Calf tags I support Calf Tag…

Calf tags
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. This should allow MNR to increase adult tags. Too many stressors on moose, First nation harvest is high, wolf protection along with closure of spring bear hunt increased predation on calves and habitat loss. We need to use the tools to grow the moose population, you cannot do that by killing to many calves. I have heard moose hunters say "farmers don't kill their calves why should hunters". Many units in province are seeing major decline which reflects back to lack of available tags. MNR should have implemented calf tags a long time ago which could have fixed some of the tag problems. I agree it is time for calf control to grow populations, but also help hunters to apply in their respective units. CALF TAGS should also be set up on all units in the province now so it can be turned on and off when needed and don’t need to go through a formal review like this one. Let local managers use it when needed to do the right thing for the moose population.
New Bow Season
Bow season in all units is important to my hunting party. It should be in all the units in the province where there is a gun season, even the far north units that open early for gun (ie 16A,B,C). Right now the system is totally biased towards gun which is really very unfair and I don't agree with! Very poosr allocations to archery where there is a season of 3-5%. With so little this leads to more competition with hunters for tags needing very large groups sizes to be guaranteed an archery tag while gun it is only 4-8 hunters in many northern units. More hunters are getting away from the gun hunt and looking at archery opportunities, I’m sure MNR can see this! With success rates are lower also and seasons are much shorter than gun could provide more tags. We need to also see a more consistent allocation approach across the province I would suggest 15-20% of total harvest allocations going towards the archery season to be more fair, reduce competition for tags along with group sizes. We also don’t want to saturate one unit in the province having hunters apply there which can spoil the hunt. MNR needs educate themselves how much bow hunting has changed across North America, watch more game channels.
Moose Season
I feel the moose seasons in the northeast and northwest are too long on an individual tag. Why not break them into multiple seasons (4-3 week seasons long each) and apply tags for each? This would help spread people out better , reduce crowding and lower success rate maybe increasing tags. I am sure that MNR knows when hunters are most successful and could apply tags to each season accordingly. Season in south is only 1 week long each for archery and gun, so how can a 12 week season not be hard on tag allocation as it increases chances at filling tags.

Group Sizes
As for group sizes I agree but go farther make archery groups of 4-5 and gun groups of 5-6. 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 in hunters, my understanding this increases success rates and can reduce tags in the long run.

Point System
As for the point system I cannot support. This will bring hunters back into the draw system 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 of applying and put more pressure on those units and the hunters that stay within. It also sounds confusing leading to more frustration to hunters and more complaints. On top the cost will be high to create a new system, so where is the money going to come from and what else may be cut?
I also see this affecting 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! The province should keep the current system since it is working but maybe tweak to best fit tag allocations with the new proposals put forth. With the reduction in moose hunters the SPA must be seeing a big hit along with lack of funding and downsizing of the government, it doesn’t make sense to build a new system at this time.
Groups Hunting
This date and time no hunter should be applying in the moose draw alone. Consider giving applying 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 15-20% of total allocation. The system would be set up as now that allocates to group hunters first process and the last remaining up to 20% of the tags would then be made available go to unsuccessful groups along with individual applicants. This would still give unsuccessful group hunter applicants a chance of getting a tag in the second round of the draw. We need to get rid of individual hunters to maximise groups in getting tags. The longest running in the group would still get the tag as they do today.