "racists" point, doesn't it? Don't play the "sadly put upon native" with me slim, I've seen this act all my life and it doesn't wash, it's mostly just another play for sympathy first, then cash second. - Dan

Well said Dan.

This racial stuff makes little sense in a forum like this- the reality of the situation is that slob hunters are out there, aboriginal,white,black,green,pink,yellow,..whatever.

I have been hunting for the past 35 years and I guess I've come close to seeing it all- shot-up does left to rot in bucks only season, cows in bull only season etc etc etc. Disrespect for the resource, and good old idiocy are no respecters of cultural barriers from what I have seen...

Hunting moose...

I've learned not to shoot em standing in water or mud- it makes a lot of extra work

If the wind is right, a good stalk should get the hunter with in 50 yds or so of his quarry... a heart shot moose generally piles up on the spot, unlike white-tailed deer that ain't figgered out they're dead yet and run 100 yds or so before piling up.

Moose meat takes quite a bit of care in the processing. They are heavy hair shedders during the skinning. Moose is best hung and cured- fresh moose meat is like trying chew last year's old hunting boots Cleaning, skinning and quartering a moose is best done by 2 or more people- the mass and weight of the animal makes it an extremely difficult job for even 2 hunters...

Regards,

Doc Sharptail

In a forum like this, where there are people from all over the world asking about moose hunting tactics in Canada, it is reprehensible for people to be sniping at each other over the "white" vs. "native" issue. It suggests to our hunting friends from all over the world that people in Canada would rather focus on this kind of bullshit (a small issue in the grand scheme) than the good times, camaraderie and traditions of hunting (a huge issue in the grand scheme).

We're here to talk about moose hunting. If you want to talk about racial issues, on either side of the fence, maybe the political forum would be better suited to your agenda.

With that out of the way, I'd like to share with our friends the way the moose hunting rules seem to have changed for B.C. in recent years.

Recently, the rules have changed limiting the ability of hunters to harvest moose in the various regions. Throughout most of the province now, the government has created new categories of moose like "10-point bulls", "spike-fork bulls" and "tripalm bulls". The general bull moose season for most of the province has been eliminated, to be replaced with limited seasons for these various classes of bull moose. This means that you'd better understand the definitions clearly or else risk shooting the wrong class of bull moose at the wrong time.

General bull moose and anterless can only be harvested throughout most of the province by way of a lottery which gives the winner the right to hunt a particular class of moose (antlerless, for example) in a particular region during a particular period of time. The lotteries in the good areas are hotly contested and the odds are slim. Victory in the lottery, however, does give you a decent chance to get a moose (or so I'm told. The only time I've been moose hunting was when we were lucky enough to draw antlerless tags -- and we didn't get anything, although we had a wonderful time hunting.)

Does this new system sound complicated? Check out this definition of "tripalm moose": "a bull moose having at least one antler with a brow palm bearing three or more points (tines). The brow palm is separated from the main palm by the deepest antler bay. The deepest antler bay is the bay whose vertex (deepest location) is the shortest distance from the antler base, when measured along the surface of the antlter." Shoot the wrong type of moose in "tripalm" season and you could be in real trouble.

Needless to say, these changes to the moose hunting rules in B.C. are not very popular.

you may have a point about keeping it in the political forum but I can count how many Canadians frequent that forum on one hand.

Maybe a seperate thread in this forum would be better.

The needless slaughter of game for political reasons raises the emotions.But lets step back a pace or two.

Our natives face racism on a daily basis,not all of it undeserved.The transistion to western culture and economy hasn't always gone smoothly or successfully.The native social fabric has torn.When a person's self-respect is challenged ,one way to react is with anger.I used the word transistion,from the western culture we have "rights" and from the western economy rifles and ATVs.

Add to the mix,those who give into native demands don't use or care about the outdoors themselves.

Ok, ON TOPIC



We hunt in an organized camp,The drive in requires an Army Truck, or ATV. Chains are a must for the truck, steep rock inclines covered in moss etc. Plus a creek with three feet of water we have to drive down for a ways, and a beaver meadow to cross.



Once in camp, it's largely on foot. We use atv's to get to some of the far away places, but the furthest one is a "by foot only" trail. It needs a chainsaw to get a moose out.

We usually hunt by either standing, or walking, with the occassional one man drive thrown in when we get desperate.

The camp is on leased crown land about 3 hours by atv from the nearest road. The army truck takes a lot longer.

Except for my own gang, I won't see another hunter all week.

The food is excellent, and we have a great time.

My post earlier was regarding an area I used to hunt, North of Sudbury Ontario, where Eddy Match has logging going on. There, logging roads give easy access to people that don't qualify as hunters by my definition. There seems to be a "hunter" under every rock in that area, and that's why I moved.

Post deleted by Johnny Ringo

Hey, how hard is it to count 10 pts on a moose? BTW are there any wanton waste laws in Canada, or do people leave the neck meat behind?