Fewer moose licences for county - May. 20, 2010
John Gardner/Courier file
There will be fewer opportunities for hunters like Gary MacDonald (left) of Saint John to hunt this year. MacDonald, with the aid of friend Chris Nice, shot he first moose of the 2009 season, a 630-pound bull taken in the Musquash area.
BY KATHY BOCKUS
kathy@stcroixcourier.ca
ST. GEORGE – While the number of moose licences issued for the 2010 season will be increased overall in the province this year, there are fewer available for Charlotte County hunters.
That’s because the local moose population is lower than expected, said Paul Trumel, forest resource officer with the Department of Natural Resources in St. George. He said there are 400 licences issued for the county – Zone 20 — for the three-day 2010 season, which runs from Thursday, Sept. 23, through Saturday, Sept. 25.
That’s down 33 licences from the number allotted here for 2009.
Zone 26, which takes in Deer Island and Campobello Island and Zone 27, which covers Grand Manan, are permanently closed because there are no moose in those areas.
The province will issue a total of 3,554 resident licences this season, which is up by 143 from last year.
Another 100 licences are available for non-resident hunters. Applications can be submitted by New Brunswick residents for the annual moose draw until the end of Friday, June 11, Natural Resources Minister Wally Stiles has announced.
Trumel said it would take at least two years to determine the exact reason for the decreased local moose population. He said his department is looking at the possibility that an increased bear population may be one of the causes. Trumel said bears prey on moose calves and the bears’ numbers have increased because of a decrease in out-of-province hunters.
Trumel said most people don’t realize how much scientific study and plain hard work goes into determining how many moose licences to issue in each provincial zone every hunting season.
“We don’t just draw a number out of a hat,” he said.
He said the department looks at everything from hunter success ratios to road kill statistics to moose teeth in order to establish how many licences to issue each year in each zone.
Trumel said two front bottom teeth are extracted from each moose kill registered every year. Teeth are also obtained from road kill carcasses. A moose’s age can be determined in a laboratory where the teeth are cut and a cross section examined, much as one might examine tree rings to determine a tree’s age.
Hunter success ratios are based on the number of licences issued and the number of moose kills registered.
“Three years ago, we had an 80 per cent hunter success rate,” said Trumel. “It’s starting to show now.”
Besides examining moose teeth and recording hunter success rates Trumel said officers also do an aerial survey by helicopter in the winter.
After a snow storm, officers look for moose and follow them. Not only do they count the moose, they are able to record from the air whether they are male or female.
Trumel said males tend to have a larger “bell” under their chin while females have an easily detected light brown patch by the tail. Hunters can shoot either male or female moose.
Trumel said setting restrictions on the number of licences is vital to the moose population.
“It’s important that we manage our population as best as we can in light of adversity like clear cutting, highway construction, and expanding town boundaries.”
Advertisements
