Hunting Season Set to Start
(click on image at right for synopsis on 7A regulations)
“The most common mistake is people need to take time, and make sure they are well versed in the regulations” says Cst. McArthur. He says there have been some changes in the regulations as they pertain to compulsory inspections of sheep and goats but changes are easy to spot in the synopsis as they are written in green.
He says people don’t spend enough time watching the animal they plan to harvest “Then we get the report that someone shot a three point instead of a two point or something like that, You really have to take the time because the onus is on you to make sure you are within your right to take that animal.”
He advises that if a hunter plans to hunt on private property, the best thing to do is to get the property owner to give you written permission “That way no one can argue if the hunter had been given permission to be on that property.”
Shooting from vehicles is illegal, as is having a loaded firearm in the vehicle ” People need to remember they need to have their firearms licensing with them and they need to make sure that on a quad, in a truck in a boat, whatever it is, any kind of vehicle, the firearm needs to be unloaded, that includes all the ammunition out of the firearm, they cannot have ammunition in the magazine” plus it has to be a proven safe firearm.
He says people should be prepared when they are in the back country. If they don’t have access to a satellite phone, then make it clear to someone not in your hunting party just where you plan to hunt and when you plan to be heading home “You should have a plan, so that at the very least, should something happen, there is someone who knows you are overdue and missing”.
An added dimension this year is the call for deer heads to be inspected for Chronic Wasting disease. Although not yet in B.C, the disease has been confirmed in Alberta and Biologists want to make sure it hasn’t crossed into this province. In Prince George , those deer heads can be dropped off at the Fish and Wildlife office at Forests Lands and Natural Resources.
He also asks hunters to be respectful of hunting in the proximity of range lands. Often hunters will clean out the animal where it has been harvested, leaving a pile of waste behind. There have been concerns expressed at the Regional District of Fraser Fort George that such piles attract predators, who deal with that waste, then turn their attention to sheep, goats or cattle that may be grazing nearby. McArthur says hunters should just be conscientious “If you know you’re in an area that’s right beside someone’s cattle property, or you’ve been given permission to hunt on private land and there are cattle in the area, have a shovel handy and bury the pile.”
McArthur says people do make mistakes, and it’s better to own up before Conservation Officers finds out “When you do self-report ( a mistake) it will be investigated, but it will be looked on differently than if we find it, and have to chase some people down. The RAPP line is there, mistakes are made, it looks like a 2 point and you watched it for a while, you shoot it, and it’s really a 3 point. You won’t get to keep your moose, but you might come out of it with a warning instead of a bunch of fines.”
Comments
Should be called…Social media slaughter season.
To make that sound right…it seems so many hunters just can’t wait to make a kill so that they can quickly post it to social media and brag about it…
Give it a rest you anti……….
Anti??? I’ve been hunting for almost 50 years now and I harvest only what I need for the following year…Hunting has changed drastically in the last decade or so and not for the better…The amount of untrained hunters out there scares the crap out of me…anybody can take the core course and have a gun but that doesn’t make them a hunter or knowing how to be safe in the bush. I think the worst thing I have seen is so many have no idea where there bullets go after they leave the barrel…in a period of 5 years my house got hit 3 times…believe it or not it is not a right to hunt as so many think but rather a privilege.
Nothing wrong with hunting. Beats marching up and down the aisle at your favourite supermarket hunting for the elusive cellophane wrapped…hormone ingested chunk of meat that costs more than some people make in an hour!
Let me tell you a little story how your favourite moo…moo got to the cellophane stage. Go tour a slaughter house and you will get a rude awakening. WE did as students one year at the bottom of Cambie st. in Vancouver. This old bull wouldn’t move along so they prodded him in the balls, well he ran thru 3 sets of fences to momentarily freedom. Next they lead him into a chute and shoot him between the eyes with a piston gun, roll him out, slit his throat and let him bleed out and this big ol beast is swaying and bucking on the hoist. IT for sure is an eye opener.
Now I know that your going to say that your a vegetarian…good on you less competition both at the grocery store and in the bush.
My native brothers have a saying…VEGETARIAN in my language means LOUSY hunter!
Ice….I am a hunter…have been my whole life…but I respect all life and would never brag or post photo’s about an animals life that I just took…It’s a personal thing…I just don’t understand why so many hunters…city folk…have to post all this killing to social media…mostly facebook…and brag about their kill… A yes I totally understand how domestic slaughter houses work…
Well ice, I will take my steak from an approved slaughterhouse as opposed to an animal killed out in the bush. Really, what is different about the way you kill and clean it in the bush compared to a slaughterhouse, other than the fact you will have a bunch of hair, ticks, dirt etc. in your moose.
What a bunch of crap duffer.
Oh gee and all animals live in harmony in the bush. Ever see wolves take down a moose? Generally is not clean and fast. Once the moose is down the wolves start feeding, oh and the moose is generally still alive when the feeding starts.
As for vegetarian that means wiping out the local fawna for crop land and keeping the local fawna out. Vegetarian is not clean by any means.
You got that right. My food poops on vegetarians food.
By and large, the hunters out there are law abiding conservationists.
There are the one percenters who have some serious issues. I was going to work out the KK last year and here’s a guy ahead of me in a green pickup, doing his slow road hunt, would not pull over to let me by. Signalling, honking, nothing worked. Finally got by and his plate number went to the CO’s.
There’s the folks who trespass on clearly marked private land at the risk of losing their ATV’s and hunting privileges, the guys who think there’s nothing wrong with having a few beer as they roadhunt.
And then then there are those who will set up camp in the middle of a road, perhaps to ensure no one can hunt beyond them.
And I’ve been shot at by a guy in a boat on the river, must have thought I was good eating, but he didn’t have a tag for me.
There’s common sense, there’s good judgement exercised by most out there, but as hunters, we have to assist the CO’s and let them know by reporting the infractions we see, not by bellyaching about it to others.
I wish everyone could harvest their animal but it’s getting pretty tight out there which leads to risky behavior. And get out and go for a walk in the bush, lots of trails, no need to get lost.
There, I feel better. Happy Hunting!
I reported someone shooting from the back of a pickup once. It was directly reported to a CO on a fishing forum website. The claim I made included photos of the perp shooting from the back of the truck which were posted on a hunting forum website. The CO claimed the info I provided was not found on the website and therefore nothing would be done to further the investigation. The evidence is still posted on that hunting forum website.
The law, and sometimes the collection of evidence, is sometime an ass.
And total frustration to you and sometimes to the CO. Don’t let that stop you from reporting the next one. Hopefully it works next time.
“He also asks hunters to be respectful of hunting in the proximity of range lands. Often hunters will clean out the animal where it has been harvested, leaving a pile of waste behind. There have been concerns expressed at the Regional District of Fraser Fort George that such piles attract predators, who deal with that waste, then turn their attention to sheep, goats or cattle that may be grazing nearby. McArthur says hunters should just be conscientious “If you know you’re in an area that’s right beside someone’s cattle property, or you’ve been given permission to hunt on private land and there are cattle in the area, have a shovel handy and bury the pile.”
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Gut piles are great for attracting predators to a lead pill dinner.
Gut piles also bring predators closer to the cattle. But elsewhere,
yes, wolves, fair game. You do wanna hold your nose if you’re skinning out a wolf, they stink to high heaven.
At $500.00 a pelt I’d do it all day everyday.
At $500 a winter hide obviously there is a good payback for effort. What concerns me is the general culling of wolves by the government without any regard, or consideration, to pack behavior.
Wolf packs lead by conditioned Alpha Males who target easy prey (cattle and other domestic animals) need to have the entire pack eradicated as that type of predatory behavior is learned within that entire wolf pack.
But to have our government undertake a generic wolf cull program irrespective of individual wolf pack behavior, I don’t agree with.
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