Moose hunts are being slashed.

[Idahoron]

Moose hunts are being slashed!!! Almost all hunts will see a 50% reduction in Bull tags. Most cow tags are done. NO moose have been harvested in unit 21, 19A, 20A, and 25 in three to 4 years. I am not going to go over every hunt. All I can say is it looks like they waited too long to do this. Units with NO harvest in that many years should refund the money for the tags to the guys that drew those tags.
A lot of guys might not agree but I am thinking that this is just the beginning. We will see this also in deer and elk. Ron

 

[woodtick]

I've been watchin this myself, Maybe the Rockies could use a little more WOLVES(SATAN IN FUR)!!!!

TICK
TALL, WIDE, AND HANDSOME

 

[matt4695]

What a sad deal. I've hunted most of the units and have not seen a moose since 2005-2006. The moose population in 19a was really rebounding in the late 90's. I cut one track last summer up in Loon Lake. Might be the last one left. I can't believe that the agencies have sat back and let this happen. I don't think that Federal or State agencies have any idea whats really going on in Idaho's back country. It breaks my heart. I'm not hunting in the units anymore, there's way to many predators.

 

[beavis14]

i agree i don't like the f&g helicopter " fly byes " i don't think they are accurate at all. i think they could get much better data from sportsmen. i have been fortunate to draw a unit 39 cow tag close to every year for the lastfive years and used to hunt it a lot in the 90's. in the 90's and even 4 years ago i could get my cow usually on the first day, or for certain the second. it has gradually gotten worse every year. last year between myself, wife , father and brother we hunted combined 49 sun up to sun down days and got one elk. saw one elk as well. the area used to have lots of deer i have seen one forkhorn buck in the last 3 years. interestinly enough i have started to see moose ?????? the wolves are to blame for sure but i will put equal blame on the f&g. they hunt this unit way to hard now. they start in august with the early buck hunt and finish with the arrow slingers months later. sorry if i offended with the arrow slinger referance. i know there are many or maybe a few supurb archers her just tired of the " i stuck two " or i shot " all my arrows " comments from the guys i work with and my vendors.

even the whitetail hunting on " public " land is starting to slow down. i used to pass on small bucks now you had better shoot the first spike you see. it is sad my dad talked about the good old days. i am in my 40's maybe they are gone

 

[Outdoordan]

Ron,
Are you taking the information from the open comment on the web site? From my understanding some units (the ones mentioned) were pretty bad, but other units they wanted an increase in tags. I would agree though that some areas like the hunt in 44,48 they should have left them alone to build the population up. Now, I haven't seen a moose in awhile. I used to be able to take a drive up trail creek summit and always find a moose or two down in the drainage.

 

[BPKHunter]

I think you are all right. I would quickly move to another state like Utah that has not been infested by wolves. Quick Quick, soon there will be no game at all in Idaho! Heck I'm sure you all know the end of the world is coming next year.

They give out tags you #####.

You can't draw a tag, you #####.

In a four mile drive this weekend I saw 500 deer and 100 head of elk above Emmett. I am more worried about how this winter is shaping up than the effect of wolves. Let's hope that hunt get's opened back up soon, but we aren't out of game yet.

 

[matt4695]

Like I said I'm not hunting in those units anymore. This year I hunted a unit just north of Boise,,, starts with a 3 and ends with a 9. I saw so many frecking deer, it was increadible and lots of elk. Say plenty of bulls through deer season, nothing real big, one was close to the 280-290. I think there's plenty of good hunting left, I think the wolves are taking the blame for other problems, but at the same time the wolves are having an impact. In units 54, 55 and 57 there going start a Moose hunt. Here's the deal with Idaho. All the stories we here about how good the hunting was in the 60's, 70's and 80's, back then the fish and game had a no predator policy. With the change in management over the years the F&G has changed there views on predators. We need predators to keep the herds healthy, but not so many that it takes it's toll on the population. The wolf is the new player. I think were just starting to see some of the effects that the wolves are going to have on Idaho. They are here to stay. We can all still b!tch and blame it on the wolves. Like BPKHunter stated there's plenty of game left. How about this, everybody should go out and try to shoot 5 coyotes, or more, fill there bear and cougar tags, by doing this we can help Idaho's game herds. Should be interesting to see what F&G is going to do since they are not selling all the Nonresident tags. I know the economy is having an affect, but so is all the wolf talk in Idaho.

 

[beavis14]

i was curious with out giving away your area i would bet you were hunting arrowrock area. or the east side of highway 21 ? i have been hunting the west side above idaho city. glad you saw lots ! i work with a couple guys that hike way the hell up the hills by arrowrock and see elk until opening day then they vanish ! thanks for the info

 

[matt4695]

There's lots of game all over in this unit. It's true you have to get away from the people,,,,,,, the east side of 21 is better IMO.

 

[jbricejr]

Matt and BPK make good sense. The other thing that nobody is talking about is the blood parasite that is effecting moose. WY Game and Fish knows that it is definitely taking a toll on their moose in the western portion of the state, but all the recent Eastman's mag mentioned was the effect of wolves on western WY moose, which is a factor to be sure in some places but they should have also mentioned the parasite. Here in eastern Idaho the F&G is trying to determine what effect the parasite is having, but one biologist I spoke with said that for a variety of reasons it is hard to study and to directly connect to individual mortality cases. I heard about 3 bulls that were found dead (one still barely alive) near Palisades Res. this fall with no signs of injury. Apparently the parasite takes a few years to kill an infected animal. I know from my experience on the ground that there are fewer moose in my area in the last few years, and we have very few wolves here. It has always been very interesting to me that the Mountain Men accounts rarely or never reported moose in this part of the rockies in the early 1800s. I think there is a lot that we don't know.

 

[springbear]

I have not heard of this "blood parasite"?

I have always maintained that the Moose were in far more and "real" trouble from the wolves than the elk or deer were or are.

We find a lot of moose kills by wolves. The thing is that they are usually pinned in and it is likely a double kill. If you find a cow or calf moose, and look around you will usually find the other a short distance away killed as well. I do not see this as much with cow elk killed by wolves, unless the snow is real deep.

I do believe that ther are many factors in this, but I have noticed a dramitic drop in moose sightings in my neck of the woods over the last 5 or so years. I hope it is not too late, and the reality is that reducing/eliminating the harvest of bull moose should not have much impact on the population growth.

I already got my one Idaho bull, but worry about future generations chances at one.

 

[BPKHunter]

We all agree with one thing for sure, we would like the WOLF hunt reopened. How many MM members. How big a petition can we generate. Is it worth doing?

 

[springbear]

Last time I checked, liberal federal judges don't give to rat turds about a bunch of hunters pertitions....

You are correct that we do agree that hunting and TRAPPING for that matter should be re-opened.

Bottom Line is that the states should have controll over their game populations. end of story.

 

[WASHMULEYHUNTER]

I too have seen that many animals in their winter range here. Sorry but that number is nothing for the land that is here. I can take you to Washington and on their winter range show you a 1000 deer and 800 Elk in about an half an hour. Was successful in both states this year but my biggest coming from Washington. Don't get me wrong I love Idaho but it can have a lot more deer and Elk for the habitat that's here.There is something wrong.

 

[BPKHunter]

>I too have seen that many
>animals in their winter range
>here. Sorry but that number
>is nothing for the land
>that is here. I can
>take you to Washington and
>on their winter range show
>you a 1000 deer and
>800 Elk in about an
>half an hour. Was successful
>in both states this year
>but my biggest coming from
>Washington. Don't get me wrong
>I love Idaho but it
>can have a lot more
>deer and Elk for the
>habitat that's here.There is something
>wrong.


This may be true, but as I was checking the browse on the sage in that area and there was NONE left on it, so I was concerned. I would love to hear from a biologist on how much game the wintering grounds in Unit 32/39 can hold relative to current populations.