Almost like the night before Christmas, many of us in Wildlife Management Unit 49 are sitting around our hunt camp stoves enjoying their warmth and flickering glow. Plans are made and watches are set as we eagerly await the morning light which will usher in Moose Hunt 2009. Remember your orange, identify your targets and make ethical choices as the week progresses.

Here is a list of Ontario Hunting links that may interest you:

Ontario Hunting Regulations Summary – 2009-2010
Ontario Moose Hunting Regulations
Ontario Moose Program Review

If you see or suspect someone of poaching or otherwise abusing a natural resource, please call 1-877-TIPS-MNR (847-7667) toll-free any time to report a violation.

You may also contact your local ministry office during regular business hours or call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

Please visit Muskoka Outdoors throughout the week as I will attempting to blog right from my moose stand. Unfortunately, I have to work by day – but I will be hunting the early morning and evenings all week.

For over 100,000 Ontario residents, the month of October is a time to dig out the hunter orange clothing and participate in the annual moose hunt. The Ontario Conservation Officers Association (O.C.O.A.) and the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (O.F.A.H.) want to wish all Ontario hunters a safe and successful hunt.

“During the moose hunt, Conservation Officers (C.O.’s) will focus their activities on violations that threaten our moose herds and public safety,” says O.C.O.A. President Dan VanExan. “Officers will be out in force — conducting uniformed patrols, running road check stations, and undertaking specialized investigations targeting habitual violators.”

“Responsible hunters strive to maintain the highest standards of public safety and have a profound respect for wildlife,” said O.F.A.H. Executive Director Mike Reader. “Hunters and anglers led the conservation movement in North America more than a hundred years ago, and to this day are leading efforts to conserve and enhance wildlife throughout the province. Hunters are partners in wildlife management, and they respect wildlife seasons and limits which ensure a sustainable harvest, today and into the future.”

Every year, C.O.’s investigate cases of moose carcasses that are found abandoned in the bush. This often occurs when hunters mistakenly shoot an animal for which they are not licensed, and leave the animal to rot because they are afraid of being charged for their mistake. C.O.’s are hunters themselves, and have the utmost respect for someone who calls to report accidentally shooting the wrong moose. Hunters are encouraged to report any accidental kills immediately, and to trust officers to respect this cooperation during their investigation.

“Officers will have zero tolerance for anyone who allows a moose to spoil,” said VanExan. “Walking away from an honest mistake and allowing a valuable game animal to be wasted is an offence that no one should tolerate. Help us do our jobs by reporting this illegal and unethical behavior.”

Anyone who observes illegal or unsafe hunting activity is asked to help C.O.’s protect our natural resources and ensure public safety by calling the M.N.R.’s violation reporting line at 1-877-TIPS-MNR (847-7677), or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

For more information about natural resources regulations and enforcement, please visit the O.C.O.A. website at www.ocoa.ca or contact your local Conservation Officer.

Representing more than 100,000 members, subscribers and supporters, the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters is the province’s largest nonprofit fish and wildlife conservation-based organization, and the voice of anglers and hunters.

Contact
Lezlie Goodwin
Communications Coordinator
Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters
705-748-6324 ext 270

Dan VanExan
President
Ontario Conservation Officers Association
(613) 478-6132

*Press Release used with Permission

The Ontario moose automated telephone licensing and draw application due date is June 1, 2009.

The deadline is coming up people. Don’t Forget!

The phone number is: 1-800-288-1155

There are some potential changes coming to the 2009 Ontario Moose Draw process. Visit Ripple Outdoors for this informative podcast about the changes the Ontario MNR would like to make to the Ontario draw. Christie Curley, of the Ontario MNR presents from a Toronto Sportsman Show seminar.

The proposed changes appear to make good sense to me – especially for those of us who do not hunt in large groups. I also learned from the podcast that over 100, 000 hunters applied for only 14,000 tags. It’s no wonder I have yet to get one!

Follow this link to the podcast

In a swath of land that includes some Hudson and James Bay shores and land over to Quebec’s border, The Sault Star reports the following:

Conservation officers checked over 5,800 hunters from Oct. 11 to 25. Of those, they discovered 509 violations, leading to 193 charges and 316 warnings. Conservation officers also seized illegally hunted animals, including 31 moose. Entire Article Here

My initial thoughts are that it is good to see that the Ontario MNR is enforcing our wildlife laws. It bothers me to hear that so many people were charged and who probably knew better. An actual breakdown of the specific charges (with respect to actual numbers of which violations were cited) were not listed in the article and the majority of them could have been minor in scope, but the laws exists for public safety and for wildlife conservation.

You don’t compromise – EVER!

Our plan was good and it almost worked! If the wind had co-operated, this would have been a different kind of post.

The pond, in the background of the photo in my last post, extends to the left and right. Dad was punching through some thick evergreens (close to the pond) a good distance left of where the photo was taken.

He was grunting and imitating the sound of antlers by using a stick on surrounding tree branches. As he approached the section of the pond I was watching, he heard a moose begin to walk towards him in the tangle of evergreens. It got so close that he ducked in behind a tree because he thought they might ‘collide’. The trees were so thick he could not see the oncoming moose despite being so close. That was when the moose got wind of him and reversed his direction. As quickly as it started, it was over.

This might be last post as I am scheduled to leave the camp mid-afternoon. I will be back in a week for deer camp.

That’s when the fun really starts!