The Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and Boise Forte Band announced a nine bull moose subsistence hunt this fall.
The Fond du Lac Band set a bulls-only quota of 30. Fond du Lac hunters will take to the forest on September 26, and the hunt will end when the 30-bulls quota has been reached, or by December 1.
Grand Portage and Boise Forte moose hunters season begins October 3 and runs to the end of the year or until the harvest quota has been met.
Grand Portage and Boise Forte members will have the opportunity to hunt in the 1854 ceded territory in Northeastern Minnesota.
In 1988, Grand Portage and Boise Forte set their season under regulations established by the 1854 Treaty Authority, which manages hunting and fishing held off-reservation under an agreement with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
Initially, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa was part of that arrangement, but the band withdrew the next year and is not part of the agreement covering Grand Portage and Boise Forte.
In 2013, the three bands suspended their subsistence moose hunts after being asked to do so by the state.
Moose population numbers peaked in northeastern Minnesota in 2006 when the DNR estimated 8,840 moose were in Northeastern Minnesota.
Following 2006, the moose population fell steadily, declining by 55 over the next five years. In 2012, wildlife researchers radio/GPS collared and tracked moose to see why they were dying in such large numbers. However, over the last eight years, the moose population has remained relatively stable at an estimated 3,500.
What killed so many moose?
Wildlife researchers have studied a variety of likely culprits that could cause such a steep decline in moose numbers. The list includes global warming, diseases, brain worm, flukes, winter ticks, predators, and lack of suitable habitat.
In 2018, Dr. Seth Moore, Director of Biology and Environment for the Grand Portage Band, found that on the Reservation, 80 percent of moose die from health-related issues or parasites. Nearly 40 percent show neurological symptoms caused by brain worms, which is a natural parasite of deer.
Moore conjectured that if we managed our deer population better, more moose would live. “This could be accomplished by increasing deer harvest by hunters or altering the habitat so there isn’t as much interaction between deer and moose, which would also reduce brain worm infection,” he said. “But the only way we will know that is if we collar. Using collared moose, we can measure whether moose mortality rates from brain worm decline with the implementation of such management strategies. Perhaps managing for low deer population levels in core moose range can help restore the moose population,” he said at the time.
Winter ticks are also killing moose, but their effects on cows that live through the winter also can’t be forgotten. “Those cows come into the spring weak and malnourished, and their calves can be sickly,” Moore said.
It is these anemic animals, suspects Moore, which wolves prey on.
“I don’t see much predation by wolves. Six percent of the adults I have studied can be attributed to wolf kills. Wolves kill moose that are dying. They do a lot of scavenging, not preying on healthy moose,” he said.
Black bears were also found to kill calves. To combat that, Grand Portage initiated a spring bear hunt to enable higher bear harvest and reduce predator density on the landscape.
“By continuing to collar moose calves and monitoring survival, we can measure whether calf mortality rates decline with the increased bear harvest. Perhaps managing for lower predator population levels in a core moose range can help restore the moose population.
Under the direction of Grand Portage Band Land Trust Manager Tony Swader and Dr. Seth Moore, Grand Portage has been working to improve the habitat for moose, with future research focusing on identifying the most effective habitat improvements that can be made to benefit moose so that habitat improvements can be achieved on a large scale.
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