I get that the 11 parties unable to use moose permits because of last year’s Pagami Creek fire should be allowed to hunt in 2012. I understand why DNR employees involved with the moose hunt would like to hold onto their jobs and those involved in studying the moose population decline wish to continue to receive funding.
It seems obvious with a 50% decline in moose numbers over the past six years that moose are headed the way of woodland caribou in northeast Minnesota. The DNR believes that the continued harvest of 50 or more bulls will have little effect on the successful breeding of remaining cows.
Hasn’t harvesting the 651 moose from 2006 through 2011 actually lowered the population by that number? Is the current income the DNR derives from a reduced annual hunt worth more than the value of those animals to tourism? Won’t harvesting bulls from the more accessible parts of moose country reduce the bull to cow ratio in those areas, threatening even further the success of breeding? As reduced numbers spread moose further apart over the landscape, won’t successful breeding become even less productive?
The DNR will benefit from additional funds with a wolf hunt/trapping season, which will compensate for lost income should the moose hunt be discontinued. The hunt should have been suspended as the herd continues to decline or until numbers might rebound substantially.
Every moose that continues to be harvested reduces the joy of living in this unique part of the country.
Bob LaMettry
Grand Marais
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