I am not a hunter, but I've…

I am not a hunter, but I've had numerous close meetings with moose in Algonquin park and elsewhere and it is always a trip highlight.  As an Ontarian I have as much a right to enjoy these magnificent animals as the people who hunt them. I don't oppose hunting, but I have low confidence that the management of these animals is being done in the interests of their long term sustainability.  I've spent enough time in backcountry areas to know that these animals are under tremendous pressure from hunting/poaching, recreational vehicles, cottages/cabins, logging, and other forms of resource extraction.  I would suggest that we should be creating more sanctuaries to provide the moose with a lower-stress environment to reproduce and maintain populations.  I also don't see how it's sporting to shoot moose calf and think that it should be drastically reduced, and preferably eliminated completely everywhere. More efforts should also be directed at reducing poaching, I personally know hunters who think it's ok to shirk the rules as long as a game warden isn't looking. This attitude is the reason we need more enforcement.

Even if I don't see the Moose often, I like the idea that they are out there and thriving. There are many more of us non-hunters then there are hunters in this province. We have a right to demand that Moose populations be maintained in a sustainable way. The management of populations should not be done only in the interests of one relatively small group of hunters.