The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry admits it’s not going to be easy to develop a new provincial moose tag system.
Community consultations were held in Dryden and Thunder Bay as well as five other Ontario communities.
Speaking in Dryden, MNRF Wildlife Manager Jamie Stewart says several options are on the table.
Stewart asks, “Can we shift seasons? Can we introduce things like calf validation tags in some of the areas where we have recruitment problems to alleviate some of those pressures? So, there is a bit of a fine balance between managing for sustainability.”
“We have heard that there is a bit of an appetite for a change to the draw system,” Stewart notes. “I think people view it as complicated and unfair in terms of their wait time to get a tag in some cases.”
Another issue raised at the regional sessions was concern about the future moose population.
“Some folks we’ve heard from are concerned about high levels of calf harvest in some areas and concerns the population isn’t bringing in the recruitment of new moose making it to adulthood.”
Stewart notes reducing the calf harvest will be on the table when the Big Game Management Committee drafts a final report.
Stewart says overall, the moose herd is pretty healthy, with in excess of 90,000 moose identified in aerial surveys.
However, he notes some regions have seen a decline in the population.
Stewart says the concerns are different in southern Ontario, northeastern Ontario and northwestern Ontario.
He stresses reaching out to the public is important, stating moose hunters know better than anyone about some of the local concerns and issues they have.
