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  #1  
Old 06-13-2017, 07:22 AM
DaveDave DaveDave is offline
 
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Default Hunting in 353

Hello all,
Did anyone hunt in done 353 before?
Is it good zone for elk and moose?
Thank you
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  #2  
Old 06-13-2017, 09:04 AM
nube nube is offline
 
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I've been cleaning out the wolves in the bottom half of it. I wouldn't say it is a great zone for elk or moose but they are there if you spend a lot of time there. I trap in part of that zone and I am lucky to see half a dozen elk and a couple moose in a season. I don't see many gutpiles during hunting season.
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  #3  
Old 06-13-2017, 09:06 AM
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SteveY66 SteveY66 is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nube View Post
I've been cleaning out the wolves in the bottom half of it. I wouldn't say it is a great zone for elk or moose but they are there if you spend a lot of time there. I trap in part of that zone and I am lucky to see half a dozen elk and a couple moose in a season. I don't see many gutpiles during hunting season.
Sweet. Good job on cleaning out those wolves!

Any pictures?
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  #4  
Old 06-13-2017, 01:40 PM
nube nube is offline
 
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Originally Posted by SteveY66 View Post
Sweet. Good job on cleaning out those wolves!

Any pictures?
Yup i do but I have been attacked by jelous outdoorsman and the anti crowd this past year which has caused some grief for me.
I've killed 27 in 2 years now. I suspect the ungulates should do a lot better in the areas I have wiped out most of these wolves.
The other side of the coin is the place is over run with Grizz.
I have also seen more gut piles in Jan/ Feb from certain special groups than I have during hunting season and they also give out enough tags in that zone to wipe out every moose in there. Think somewhere around 800 tags for calling season/normal season with bull and cow tags....
Like I said it is going to take a few years and some changes to get it back the way it should be. From what I was told it used to be an awesome zone back in the day.
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  #5  
Old 06-13-2017, 03:31 PM
st99 st99 is offline
 
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Originally Posted by nube View Post
Yup i do but I have been attacked by jelous outdoorsman and the anti crowd this past year which has caused some grief for me.
I've killed 27 in 2 years now. I suspect the ungulates should do a lot better in the areas I have wiped out most of these wolves.
The other side of the coin is the place is over run with Grizz.
I have also seen more gut piles in Jan/ Feb from certain special groups than I have during hunting season and they also give out enough tags in that zone to wipe out every moose in there. Think somewhere around 800 tags for calling season/normal season with bull and cow tags....
Like I said it is going to take a few years and some changes to get it back the way it should be. From what I was told it used to be an awesome zone back in the day.
Sadly it won't be back to what it once was anytime soon. Our bio want to keep the moose, elk and deer numbers as low as possible to "help" the 10 caribous left. That's why there's more cow tags than live elk and moose in that zone.
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  #6  
Old 06-13-2017, 05:23 PM
Newview01 Newview01 is offline
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We did not have great success in this zone.
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  #7  
Old 06-13-2017, 08:51 PM
Suzukisam Suzukisam is offline
 
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Love it there do all my hunting camping there. Never not filled my tags usually get picky or would fill them first day. Lots to go around. Welcome newbie to the area
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  #8  
Old 06-13-2017, 09:12 PM
7mmremmag 7mmremmag is offline
 
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I have hunted it a couple years in the past. One year we went 0/2 on bull moose tags and 0/2 on cow elk. The next year I filled both my bull moose and cow elk tag. Luck I call it lol
Its definitely an over hunted zone, obviously too many tags.
If you end up hunting it shoot me a PM, I will help as much as possible.
Our group did take a couple big beauty black bears there though.
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  #9  
Old 06-13-2017, 09:57 PM
Smokinyotes Smokinyotes is offline
 
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In the early '90's 353 was our go to zone for moose. Between wolves bears and the governments " protect a couple caribou program" it isnt very good anymore.
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  #10  
Old 06-13-2017, 10:25 PM
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sns2 sns2 is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Smokinyotes View Post
In the early '90's 353 was our go to zone for moose. Between wolves bears and the governments " protect a couple caribou program" it isnt very good anymore.
I can second that. In the early 90s it was awesome. Sounds like not so much now.
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  #11  
Old 06-14-2017, 08:22 AM
Big Grey Wolf Big Grey Wolf is offline
 
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353 was very good zone in 50's to 90's. Now they give out way to many tags for any zone. They give out few hundred elk tags and only 60-70 elk shot each year. Trappers like Nube that are hitting wolves hard keep up some decent moose numbers but not enough for hunter circus in the fall.
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  #12  
Old 06-14-2017, 08:31 AM
338 Rules 338 Rules is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nube View Post
Yup i do but I have been attacked by jelous outdoorsman and the anti crowd this past year which has caused some grief for me.
I've killed 27 in 2 years now. I suspect the ungulates should do a lot better in the areas I have wiped out most of these wolves.
The other side of the coin is the place is over run with Grizz.
I have also seen more gut piles in Jan/ Feb from certain special groups than I have during hunting season and they also give out enough tags in that zone to wipe out every moose in there. Think somewhere around 800 tags for calling season/normal season with bull and cow tags....
Like I said it is going to take a few years and some changes to get it back the way it should be. From what I was told it used to be an awesome zone back in the day.
Wow! Great job and well done!
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  #13  
Old 06-14-2017, 05:36 PM
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ruger338 ruger338 is offline
 
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doesnt anyone do any RECON anymore? yeah SCOUTING
cant believe ppl on this site giving info on any wmu!! get off your arse
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  #14  
Old 06-15-2017, 07:25 AM
DJS DJS is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ruger338 View Post
doesnt anyone do any RECON anymore? yeah SCOUTING
cant believe ppl on this site giving info on any wmu!! get off your arse
It didn't sound like the OP was looking for exact spots to go hunting. Perhaps he lives quite far from this zone and isn't able to get out as much as he would like. Maybe he is lazy like your implying. Regardless, this is a hunting, fishing, outdoor forum. You can't blame people for asking for advice or information like this.
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  #15  
Old 06-15-2017, 07:47 AM
Slicktricker Slicktricker is offline
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Least he asked if its a good zone didn't just come right out and say hey where are the animals lol been a long time since I was up in that area never did see a lot. There's better zones for both in my opinion a lot closer to home
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  #16  
Old 06-15-2017, 08:03 AM
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ruger338 ruger338 is offline
 
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Originally Posted by DJS View Post
It didn't sound like the OP was looking for exact spots to go hunting. Perhaps he lives quite far from this zone and isn't able to get out as much as he would like. Maybe he is lazy like your implying. Regardless, this is a hunting, fishing, outdoor forum. You can't blame people for asking for advice or information like this.
I don't blame him a bit, probably smartest thing he could do. I can put a lil blame on op's responding to his questions, especially to a newbie with 15 posts that joined in Apr. Anyway just call me frustrated I'm trying not to be a DBag, I've spent a lot of time money and effort finding certain hunting areas, then some jerk mentions an area on this site and Boom there's 200 weekend warriors quading through my honey hole firing off Golden BBs at everything
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  #17  
Old 06-15-2017, 08:56 AM
nube nube is offline
 
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lol you're kidding right?
If you are worried about wmu 353 because it is your honey hole then I am laughing right now. It's a huge zone and you already have 800 tags given out in that area. It's not a very special place for moose and elk. I see half a dozen deer all trapping season as well. There are way better areas to hunt!
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  #18  
Old 06-15-2017, 09:15 AM
Drewski Canuck Drewski Canuck is offline
 
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I thought 353 was the zone were the bios were taking road kill, and other bait, and seriously poisoning wolves over the last few years in hopes of allowing the caribou calves to recruit to the herd, which I thought was about 29 animals. Calves were being born, but not reproducing.

Also, this is an area where there was a large fenced area where the caribou were supposed to be safe from the wolves during calving. That project was undertaken by the forestry companies who are accused of cutting the last of the old growth forest around Grande Cache and forcing the caribou into a smaller and smaller area of old growth forest where it was easy for the wolves to find them.

Yes the bios were trying to eliminate the food supply for the wolves by letting the hunters have very generous tag numbers, supposedly so that the wolves would then move on to other zones, as opposed to taking down the last of the caribou.

Trouble is that the packs roam and keep moving into the territory of the prior deceased pack that was poisoned on the bait pile. It takes time to seriously thin out the wolves over such a large area, and therein lies the problem. The wolf cull has to be expanded. Then and only then will all the game animals have a chance at re populate.

As for the caribou, it seems the logical thing to do is keep them behind a fence for as long as possible so that they can multiply in meaningful numbers while culling as many wolves over as big an area as possible. The alternative is to let the Caribou dwindle and be listed as endangered species, and then the Feds move in and take jurisdiction and call the shots for all of us.

Drewski
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  #19  
Old 06-15-2017, 09:28 AM
Big Grey Wolf Big Grey Wolf is offline
 
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In theory if you eliminate the moose you cut off the wolves food source. The old trappers in BC said lots of caribou then moose population expanded, eventually large wolf packs moved in, then they thinned out the caribou. Also grizzly moved down into valleys from high country, probably to take advantage of the good moose calf supply.
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  #20  
Old 06-15-2017, 09:39 AM
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ruger338 ruger338 is offline
 
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No Nube, I haven't hunted 353 in 8-9 yrs I was trying to get somewhat of a point across, my favorite honey hole was destroyed last year because some knob on this site told another knob about a certain zone, being good then like I said 200 other weekend warriors know about it all the sudden. I'm just scratching my head at why leak any positive info and ruin a spot for another guy.
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  #21  
Old 06-15-2017, 04:36 PM
DJS DJS is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ruger338 View Post
I don't blame him a bit, probably smartest thing he could do. I can put a lil blame on op's responding to his questions, especially to a newbie with 15 posts that joined in Apr. Anyway just call me frustrated I'm trying not to be a DBag, I've spent a lot of time money and effort finding certain hunting areas, then some jerk mentions an area on this site and Boom there's 200 weekend warriors quading through my honey hole firing off Golden BBs at everything
I understand your frustration.
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  #22  
Old 06-15-2017, 05:46 PM
Suzukisam Suzukisam is offline
 
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Yes 353 is a big zone and they hand out a lot of moose tags and you only need priority 2 to get one. That is because there are a lot of moose there due to lots of food for them. I've never met anyone who got skunked there just don't hunt off main road to busy. I recommend more people apply there have not seen any tick problems in there that's why populations so high. Govt does a count there every year and no's are holding strong
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  #23  
Old 06-15-2017, 06:07 PM
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ruger338 ruger338 is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Suzukisam View Post
Yes 353 is a big zone and they hand out a lot of moose tags and you only need priority 2 to get one. That is because there are a lot of moose there due to lots of food for them. I've never met anyone who got skunked there just don't hunt off main road to busy. I recommend more people apply there have not seen any tick problems in there that's why populations so high. Govt does a count there every year and no's are holding strong
haha not after this
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  #24  
Old 06-15-2017, 06:48 PM
coolpete1 coolpete1 is offline
 
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we tried there a few times , if your after wolves and bears your gonna be happy, its pretty out there but we never saw any elk , moose , deer or signs of any either.
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  #25  
Old 06-15-2017, 08:17 PM
nube nube is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Suzukisam View Post
Yes 353 is a big zone and they hand out a lot of moose tags and you only need priority 2 to get one. That is because there are a lot of moose there due to lots of food for them. I've never met anyone who got skunked there just don't hunt off main road to busy. I recommend more people apply there have not seen any tick problems in there that's why populations so high. Govt does a count there every year and no's are holding strong
Lots of moose there eh lol You want to know my total moose count for last trapping season there.... it was 5
one bull and the rest cows and the cows are in the portion of 353 that are protected and no tags given. I spent a lot of time up there checking traps driving cutlines and being off the road.
I'm not saying you won't get a moose in there but it's not easy to find one and you will spend most likely a lot of time looking.

Also you do not need 2 years worth of points to get the tag.
You do if you want the Sept October hunt for the 253 tags issued for those months but then you can get a bull 90 percent of the time with 1 point for the 185 other tags in November. Over 400 tags handed out in this zone plus the 350 cow tags for the one half of the zone in the west portion. I don't care how good a population is in a zone or how good the feed it you can't tell me that this is a good zone for moose lol
But if you want to give it a try have at it and I can even tell you were I do see them on a yearly more frequent basis if you want.
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  #26  
Old 06-15-2017, 08:43 PM
Smokinyotes Smokinyotes is offline
 
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Handing cow tags out in 353 is ridiculous. Between the bigstone road and the Tony creek tower i saw 2 moose tracks on family day weekend 3 winters ago. Each moose track had a pack of wolves following them.
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  #27  
Old 06-15-2017, 11:21 PM
nube nube is offline
 
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Well if you guys want to help out and live in the area I am in need of bait all the time. I am limited to what I can do becuase of the bait issue. It costs me a fortune to haul any decent amounts up there and it takes a lot. Roadkill helps but it is not easy moving the odd moose around and deer roadkill is very scarce.
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