I support Calf tag control…

I support Calf tag control but it should be for the entire province to grow moose populations. No one should be able to harvest calves now without a calf tag, we cannot get adults without maximising our reproduction.

Technology has changed too much and it is not 1983 anymore when this selective harvest system came into effect. First nation harvest is high, wolf protection along with closure of spring bear hunt increased predation on calves. They need help to grow the population. I have heard moose hunters say "farmers don't kill their calves why should hunters".

Many units in province are seeing decline which reflects back to lack of available tags, making hunters disappointed in the system. MNR's slow decision making to turn things around has not helped the matters. Many management units could have been fixed early on if you would have just taken quicker action instead of dragging your feet.

So I agree it is time for calf control to grow populations, but also help hunters to apply in their respective units. This will help reduce pressure on other units seeing majority of hunters applying where there are adult tags. I feel that calf tags will allow for more adult tags (a switch off).

Bow season in all units is important to me. It should be in all units in the province where there is a gun season. Right now it is biased to gun which is really very unfair and I don't agree with! Allocations should also be more fair and not a measly 3-5% of total allocation. With so little this leads to more competition with hunters for tags needing groups size of 12 or more to get an archery tag while gun it is only 5-8 hunters, again totally biased and needs to change now since more hunters having gotten into archery away from gun. Success rates are lower also and seasons are much shorter. Also I would like to see a consistent allocation approach/amount across all units where there is an archery season.
I also feel the fair share of archery tags allocation would be around the 20% mark of the total harvest allocation to provide less competition for a tag, but not saturate hunting areas with too many hunters spoiling the hunt. It seems MNR staff are not aware how much bow hunting has changed across North America and so has the way we hunt.

Archery needs to be in all units in the province and also open units which have no season at this time. I believe there are areas where moose thrive but there are not hunts at this time. A better allocation of tags will help spread hunters out but also increase chances at getting tags within the groups.

Moose seasons in the northeast and northwest are too long on an individual tag. Why not break them into multiple seasons (2-3 weeks long each) and apply tags for each? I am sure that MNR knows when hunters are most successful so apply tags accordingly. We need to spread hunters out to reduce congestions also. This would help increase tags.

As for group sizes I agree but go farther make archery groups of 4-5 and gun groups of 5-7.
Hunters should also apply together in the draw and if their name is not on the tag within the group they cannot hunt on that tag. This would help reduce walk ins, my understanding this increases success rates and can reduce tags in the long run.

As for the point system I am not for it as it stands. This will bring hunters out of the wood work that have either quit applying or have been applying in units that have no tags for many years. Hunters that have followed the system and have gone to units where there are tags may now be penalized through the new system as proposed. Or it will allow hunters with the most points to go into units surrounding their normal place they apply and put more pressure on those units and the hunters that stay within.

This will also affect the youth in getting a tag, I believe that people like me may go a decade or so without seeing a tag or an opportunity which is not right!

I believe keeping the current system is the best, affordable with the lack of funding and downsizing of the government. We need to use the tools we have with some tweaking possibly.

This date and time no hunter should be applying in the moose draw alone, there are just are not enough moose to go around. Eliminate it is the first step and apply tags to groups as a priority allocation. If it is so important that a hunter wants to apply alone then make an allocation very small to them say 10-20% of total allocation. Maybe have a system that allocates to group hunters first process and the last remaining 20% of the tags would go to unsuccessful groups along with individual applicants. This may still give unsuccessful group hunters a chance of getting a tag in the second round of the draw. Again no hunters should be applying as individuals.