Moose hunters happy in early going

There were a lot of happy hunters in the area as moose and deer season opened earlier this month–which didn’t surprise the local Ministry of Natural Resources.
“It seemed to be hot and cold,” Dave Saunders, MNR’s acting enforcement supervisor, said Friday morning. “It depended on where you were but a lot were successful. The camps seem to do well.
“I would say [the moose] is a really good population–there are a lot of happy hunters,” he added.
Murray Wepruk, an advertising salesman for the Times who went hunting with his family and a friend, said they hit paydirt with a moose on the first day of hunting just before it got dark.
They shot it near the Weller Lake loop about 16 km down the Cedar Narrows Road.
Wepruk said they also heard several other moose in the distance, and agreed this should be a good year for moose hunting.
The MNR had predicted as much earlier this year based on moose population surveys conducted in WMUs 9A, 9B, 12B, and Quetico Park last winter. The populations within these units had increased or remained stable since the previous survey, it was found.
(The local MNR office is expected to conduct moose surveys this winter in WMUs 10 and 11A.)
Still, while the prognosis was positive, a successful hunt also depends on weather conditions and rutting activity. Saunders reported the moose were still rutting and the bulls were coming to the call–both good signs for the hunt.
A total of 19,521 adults moose tags–bull and cow–were issued throughout Ontario this year, much the same compared to last year.
As for deer, action has not been as brisk so far but the MNR is confident the deer population is on the rise. It had predicted a fair to good hunting season this year, with deer populations showing steady improvement in all local WMUs.
Local MNR area biologist Darryl McLeod said two consecutive severe winters–in 1995 and ’96–hurt the deer population but added a pair of mild winters the last two years have improved adult survival.
“Because of the two severe winters, it impacted the local herd here and now it’s on an upward trend,” McLeod noted.
As a result, antlerless deer tag allocations have been increased in most units. For instance, WMU 10 (west of Fort Frances) increased its allocation from 1,000 to 1,200 tags.