The State of Minnesota suspended its Minnesota moose hunt indefinitely in 2013, so guests at Trail Center Lodge on the Gunflint Trail were surprised to hear a group of hunters talking about the moose season opening on Saturday, September 24, 2016. The hunters scoping the mid-Trail area for their upcoming moose hunt were members of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, which is conducting a moose hunt on lands governed by the 1854 Treaty Authority. Under the treaty, members of the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa also have the right to participate in a moose hunt outside the tribal land boundaries. At press time the Grand Portage Tribal Council had not yet made a decision on whether or not to have a moose hunt in ceded territory.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has conducted aerial population surveys since 1960 in northeastern Minnesota, partnering with the Fond du Lac Band and the 1854 Treaty Authority since the 1970s. The DNR halted its state moose hunt after the January 2013 survey showed a moose population decline of 35 percent. The survey estimated the moose population at 2,760 animals, down from 4,230 in 2012 and far below the 8,840 counted in 2006.
The 1854 Treaty Authority, which manages off-reservation hunting, fishing and gathering rights for the Grand Portage and Boise Forte Bands, followed suit and cancelled moose hunts on off-reservation (ceded) lands. The Fond du Lac Band also halted its harvest on ceded land.
The DNR would like to see the moose harvest freeze continue. DNR wildlife program manager Steve Merchant told the Pioneer Press, “We believe the precipitous decline we’ve seen in the moose population is to the point we can’t afford to lose any more moose.”
Fond du Lac authorizes harvest of 25 moose
Mike Schrage, wildlife biologist for the Fond du Lac Band declined to comment on the upcoming season, but he did confirm that the Fond du Lac Band held a lottery for band members to hunt in the 1854 ceded territory, offering 50 bull moose permits. The season will run from September 24 to December 31, or until 25 bulls have been taken. The Fond du Lac Band notice states that the Band will harvest an additional three bull moose for community needs.
Hunters are required to register their moose within 24 hours of harvest. Hunters will be given 48 hours notice of the season’s closing if 25 moose are harvested before December 31.
The area open to hunting, the ceded territory, includes portions of St. Louis County and nearly all of Lake and Cook counties as well as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. It excludes developed areas such as the towns of Silver Bay, Beaver Bay and Grand Marais.
On its website, the Fond du Lac Band explains it made the decision to reinstate the moose harvest on ceded lands “after careful consideration of biological data indicating the moose herd has stabilized in recent years at around 4,000 animals, and taking into account the traditions and cultural practices of the band.”
Grand Portage decision pending
The Cook County News- Herald reached Dr. Seth Moore, director of biology and environment for the Grand Portage Band and asked if Grand Portage was also going to have a moose hunt in 2016. Moore said a decision had not been made yet.
Moore said if a subsistence hunt for moose is held, the 1854 Treaty Authority sets the season and allocates permits for the Boise Forte and Grand Portage bands. Moore said the average harvest when hunts have been conducted in the past has been “about 10 animals for each band, for a total of about 20 animals.”
Moore said, “We are continuing discussion with the State of Minnesota regarding a subsistence hunt for moose. We strongly feel that tribal hunting has not been a factor in the declining moose population. We believe a tribal moose hunt is reasonable and warranted and won’t cause further damage to the moose population.”
Although Grand Portage halted its moose harvest on ceded lands when the DNR halted its moose season, its subsistence hunt continued on Grand Portage Reservation lands during that time, as it will in 2016.
“On reservation lands, we will have a hunt. We have had a continuous hunt on reservation land and have no intentions not to do so,” said Moore.
He said the average harvest in Grand Portage has been 3-5 moose each year, adding, “Essentially, tribal members are allowed one moose per household. However, many people have chosen not to hunt because of concerns about the moose population.”
Moore said if Grand Portage does move forward with a subsistence hunt for moose on ceded lands, it would be a bulls only hunt.
Moose hunt provides information for researchers
Asked if the hunt has any effect on the Grand Portage Biology and Environment Department’s ongoing study of the moose and the declining population, Moore said absolutely. He said critical information is obtained from the harvested moose to add to data collected in the radio collaring program that has been in place since 2009.
Moore said hunters are given kits along with explicit instructions on how to collect blood and tissue samples themselves. He said hunters are conscientious about collecting samples. “People are really cooperative. They are very interested in the research and survival of this critical animal,” said Moore.
Alternatively, hunters can contact Moore and his department and they will come collect samples. “If they contact us, we can come and conduct a complete necropsy,” said Moore.
“From the samples, we learn about relative health of the animal. We can track diseases,” said Moore.
That data, along with the information gathered by all the partners involved in moose research—the DNR, the University of Minnesota Natural Resources Research Institute, the Minnesota Zoo, the 1854 Authority and the Fond du Lac Band—leads Moore to believe the subsistence hunt does not impact northeastern Minnesota’s moose.
“I look at the population numbers and the population decline. From 2012 – 2013, when there was a decline of 1,500 animals, only 80 moose were harvested [by a combination of state and tribal hunters]. That means 95 percent of the mortality is coming from brain worm, winter ticks, liver fluke and predation. Many of these animals would have died anyway,” he said.
If the Grand Portage Band decides to conduct a moose hunt in 2016, a notice will be issued at that time.
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