tagging

[simplify]

im new to the province and even skip local hunting to make sure i get all in order before going out, like finding a good butcher and making sure i understand the different rules out here from where im accustom to (even had to take double/triple looks as there are missing rules ); and sense i was still legal to hunt as resident back home, i did all my hunting there.

curious to get feedback on what people think on the way you are to tag your game in Alberta; mostly geared for Moose, Elk, Deer.

Since you hunt above game as antlered/antlerless (with calf moose added to the mix for variety), I find it strange to have to affix tag to the hind leg with the junk (scrotum/testies/utters); and on that note, why the utters and not the vulva?

im used to tagging deer on the head since tags are antler/antlerless (base of antler if antler, in the ear if antlerless)
For moose, we tag on the hind leg with junk (no utters for cows, must keep vulva) for adult because the tags back home are for Cow/Bull (so have to extra careful late in the season when bulls shed their antlers); and for a calf we tag the bottom jaw sense key tell tell feature is the short nose.
(No need to carry out the head for adult moose, can leave it the bush; must bring calf head thou; and just to clarify, most WMUs back home you can tag a calf with any adult tag, so even if you shoot a female calf, and you tag it as a cow, no need to keep head)

leaving the unskinned tail makes perfect sense to ID WT vs Mullie.

and on that note....maybe someone can correct me if im wrong in saying that Alberta is Antler/Antlerless for above game, maybe a loophole i missed in the regs. so in late November and December, when its possible to shoot a buck/bull that has shed its antlers, it is considered to be antlerless in Alberta, right?

[Rantastic]

anything without antlers 4 inches long is considered antlerless. Thats why they don't label buck/doe bull/cow. U can shoot boy calves with cow elk and moose tag. I think always tagging the same place for every animals makes for ease.

[Sneeze]

Originally Posted by crazy_fool1

anything without antlers 4 inches long is considered antlerless.

While I kinda understand what you are getting at, this advice will get you in trouble.

Alberta has a lot of ungulate species and the classifications are different for almost all of them.

4" of horn on an Antelope tagged with a non-trophy tag will get you in serious trouble.

4" of horn on a whitetail buck tagged with a antlerless tag will result in trouble.

4" of horn on a bull moose tagged with a cow moose tag....

You can see where I am going with this.

[simplify]

i like tagging in same place for most all game, keep it simple stupid...havent seen a real AB tag yet, but from pics, looks like they are on the shorter side, so hind leg with wire may work best; has anyone ever used an AB tag without the wire? are they too short?

so no loop hole that i missed...it is antler/antlerless (if antlers fall off naturally, must tag as antlerless)....and yes i did notice the 4 in rule (small change from the 3 in back home)

so why keep the junk attached? sounds like F&W want to try and get people on a technicality; keeping the junk does not seem to serve any purpose except F&W can use it against you if you cut it off or not leave enough skin and gets rip off in transit.
is legacy law from when game here was male/female?

[j m]

Originally Posted by simplify

i like tagging in same place for most all game, keep it simple stupid...havent seen a real AB tag yet, but from pics, looks like they are on the shorter side, so hind leg with wire may work best; has anyone ever used an AB tag without the wire? are they too short?

so no loop hole that i missed...it is antler/antlerless (if antlers fall off naturally, must tag as antlerless)....and yes i did notice the 4 in rule (small change from the 3 in back home)

so why keep the junk attached? sounds like F&W want to try and get people on a technicality; keeping the junk does not seem to serve any purpose except F&W can use it against you if you cut it off or not leave enough skin and gets rip off in transit.
is legacy law from when game here was male/female?

From the regs-
"To tag your kill using the adhesive tag that comes with your licence, attach the wire loop to the animal as described above for various species and classes. Close and secure the loop by affixing the adhesive tag over the free ends of the wire."
I haven't heard of anyone trying to tag without the wire; you would probably have problems with a CO if you didn't. I always have a few spares with my tags just in case.

The "junk" is left attached to prove sex. Making your cuts through the hide around evidence of sex before you start skinning leaves plenty of tissue to hold things together. If it were to come off, call F&W right away to document it.

It's good to see someone taking the time to understand the regs they are unsure of.

[duffy4]

Quoted from "The Guide..."

The evidence of sex, species or class that must be retained is as follows:

moose, elk, deer, antelope, bison and non-trophy sheep - attached to the same part of the animal to which the tag is affixed, one of the following:
testicles, scrotum, or udder, and in the case of deer only, the completely haired tail, or
the head with horns or antlers attached if the animal has horns or antlers, or
the head (complete with the skin on it) if the animal has no horns or antlers, and
in addition,
the complete skull plate with horns or antlers intact must be retained with the carcass of the male antelope, male elk or male non-trophy sheep
the complete head must be retained with the carcass of a calf moose harvested under authority of a Calf Moose Special Licence.

So you see you do not HAVE to leave the "equipment" attached.

[simplify]

i am not confused about what the law states or how to really keep the junk
my big thing is why does the junk have to be kept at all...it serves no purpose. sure it ID sex....but who cares, sex has nothing to do with legal/illegal game thats why its an antler/anterless tag.

im sure that some are thinking im being a dumbarse, but i like understanding rules and why they are in place; most are created for a logical purpose, this one does not and should not exist.

And for the use of the wire...thats right regs do instruct on the use of the wire, but is it really law to use it, i will have to ask F&W as i think its more of a guideline and yes since the wire is provided with the tag, i would use it, it will bring me back to the days when i first started hunting big game

I'm guessing we tag the way we do to reduce abuse by some that might use a tagged set of antlers for a "few" different animals of various sexes. A bit harder to pack a quarter around with you...lol

[270WIN]

Originally Posted by simplify

i am not confused about what the law states or how to really keep the junk
my big thing is why does the junk have to be kept at all...it serves no purpose. sure it ID sex....but who cares, sex has nothing to do with legal/illegal game thats why its an antler/anterless tag.

Then just leave the complete head, with antlers if it's an antlered animal, attached to the portion of the carcass to which you've attached your tag and cut the scrotum or udder as the case may be (ie. the "junk" to use your words) off if that's the way you want to do it. You have the option of doing it this way and still being in compliance with the regs.

[simplify]

Originally Posted by sheephunter

I'm guessing we tag the way we do to reduce abuse by some that might use a tagged set of antlers for a "few" different animals of various sexes. A bit harder to pack a quarter around with you...lol

even thou i have never heard of any poachers carrying heads with them for that purpose, but that is a good reason and im sure the reason that made the decision to tag hind quarter....but that is a false sense of security by F&W if they actually practice that; it is infact very easy to re-use a tag off the hind quarter; but now that i think of it, it was harder (not impossible...only a bit harder) to do so with the wire...and no, i have never recycled a tag, but have tested the ease of unsticking a tag to see how easy it is as i have heard of poachers doing so and wanted to see how difficult it was

[simplify]

Originally Posted by 270WIN

Then just leave the complete head, with antlers if it's an antlered animal, attached to the portion of the carcass to which you've attached your tag and cut the scrotum or udder as the case may be (ie. the "junk" to use your words) off if that's the way you want to do it. You have the option of doing it this way and still being in compliance with the regs.

and i will

by the feedback, i take i was the only one that finds this a strange law
http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/images/smilies/shark.gif

[270WIN]

Originally Posted by simplify

and i will

by the feedback, i take i was the only one that finds this a strange law
http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/images/smilies/shark.gif

Leaving the complete head attached works reasonably well with deer sized animals. It can be a bit problematic, though, if you're dealing with something like a bull moose, in which case you would likely want to skin and quarter it in the field particularly if you are hunting alone or even with just one other person. I think that may be why the regs provide us with a couple of options.

If you are worrying about the scrotum or udder tainting the meat, don't. That's the way I almost always deal with the requirement to retain evidence of sex and species and it doesn't hurt the meat at all.

[Rantastic]

Originally Posted by Sneeze

While I kinda understand what you are getting at, this advice will get you in trouble.

Alberta has a lot of ungulate species and the classifications are different for almost all of them.

4" of horn on an Antelope tagged with a non-trophy tag will get you in serious trouble.

4" of horn on a whitetail buck tagged with a antlerless tag will result in trouble.

4" of horn on a bull moose tagged with a cow moose tag....

You can see where I am going with this.

I'm not usually one to nit pick here sneeze but you really need to take a look at page 38 in the regs before you spout off and misinform people your version of the laws and get them into law breaking habits...

In the page 38 on the online regs, where it discuses and has pictures of big game identification... halfway down the page on the right hand side there is a shaded grey box inside of which has the text
''ANTLERED - A white tailed deer, mule deer, moose or elk having an antler exceeding 4 inches of length.
ANTLERLESS - A white tailed deer, mule deer, moose or elk that is not "antlered'' (as described above)"

Therefore, everything you stated is false and illegal!!! And antelope are classified as trophy and non trophy, not antlered or antlerless like as in the above rules. Trophy antelope have to be male antelope with 5 inch horns or better, and non trophy antelope are females or males with horns 3 inches long or shorter

Please please look into this information and memorize it for your own good and stop spreading your incorrect information around as you will get people in trouble thinking that you are right and correcting people who are actually right and abiding by the laws put out for us.
In lamens terms... 4 inches of antler or less on white tails, mulie bucks, bull elk, and bull moose are all considered antlerless and must be tagged as such!

Everyone check for themselves so you can correct others who still don't understand our albertan tagging system.
http://www.albertaregulations.ca/Hunting-Regs-2010.pdf