Might be last year for ND moose hunting

[dean nelson]

KDM the problem is your looking in the wrong spot. Think of moose like they were a flock of snow geese in a field. The leading edge the birds are packed in tight but as you move back from the front their numbers slowly thin out till there are only a handfull left. If you go to the front your going to see lots of them....at least for now. Areas like Sherwood and the river bottoms near williston are great but go back to areas like rock lake and Calvin where there used to be moose everywhere and now they are in much lower numbers then 15 years ago. It's almost as if this was a giant version of a new perch lake where there is a dramatic explosion of their numbers at first then start to fade away over the years. Hell the Langdon area went from 260 in 93 down to only 11 in 07! Hopefully the areas in the west can avoid the brain worms and liver flukes but only time will tell.

 

[Enslow]

There are still lots of moose in central nd. Makes me think thay maybe the wet cycle could still keep going. One can only hope anyway.

 

[raider]

there are moose all over western nd and i've heard LOTS in the bottoms south of williston... i've seen plenty between williston and southern sask over the last few years as well...

is it possible there is an instinctual migration west, away from the ticks and disease???

 

[gst]

Well as far as I can tell, the moose population is doing just fine south of Williston. While on mission this week I saw 3 different cows with twin calves each and 2 bulls in about a 2500 acre area. I saw the same number of moose each day from Tuesday till this morning while flying about 100 feet off the ground. Without any REAL surveillance data for moose in ND, I seriously question the credibility that there is a moose population decline in this state.[/QUOTE]

Saw a calf minutes after it was born while seeding. Don;t know how to post the pics or I would. The wife climbed up on the seeder cart and got a couple good pics.

Sadly that does not matter once a "critical habitat" designation has been made. It will likely be a judge making this decision and you and I paying for it.

The gal at the butterfly meeting I attended said it did not matter if there were no butterflies on a given area, it was whether there was a possibility there could be that would determine what the Feds took control of................stop and think about that a minute.

It doesn;t matter if your gun was used in a crime, if the possibility exists it could perhaps the Feds should take control of it............

"Critical habitat designations are likely to be more frequent, more robust, and broader in geographic scope, including areas that listed species may have periodically used in the past or may potentially use in the future."

So if a moose has ever resided on ones private property in the past or could possibly reside there in the future the Federal govt can take over control of your private property under a judges ruling in a lawsuit on the ESA forced by groups like this paid for by taxpayers .

 

[KDM]

I'm not sure there is a difference in the population, but submit that it may only be a change in their location. I remember when seeing a moose around Valley City was very rare and to get a pic of one would ensure a story in the local paper. I've seen 4 in the last 2 years and it's only worth a passing comment. Just because you are not seeing moose in a historic location is not necessarily an indication of a reduction in population. Is it possible that the populations on moose in the NW part of the state have increased by as much as the population in the NE has declined? I think so, but without any surveillance data, it's ALL hearsay and speculation to include my assessment. ND is and has always been a fringe habitat for the moose with minute variations in habitat conditions possibly having a very significant affect on overall survival percentages over the entire age demographic. Like I said before, without actually looking, it's conjecture and guess.

 

[jdinny]

I'm not sure there is a difference in the population, but submit that it may only be a change in their location. I remember when seeing a moose around Valley City was very rare and to get a pic of one would ensure a story in the local paper. I've seen 4 in the last 2 years and it's only worth a passing comment. Just because you are not seeing moose in a historic location is not necessarily an indication of a reduction in population. Is it possible that the populations on moose in the NW part of the state have increased by as much as the population in the NE has declined? I think so, but without any surveillance data, it's ALL hearsay and speculation to include my assessment. ND is and has always been a fringe habitat for the moose with minute variations in habitat conditions possibly having a very significant affect on overall survival percentages over the entire age demographic. Like I said before, without actually looking, it's conjecture and guess.

couldn't agree with you more. talk to many landowners in the underwood/riverdale whom I know very well and they have said in the last 5 years the moose populations has grown tremendously. goose hunting musta been 3 years ago or so when all the standing corn into December was still getting harvested I witnessd 7 come out of one field as they harvested it. pretty sure the population has shifted west but like KDM said how to prove it is the question.

I grew up in the NE and there is definitely less moose around than 15 years ago when I was in high school

 

[Fritz the Cat]

Last summer my wife called me on my cell and said I have a bull elk out standing in the yard. She said he is one homely elk. Driving over from my parents place next door I came face to face with Bullwinkle. Turned around and went to get my parents and guests to see this. Moose are rare in south central ND. In 50 years we've never had one in the yard.

Too many people making too much noise so he left. They can cover a lot of ground at a trot.

However, if moose are ever put on the endangered species list then there never was a moose in my yard. It didn't happen.

 

[svnmag]

One would think ND G&F could have a mutually beneficial relationship with the UAV's in Grand Forks. The UAV drivers need time and something to look for, they could grid the whole state and tell us how many deer, moose, elk, bighorn sheep, wolves, bears, wolverines, and mountain lions we've got scurrying about.

That is one hell of a plan.

 

[dean nelson]

couldn't agree with you more. talk to many landowners in the underwood/riverdale whom I know very well and they have said in the last 5 years the moose populations has grown tremendously. goose hunting musta been 3 years ago or so when all the standing corn into December was still getting harvested I witnessd 7 come out of one field as they harvested it. pretty sure the population has shifted west but like KDM said how to prove it is the question.

I grew up in the NE and there is definitely less moose around than 15 years ago when I was in high school

If it was just ND that saw a shift in population that idea might have some merit but it's not just here that the population has dropped. alas where did the MN moose go or any of the other states and provences moose go because they sure not here. MB's population has been cut nearly in half and I'm pretty sure 20,000 moose didn't just decid to go for a walk on the praires. The fact is there is a huge die off happening in most all the moose range in the midwest as well as Southern canada. The area from bismarck going north and west into southern canada is one of the few places that is bucking that trend. In the end the moose are not walking off to new ground they are dieing and so far there's no one smoking gun to point at and say this is the problem.

I don't want them to go on the list in any way shape or form but also can't deny that there is a whole lot of evidence to push the usfw in that direction. If they had a concrete answer as to why the die off is happening we would have a shot of staying clear of this but with everyone working on best guess it's going to be very hard to argue the other side of this thing. I've known about the die off for years now but was unaware how bad it's getting to our north as well until today and with canada getting bad that bodes very poorly for us on fighting the peta crew on this. Hell the listing of them had never even crossed my mind till I saw it in the papper yesterday. I laughed at the idea that I was sure had come from some left wing bunny hugger (which it did)....well that is right up till i started pouring over the numbers for the listed areas and did the proverbial Ruh Roh this ain't good! The only reason I have any hope at all of keeping them off the list is in how the usfw pretty much gave the bunny huggers the finger on the whole Sage Grouse thing two years ago. In the end the trend is not good at all and this push might grow legs and get some real traction I'm afraid. Be weird if the trend keeps up and the future generations will come to think of moose as open prairie animals sort of like how we think of elk being mountain animals instead of the prairie animal they used to be.

 

[svnmag]

Perhaps we're at the beginning of a transitional cycle driven by parasites.

 

[gst]

The only reason I have any hope at all of keeping them off the list is in how the usfw pretty much gave the bunny huggers the finger on the whole Sage Grouse thing two years ago. .

There were quite a few stakeholders that pried that finger out of a clenched fist. And that is not yet over.

http://environews.tv/041815-bi-stat...ting-sec-jewell-to-make-announcement-tuesday/

It will likely be decided by a judge at some point in the future as groups like the Center and the Defenders of Wildlife don;t quit.

They have plenty of foundations giving them monies and tax payers paying for their lawsuits.

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2015/greater-sage-grouse-09-22-2015.html


In those stake holders there were also groups working to create their own plans to help the sage grouse population without having it forced on them by the Feds.

It is not going to hurt the picture to keep moose off the list to "encourage" our NDG&F to partner with other agencies to spend a bit more time and effort figuring out what is happening

an interesting read.

https://www.uwyo.edu/pols/courses/4052/goode.pdf

 

[Fritz the Cat]

What we need is more people raising moose domestically. ;:;popcorn

 

[Buckmaster81]

One would think ND G&F could have a mutually beneficial relationship with the UAV's in Grand Forks. The UAV drivers need time and something to look for, they could grid the whole state and tell us how many deer, moose, elk, bighorn sheep, wolves, bears, wolverines, and mountain lions we've got scurrying about.

That just makes way to much sense!