Idaho Fish and Game takes steps to improve moose population

[DOUBLELUNG]

It's a 3-legged stool and bad news for moose.  Predation, habitat degradation, climate change - not cow farts and Inslee's agenda, the simple fact that warming temperatures, especially winters, allows tick numbers to greatly increase.  Moose are tanking across the lower 48, both where there are wolves and where there are not. 

A shortage of hardwood browse in many areas due to lack of logging (and a silver lining of wildfires) lowers carrying capacity, productivity and winter survival.  Winter ticks in many areas are so severe that calves die of anemia and adults that do survive are in poor condition.  Concentration of moose where there is abundant browse make them easy to locate for predators and poor condition makes them less able to resist predators.  Bear predation on calves is huge rangewide, and where there are wolves stressed moose don't need that added stress and mortality; and likely can't persist under those habitat and climate conditions where wolves are abundant. 

Wolf and bear reductions would slow the decline, as would more clearcuts, but I suspect moose hunting long term is going to be mainly a Canada and Alaska thing, just like it was in the 1950s and 1960s outdoor magazines I grew up reading.  It's really sad.

[Magnum_Willys]

Driving N. Idaho fews years back in the snow we cut dozens of different sets of moose tracks.  Every single one had a wolf or more following them.  Boggles my mind how we have any moose left at all. 

[buglebrush]

Driving N. Idaho fews years back in the snow we cut dozens of different sets of moose tracks.  Every single one had a wolf or more following them.  Boggles my mind how we have any moose left at all.

Exactly.  Climate change?  What a farce!  In North Idaho moose decline directly correlates with wolf numbers

[idaho guy]

Driving N. Idaho fews years back in the snow we cut dozens of different sets of moose tracks.  Every single one had a wolf or more following them.  Boggles my mind how we have any moose left at all.

Exactly.  Climate change?  What a farce!  In North Idaho moose decline directly correlates with wolf numbers

Wouldn't the "climate change" have too make winters warmer to create the tick problem? I wouldn't say we have had warmer winters for a while quite the opposite. I know the moose all died because of global warming and ticks but why did the ticks decide to finally kill the moose when the wolves showed up? I guess I will have to ask a biologist

[buglebrush]

Driving N. Idaho fews years back in the snow we cut dozens of different sets of moose tracks.  Every single one had a wolf or more following them.  Boggles my mind how we have any moose left at all.

Exactly.  Climate change?  What a farce!  In North Idaho moose decline directly correlates with wolf numbers

Wouldn't the "climate change" have too make winters warmer to create the tick problem? I wouldn't say we have had warmer winters for a while quite the opposite. I know the moose all died because of global warming and ticks but why did the ticks decide to finally kill the moose when the wolves showed up? I guess I will have to ask a biologist

Exactly.  We broke records for cold this winter. 

[idaho guy]

I have drawn my moose tag already, and with friends and family in the past, we have done the late season tags in 1. Last year a hunting partner had the same tag as me and it was pretty disappointing and really sad how bad the numbers had seemed to decline in just a few years. He ended up shooting a dink at the end of season.  Anyways, I am putting my son in and wonder if anyone has recent experience with 5? I had hunted that for deer and elk in the past but its been a while since I have spent any serious time there. Used to be polluted with moose where I hunted but was wondering if anyone had a more recent status of the moose in 5?  pm or whatever would be appreciated. Thanks! I will add that its great that Idaho f&g has reduced the tags based on what I have been seeing with the moose. I just wish there was more honesty surrounding what the moose problem really is.     

[wolfbait]

WDFW doesn’t care about Moose or hunters. As long as they can keep selling tags.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If we go for reduced tags rather than increased predator control we're missing the forest for the trees.  WDFW needs to hear one unified and unrelenting voice from Sportsmen and that's the desperate need for aggressive predator management.  Everything else is just smoke and mirrors without it.

  But as we have already seen some hunters agree that cutting hunting to help the herds is a plus, they seem to forget it's the uncontrolled predators that's having the biggest impact.

[fishngamereaper]

WDFW doesn’t care about Moose or hunters. As long as they can keep selling tags.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If we go for reduced tags rather than increased predator control we're missing the forest for the trees.  WDFW needs to hear one unified and unrelenting voice from Sportsmen and that's the desperate need for aggressive predator management.  Everything else is just smoke and mirrors without it.

  But as we have already seen some hunters agree that cutting hunting to help the herds is a plus, they seem to forget it's the uncontrolled predators that's having the biggest impact.

As far as Idaho goes though you can hunt and kill wolves and you can run dogs for cats.  So I applaud the recognition of reduced #'s and the reduction of tags in an attempt to help the #'s rebound.

[idaho guy]

WDFW doesn’t care about Moose or hunters. As long as they can keep selling tags.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If we go for reduced tags rather than increased predator control we're missing the forest for the trees.  WDFW needs to hear one unified and unrelenting voice from Sportsmen and that's the desperate need for aggressive predator management.  Everything else is just smoke and mirrors without it.

  But as we have already seen some hunters agree that cutting hunting to help the herds is a plus, they seem to forget it's the uncontrolled predators that's having the biggest impact.

As far as Idaho goes though you can hunt and kill wolves and you can run dogs for cats.  So I applaud the recognition of reduced #'s and the reduction of tags in an attempt to help the #'s rebound.

  I just heard Idaho increased wolf tags to 20 from 10. Idaho has gone all out on every predator AND they have the wisdom to still cut tags at the cost of revenue. They have proposed lions with dogs stay open through June which I think they are going over board on cat control but they just keep adding to the wolf seasons which is great. Idaho big game is going to be fine Washington on the other hand might be screwed

[BULLBLASTER]

WDFW doesn’t care about Moose or hunters. As long as they can keep selling tags.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If we go for reduced tags rather than increased predator control we're missing the forest for the trees.  WDFW needs to hear one unified and unrelenting voice from Sportsmen and that's the desperate need for aggressive predator management.  Everything else is just smoke and mirrors without it.

  But as we have already seen some hunters agree that cutting hunting to help the herds is a plus, they seem to forget it's the uncontrolled predators that's having the biggest impact.

As far as Idaho goes though you can hunt and kill wolves and you can run dogs for cats.  So I applaud the recognition of reduced #'s and the reduction of tags in an attempt to help the #'s rebound.

  I just heard Idaho increased wolf tags to 20 from 10. Idaho has gone all out on every predator AND they have the wisdom to still cut tags at the cost of revenue. They have proposed lions with dogs stay open through June which I think they are going over board on cat control but they just keep adding to the wolf seasons which is great. Idaho big game is going to be fine Washington on the other hand might be screwed

Wolf tags are otc in Idaho. Anyone can buy up to 5 tags

[meatwhack]

You can buy 10 for some regions along with 10 trapping tags. So there are areas you could kill 20 in a year.

[Falcon]

I believe Idaho F/G has their crap together.  I hope the moose have a fighting chance, but that’s a tall order when wolves are imo the smartest hunting animal on the planet bar none.   I feel extremely lucky to have drawn a Washington late  moose tag back a few years back.   I hunted 14 days to take a average mature bull.  I passed up many small dink’s so it was rewarding to hit pay dirt late in the season.  I never saw a wolf during my hunt, but saw many tracks.  Honestly there was way more cougar sign, and I did run into a female cat with 3 kittens.  I wish every hunter had one chance to hunt moose in Washington before they are a rare species😳

[huntnnw]

people say its a more complicated problem than just predators.  Lets say there were no wolves introduced we wouldnt be talking about this. Bios have stated that wolves are and have targeted moose calves in areas with moose. A moose calf is a easy dinner for a wolf it doesnt take rocket scientist to figure out when calf survival is plummeting why the population is tanking.

[Stein]

I venture a guess that savvy states will start adding wolf tags for free with their big game tags for both residents and nonresidents.