WELCOME to the OUTDOOR DIGEST that will include articles from my OUT of DOORS with BARNEY MOORHOUSE columns published in THE BANCROFT TIMES. For Reproduction Rights Call Access 1.800.893.5777.
DRAW DEADLINES TO REMEMBER
Moose – May 31; Elk – June 11; Antlerless deer – July 3; Controlled deer – August 31, 2018.
CHANGES
Some significant changes are afoot for Ontario’s hunting and fishing licensing service. Following are some hunting changes that will come into effect on January 1, 2019.
As of November 2018 there will be one Outdoors Card for both hunters and anglers. Your present card will continue until its expiration date. You will be able to print purchased licences on your home computer or carry a licence summary on your smart phone.
“Game seals” shall become “tags”. Once the draw results are released you will have the option to print the “tag” on your home computer. “Tags will no longer be mailed to clients.” (MNRF)
No home computer? Visit a licence issuer or participating Service Ontario. Make sure the SO is participating. Not all do.
Tags must still be notched with date, month, and time immediately after the kill, at the kill site, before moving the animal. BUT – tags may be attached at any time. However, once the hunter is to leave the animal s/he must attach the tag. The regs then add, “Or immediately available to produce the tag for inspection.” That seems to confuse the issue.
No more post card surveys. The individual hunter post card survey began for deer in 1980, for moose in 1983; coinciding with the introduction of the selective harvest systems. Mandatory hunter reporting begins in 2019. If you receive a tag you must submit a report of your hunting activity. More detail to come from the MNRF. To better understand how the MNRF uses this information goto: Ontario.ca/harvestreporting.
Hunter Apprentices (12-14) must purchase an Outdoor Card to participate in the program. Starting in 2019, apprentices will be able to: buy some licences and tags (e.g. small game, wild turkey) not obtained via a draw; have their own bag limit if they purchase a licence; parental consent will be required from one parent only; apprentice hunters must hunt under direct supervision of a licensed mentor and share a single firearm. For more information goto: Ontario.ca/outdoorscard.
SPA Accountability
100% of licence fees go towards F&W. The breakdown: 25% regulation; 19% enforcement; 19% science; 16% conservation; 8% hunter education; 13% licensing (more than 1.8 million Outdoors Card holders).
FEWER MOOSE TAGS
The MNRF has responded to criticism for lowering the number of moose tags available by saying that low returns on postcard surveys and “margin of error” have both played a role.
One headline read – “Moose Tags in Thunder Bay district cut again by OMNRF”. The article detailed that in Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) 13 adult moose tags were nearly cut in half. In 2017 there were 94 gun tags available (32 bull, 62 cows). In 2018 there are 48 gun tags (22 bull, 26 cows). Bow hunters fared no better. Available tags have declined from 43 (3 bull, 40 cows) to 11 in 2018 (1 bull, 10 cows).
Keith Munro, OFAH wildlife biologist, speculates that the year to year MNRF moose management style in the NW may be having a negative impact. “In NE Ontario they tend to use multi-year management plans. So they will make a change, they will wait several years, see the impacts, and then decide whether they need to make another change. In the NW region they tend to do more changes each year.”
Munro added that NE and southern Ontario are petty much “status quo” with moose tag allocations this year, with some small increases. In contrast, he said, the NW region has seen some significant decreases. “In some of the WMUs these are somewhat positive as they address hunter concerns, but in other WMUs they are less optimal.”
The moose population in WMU 13 has declined by 19% however the MNRF’s decision to increase pressure on cow moose to address some imbalance in the sex ratio of bulls to cows is not a move endorsed by the OFAH. “We have some concerns that in part this contributes to the decrease because the decrease in the population has largely been because of fewer cows being present.”
In WMU 21A the cow gun tag allocation has been cut from 943 in 2017 to 550 in 2018. Munro said 21A has “always been criticized for really high cow tag numbers, creating phantom hunting opportunities as you could get a cow tag, but you were probably not going to harvest a moose.” Apparently stakeholder input from the OFAH and others led to the cut.
The federation continues to encourage more moose aerial surveys. Mandatory moose reporting in 2019 should help better estimate moose numbers and how hunters successfully harvest moose will be important. Citizen scientists using appropriate apps and other MNRF initiatives should help as well.
As always the OFAH emphasizes conservation first and where there is an opportunity for a sustainable hunt “we want to make sure those opportunities are available.”
Jolanta Kowalski, MNRF Sr. Communications Specialist, said that aerial surveys showed a significant moose population decline in WMU 13. Where sustainable moose populations exist the ministry is providing more hunting opportunities. Overall the tags for resident hunters have been reduced by 8.2% from 2017 including reductions in 14 WMUs in the NW. However, 9 WMUs in the NW will see increases in tag quotas.
Where survey response rates contribute to improved data quality the use of margin of error, a precautionary approach that lessens the risk of over harvesting, will be reduced. Kowalski said that response rates to surveys in the NW have declined in recent years. The ministry is hopeful that will change in 2019 due to mandatory reporting and thus improve data quality.
AND FINALLY…A Thot
“Two wrongs don’t make a right; but three lefts do.”
- OUT OF DOORS with BARNEY MOORHOUSE FOR Reproduction Rights Call Access 1.800.893.5777
TWEEKS
As mentioned in an earlier column (The Times May 24/18 edition) changes are afoot for the MNRF Hunting regulations. At a recent meeting I learned some more detail. Attendees were pleased that the MNRF presenter had a background in hunting as, in their opinion, it added to the credibility factor. Once again, if I misunderstood, I would be pleased to be corrected.
- PAL/POL – The new outdoors card will NOT contain this information. If you have an “H1” on your present card the new one will NOT. Therefore you must carry your PAL/POL during the gun deer season, for example.
- As mentioned you will be able to print your licence at home. HOWEVER, make certain that your printer has ink and is working. If you try to print and your equipment fails you won’t have a second chance. You will have to goto a participating Service Ontario or a retailer that sells such and have them print you a copy. No doubt at some expense to yourself.
- Protect your TAG (formerly game seal). A zip lock baggy; perhaps laminate; or purchase such a product once it becomes available. NOTE: You must “validate” (notch) your Tag immediately even though you need not attach it until you and your game are about to go your separate ways.
- Buy a licence and you MUST report. A MANDATORY HUNTER REPORT will be obligatory once you purchase a licence – whether you go afield or not. It doesn’t matter if you bag any game. Such individual reports will be made via phone or computer, within a specified time limit, such as 14 days after the season closes. The consequences of failing to do so means that any existing fines will be applied and – get this – you will be banned from purchasing such a licence for one year. The first test for this will probably take place following the 2019 Spring Turkey hunt. The Good News is – year one of this new program (2019) will be a test trial period to iron out any wrinkles and there should be a grace year. IF this is incorrect I trust the MNRF will let us know.
- Information from this mandatory reporting should significantly impact and compliment the MNRF’s wildlife data which should translate into better, more efficient real time management.
- New residents to Ontario will no longer be obliged to challenge the Ontario Hunter Safety exam IF they are an accredited hunter from another jurisdiction. Apparently there weren’t many – usually.
- Tracking dogs and their handlers will no longer be required to be licenced. BUT, all dogs must be leashed (10 m maximum); the handler does not possess a firearm and accompanies the hunter in tracking wounded game.
- For more detail goto: Ontario.ca or Ontario.ca/harvestreporting.
- THERE WILL BE NO CHANGES FOR THE 2018 HUNTING SEASON!!!
SOME FISHERIES NEWS
North Hastings is in Fishing Management Zone (FMZ – as in “Zed”) 15 perhaps the largest geographical fishery zone in Ontario. It stocks the most bodies of water. Algonquin Provincial Park is “smack dab in the middle of FMZ 15” (presenter) and will have its own management plan. Apparently there are 64,000 water bodies. (Don’t know who counts them.) Pembroke, Bancroft, Parry Sound and some of the North Bay area are included in FMZ 15. Although the human population is somewhat generally scarce FMZ 15 is regarded as a “fishing playground.” Perhaps hunting too. Popular species are: 1. Bass 2. Walleye 3. Pike and Lake Trout. In the early ‘70s that may not have been the case.
In all, total stocked species number 309,477,171. Again, one must ask – who counts them?
Due to the considerable number of water bodies FMZ 15 finds it necessary to develop a stocking strategy. Not the case in the other FMZs. The tentative deadline for such a plan is a year hence – June 2019.
This year late ice out and early hot summer-like weather plus helos being scheduled for fires made the window of opportunity to stock somewhat challenging, to be supplemented with trucking. Stocking lists are published in November to accommodate the fall stocking.
A LYME VACCINE?
Listening to the CBC I heard that there is a Lyme vaccine for dogs and horses. And one for people that was shelved years ago due to the fact that Lyme disease (Ld) was restricted to the Lyme Connecticut and N.E. England area of the USA. Basically, not many people elsewhere suffered Ld and the vaccine was not without some controversy. For example some have said it actually inflicted Ld upon the recipient; others arthritis. None of this proven, apparently. The prospects of lawsuits sealed the deal and the vaccine was moth-balled.
I asked Dr. John Scott, Ld researcher about this and he replied: “Trying to develop Lyme disease vaccine is a crazy ideal because Lyme disease spirochetes evade the immune system. Furthermore, the last vaccine, LYMErix (aforementioned), caused arthritic symptoms in recipients. Actually, that is really why it was withdrawn from the market. Why create more pain for patients?”
Again, one can goto: www.lymeontario.com for more detailed information.
Detection
Research published in the medical journal Clinical Infectious Diseases states that new tests for Ld could allow doctors to identify the infection faster and more accurately. Researchers suggest the latest generation of diagnostic tools promises to help patients avoid long-term health consequences by allowing doctors to prescribe antibiotic treatments earlier.
According to Health Canada Ld cases have increased from 144 (2009) to 987 (2016).
Lyme Carditis
A Kingston, Ontario heart specialist warns of a serious Ld complication in which bacteria attack the heart. Lyme Carditis disturbs the heart’s electrical system by causing inflammation. “Heart block” results in a heartbeat that is too slow. Common symptoms are sudden dizziness, shortness of breath, and chest pain. Untreated, the condition can rapidly lead to heart shutdown.
As one doctor recently stated; “This tick season won’t be particularly bad, because tick season is always bad.”
AND FINALLY…
“Smiles may not pay the rent, BUT they save you the cost of therapy.”
