Bad Spring For Grizz

[nube]

They didn't give out mountain zones the last few years because that is were hunter success is the greatest.  It was their way of still having a hunt while not killing many bears.  Keeps both sides of the coin happy I guess untill it finally got shut down.

[sheepguide]

Bear harvest in 2002 was roughly 15 bears, in 2001 it was roughly 17 and in 2000 was 19 by that facts I found. With the highest harvests from 1997 - 2002 being in GMA 3a, which I beleive by the crappy map I found is NE of Hinton.

Funny part about the info I found is their stats have the grizz population in 2002 at 968 bears and it shows a steady increase in population from 1988 where there was a population of 575 bears.

[sheepguide]

Here are the grizz tag numbers for 2002 which I beleive was the last year we had a season.

GMA 1 - 30
GMA 2a - 5
GMA 2b - 19
GMA 3a - 19
GMA 3b - 27
GMA 4a - 8
GMA 4b - 15
GMA 4c - 3
GMA 6&7 - 3

And the harvest numbers

GMA 1 - 2
GMA 2a - 0
GMA 2b - 1
GMA 3a - 2
GMA 3b - 1
GMA 4a - 1
GMA 4b - 3
GMA 4c - 3
GMA 6&7 - 2

GMA 4a,b,c are the main mountaing zones as well as well as 6 and 7 in the south so yes there was tags in the mountain zones.

[nube]

Justin I beleive it was WMU 342 just off the forestry road between Hinton and Rob

I'm not sure if I believe those numbers Sheepguide.  I'm not sure if they added roadkill to those stats but there were only 6 bears shot the last year.  Also the last couple years I beleive they shut down a pile of zones which I thought were considered the mountain areas.  Where did you get this info from?  Got a link, I'm curious. 

[sheepguide]

Its the total harvest Nube excluding any other mortality. Its right from the  Report on Alberta  Grizzly Bear Assesment of Allocation by Gordon Steinhouse(provincial grizzly bear specialist), Alberta SRD and F+W, Dr. Mark Boyce and John Boulanger. So you know if you really wanna disagree maybe look things up first as there was more than 6 bears by their numbers and I think they have a pretty good idea.
Total known mortality for 2002 was 33 bears.

Here is the link   http://albertawilderness.ca/issues/wildlife/grizzly-bears/archive/2003_RP_GB.pdf

[JIMMY 808]

Here is a link from the Simpson’s

[nube]

Before you get your panties in a knot as usual Darcy I hope you realise I am not calling you out.  I was curious to see the info as I have not and I really don't care to look it up.  I am not a fan of DATA because they make it look any way they want.  This might be the case here.  The year I sot my bear I talked to that Steinhouse guy and the lead guys for the year because my bear had a GPS device shoved up it's nose and I wanted to return it so they could get the info.  They told me that during the hunt season 6 bears were killed is all I am going from.  Now it looks like it is reported at 15.  Could it be that there were some legal native kills on there on that number?  It's a lot of info on there but I always thought that the harvest rate for Griz was usually about 5-8% of the tags given out in most years and it never really got higher than a dozen bears in a year.  I must be mistaken but I had always thought that and don't have past info to go on. 

[JIMMY 808]

Here are the grizz tag numbers for 2002 which I beleive was the last year we had a season.

GMA 1 - 30
GMA 2a - 5
GMA 2b - 19
GMA 3a - 19
GMA 3b - 27
GMA 4a - 8
GMA 4b - 15
GMA 4c - 3
GMA 6&7 - 3

And the harvest numbers

GMA 1 - 2
GMA 2a - 0
GMA 2b - 1
GMA 3a - 2
GMA 3b - 1
GMA 4a - 1
GMA 4b - 3
GMA 4c - 3
GMA 6&7 - 2

GMA 4a,b,c are the main mountaing zones as well as well as 6 and 7 in the south so yes there was tags in the mountain zones.

Thanks Darcy.

[sheepguide]

Past years are in there as well Nube.

[nube]

Thanks.  Did it by chance have any numbers on native harvest or is that counted seperate?

[walking buffalo]

Grizzly Licences and Harvest

2002 -  130 - 15 
2003 -  101 - 18 
2004 -    73 - 6 
2005 -    73 - 10

Alberta Grizzly Bear Mortality Rates 2002-2011
http://www.srd.alberta.ca/FishWildlife/WildlifeManagement/BearManagement/GrizzlyBears/GrizzlyBearMortalityRates.aspx



pitw,

  You start off by claiming you know nothing about bears. I believe you.

 Ever noticed how any hunted species: ungulate, canines, felines, birds... become "educated" soon after opening day? 


 It's time F&W let their balls drop and re-instate a Grizzly bear hunt. Hunting is Legislated as a management tool for problem wildlife. Let's get back on track.

[sheepguide]

Thanks.  Did it by chance have any numbers on native harvest or is that counted

[sheepguide]

Thanks.  Did it by chance have any numbers on native harvest or is that counted seperate?

I would think if there were any native harvest which I would believe to be minimal as I've been informed by some natives that do to religious beliefs they do not hunt their brother the bear( or at least the ones we supplied bear meat to in the north while guiding bear hunts) these harvest wouldn't be registered or documented just as many of the other native harvests.

And im far from knowing anything about natives just what a few I've gotten to know have told me, and like anything else you either believe what people say or not and I know no different so I took their word.

[pitw]

Grizzly Licences and Harvest

2002 -  130 - 15 
2003 -  101 - 18 
2004 -    73 - 6 
2005 -    73 - 10

Alberta Grizzly Bear Mortality Rates 2002-2011
http://www.srd.alberta.ca/FishWildlife/WildlifeManagement/BearManagement/GrizzlyBears/GrizzlyBearMortalityRates.aspx



pitw,

  You start off by claiming you know nothing about bears. I believe you.

 Ever noticed how any hunted species: ungulate, canines, felines, birds... become "educated" soon after opening day? 


 It's time F&W let their balls drop and re-instate a Grizzly bear hunt. Hunting is Legislated as a management tool for problem wildlife. Let's get back on track.

  Walking buffalo, I've noticed the canines are leery of vehicles that stop to shoot at them and ungulates too.  That is a learned response I agree but to be fair there is a [L] of a lot more than 130 people driving around in just one wmu where I live than the 130 per province that you have listed.  It doesn't do anything to keep the coyotes or ungulates from coming into our yard/hay/field though.  As long as there is two people left in the world there will be a dispute going on, just the same as if there is a bear and a human.  They both want it all for themselves and I kinda/sorta think that is natural. 
   A few winters ago a guy asked me to remove coyotes from around his ranch.  I took 51 out with trapping and shooting in the six weeks he was in New Zealand, his first phone call upon coming back was to me saying,"You didn't get them all".  So I'm only guessing here but with Darcy's statement that a bear will move into a vacant area, is hunting the way to keep problem bears away?  There is no easy fix to this problem that I can see.

[nube]

It looks like Walking Buffalo had some more info.  I took it 2002 was the last year of the hunt which it was not it looks like.  The last 2 years where more of what I thought they were.  I thought I was going crazy there for a bit   The lower tag numbers the last 2 years were also due to no mountain zones as well I believe like I also stated earlier.  My dad had a tag up near Grande Cache and the next year when I got the tag they no longer allowed some of the zones up in that area.  It looks like the success rate declined a bit because of it but hard to tell with only 2 years worth of data on it. 
I think the province could sustain 50 tags a year at least and it would not affect the bear numbers. I don't know if I would support 100 tags a year.  Killing 15-18 bears a year seems a bit much but what do I know.  The stats are not clear on how many bears there are out there.  It seems the population is good but with higher populations of humans around I suspect we are going to loose a lot of our bear numbers just because of habitat and not hunting

[Pottymouth]

Count the bears, all feeding in out of a grain bin in Alberta ( south, i believe)

[Skinnydipper]

I think the province could sustain 50 tags a year at least and it would not affect the bear numbers. I don't know if I would support 100 tags a year.  Killing 15-18 bears a year seems a bit much but what do I know.  The stats are not clear on how many bears there are out there.  It seems the population is good but with higher populations of humans around I suspect we are going to loose a lot of our bear numbers just because of habitat and not hunting

15-18 may seem like a large number but again consider the mortality impact that those bears (most typically and preferably older boars) have and the real impact is still negligable, while still ultimately creating a greater element of respect between bears and people.

[Tuc]

Nice Vid!  Whats the name of that song?