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Old 08-11-2019, 03:50 PM
Jayhad Jayhad is offline
 
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Default Moose Populations in 214

Hey Guys,

I'm wondering about an observation I've made, I've hunted 214 for 4 years and fished it for 7.

When I started in the area seeing a moose was treat, only 7 years ago. A few moose were seen 4 years ago, last year my cameras caught a few. This year its crazy, I've got 7 cameras deployed on a section and I've got 12 moose frequenting the property.

It isn't moosey property.

On Thursday driving the 766 from Madden to Olds, I counted another dozen moose...

All though it's a draw only area, my anecdotal evidence is the population is getting healthy.

Thoughts

I AM NOT INTERESTED IN HUNTING SAID MOOSE
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  #2  
Old 08-11-2019, 04:32 PM
calgarychef calgarychef is offline
 
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No forest fires in that area and might have been pushed out by fires somewhere else. Fires are good for moose populations in the long run.

In the area they are; Few wolves, lots of feed and lots of private property where they can’t be hunted 24/7/365 ...
All make for healthy populations
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Old 08-11-2019, 04:49 PM
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Yup, population is probably better than ever, they've adapted well.

Grizz
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Old 08-11-2019, 07:25 PM
Esox Esox is offline
 
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I hope to find a good bull with my bow in 214 this fall on my draw tag.
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Old 08-12-2019, 09:51 AM
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I built priority for 12 years dreaming of a mountain moose hunt with a team and wagon. I pulled a farmland tag this year instead because I don’t see the wolves, bears and year round hunting going away.
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Old 08-12-2019, 09:28 PM
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The Bios flew 214. Saw the # of moose. I heard they were going to open up more tags this year.
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Old 08-12-2019, 09:59 PM
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I have lived & hunted 214 for the last 30 years. Harvested a few Moose . Moose numbers are strong, but fewer now than 20 years ago. An old Fish & Wildlife Officer (Jack Morrison) told me some years ago, that there had been a seed project where a bunch of Alaskan Moose had been released into the area, and that in his opinion if there were any really big trophies in Alberta, 214 is where they would be. I remember seeing some outstanding Bulls in the late 80's/early 90's. There has been a lot of development and many new homes built in the area west of Calgary since, and access is pretty tough now. Then it was a four year wait for a draw, now its ten. I see Moose pretty much every day along the roads, mostly cows. I have animals on my land all seasons. He also told me that it was the first place he had observed an adaptation of their feeding behavior where they would drop to their knees to browse.
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Old 08-13-2019, 08:22 AM
Big Grey Wolf Big Grey Wolf is offline
 
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Default moose

Moose are thriving in Parkland/farm areas throughout Alberta. Just a fact their are no wolves, bears or 24/7 hunters. Cows will be seen with twin calves on regular basis as calves not eaten by bears.
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Old 08-13-2019, 01:19 PM
marky_mark marky_mark is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Puma View Post
I have lived & hunted 214 for the last 30 years. Harvested a few Moose . Moose numbers are strong, but fewer now than 20 years ago. An old Fish & Wildlife Officer (Jack Morrison) told me some years ago, that there had been a seed project where a bunch of Alaskan Moose had been released into the area, and that in his opinion if there were any really big trophies in Alberta, 214 is where they would be. I remember seeing some outstanding Bulls in the late 80's/early 90's. There has been a lot of development and many new homes built in the area west of Calgary since, and access is pretty tough now. Then it was a four year wait for a draw, now its ten. I see Moose pretty much every day along the roads, mostly cows. I have animals on my land all seasons. He also told me that it was the first place he had observed an adaptation of their feeding behavior where they would drop to their knees to browse.
Why would they ship Alaskan moose to the prairies outside of Calgary? Especially when there is moose there already 🤨🤷*♂️
You do realize that catching and transporting these moose wouldn’t be very easy today nevermind 20-30 plus years ago
Someone told you a pretty good story
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Old 08-13-2019, 04:39 PM
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I remember seeing moose on their knees in 314 a plethora of times growing up, always thought it was normal?
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Old 08-13-2019, 05:28 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marky_mark View Post
Why would they ship Alaskan moose to the prairies outside of Calgary? Especially when there is moose there already 🤨🤷*♂️
You do realize that catching and transporting these moose wouldn’t be very easy today nevermind 20-30 plus years ago
Someone told you a pretty good story
I'm inclined to agree, the moose population just built naturally, no predators and restricted access. there are some great bulls to be found here, no denying that. Our elk and Mule deer came from Yellowstone, back in the twenties, after the original populations had been about wiped out.

Grizz
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Old 08-13-2019, 06:39 PM
marky_mark marky_mark is offline
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Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams View Post
I'm inclined to agree, the moose population just built naturally, no predators and restricted access. there are some great bulls to be found here, no denying that. Our elk and Mule deer came from Yellowstone, back in the twenties, after the original populations had been about wiped out.

Grizz
It’s pretty amazing to read about about the success stories of the North American model of conservation.
But it’s pretty sad to think that the wildlife was depleted to those kind of levels.
Legitimate possibility of extinction for many of the animal species
Elk island park was created to protect the last 20 some elk, 2-3 moose and 30 or so mule deer
That’s crazy
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Old 08-13-2019, 07:59 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marky_mark View Post
Why would they ship Alaskan moose to the prairies outside of Calgary? Especially when there is moose there already 🤨🤷*♂️
You do realize that catching and transporting these moose wouldn’t be very easy today nevermind 20-30 plus years ago
Someone told you a pretty good story
Some years ago... I didnt say 20 or 30. This could have been 70 or 80 or 90 years, I dont know. Im fairly certain Jack wasn't known for making up stories.

Lots of Alberta's game, and fish for that matter were planted here after it was almost exterminated or it was brought to provide other opportunities like tourism ie: in the National Parks. Even today, game is traded and planted between Canada and the USA on a regular basis.

Bison, Rainbow Trout, Walleye, Pheasants , Brook Trout, Wolves, Hungarian Partridge, Caribou, Black footed Ferrets, Turkey, Deer, Moose... you really think these are all native to Alberta and just thrive here all on their own ?
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Old 08-13-2019, 08:13 PM
IR_mike IR_mike is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Puma View Post
Some years ago... I didnt say 20 or 30. This could have been 70 or 80 or 90 years, I dont know. Im fairly certain Jack wasn't known for making up stories.

Lots of Alberta's game, and fish for that matter were planted here after it was almost exterminated or it was brought to provide other opportunities like tourism ie: in the National Parks. Even today, game is traded and planted between Canada and the USA on a regular basis.

Bison, Rainbow Trout, Walleye, Pheasants , Brook Trout, Wolves, Hungarian Partridge, Caribou, Black footed Ferrets, Turkey, Deer, Moose... you really think these are all native to Alberta and just thrive here all on their own ?
Not sure about brook trout off the top of my head but except for the 3 game birds you listed the rest of them are all native to Alberta.

I also heard while working in Waiporous in 1996 that there had been a reintroduction of moose from Alaska to that area in the early 1900's.
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Old 08-13-2019, 08:35 PM
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Originally Posted by IR_mike View Post
Not sure about brook trout off the top of my head but except for the 3 game birds you listed the rest of them are all native to Alberta.

I also heard while working in Waiporous in 1996 that there had been a reintroduction of moose from Alaska to that area in the early 1900's.
Some native, but reintroduced or re-seeded as required from afar.
The only native Rainbows are in the Athabasca River system

Originally native to eastern Canada, brook trout were introduced into Alberta's waters around 1903. https://www.alberta.ca/brook-trout.aspx

One warm day in 1925, a hatchery truck carrying 45,000 fingerling brown trout broke down on the Trans Canada Highway just east of Banff. The driver, fearing that his cargo would perish if left in the truck, did what seemed to be the right thing at the time - he released the young trout into a nearby stream. The brown trout eventually followed the creek down into the Bow River, and their offspring have lived there ever since.


Though probably the least planned, this was not the first incidence of fish stocking in Banff National Park. Employees of the Canadian Pacific Railway had already introduced eastern brook and rainbow trout into the Bow River as early as the turn of the century.

Last edited by Puma; 08-13-2019 at 08:46 PM.
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Old 08-13-2019, 08:54 PM
marky_mark marky_mark is offline
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Pretty hard to get moose here when the Alaskan highway was built during World War II
All I’m saying is you may think the moose in your zone are big.
But come on man. Alaskan yukon moose are substantially bigger than moose that are 1 zone away from being considered Shiras by sci
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Old 08-13-2019, 09:43 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marky_mark View Post
Pretty hard to get moose here when the Alaskan highway was built during World War II
All I’m saying is you may think the moose in your zone are big.
But come on man. Alaskan yukon moose are substantially bigger than moose that are 1 zone away from being considered Shiras by sci
Yes Mark, it was pretty hard to introduce Moose to Newfoundland too without a highway, I wonder how that happened?

I appreciate your comments. Your extensive knowledge is a great asset to this thread.
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  #18  
Old 08-13-2019, 10:11 PM
marky_mark marky_mark is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Puma View Post
Yes Mark, it was pretty hard to introduce Moose to Newfoundland too without a highway, I wonder how that happened?

I appreciate your comments. Your extensive knowledge is a great asset to this thread.
Ok lol
Because a warden told you something doesn’t mean it actually happened

This reminds me of the 212” mule deer on that Alberta hunting addicts page on Facebook
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Old 08-14-2019, 08:26 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Puma View Post
Yes Mark, it was pretty hard to introduce Moose to Newfoundland too without a highway, I wonder how that happened?

I appreciate your comments. Your extensive knowledge is a great asset to this thread.
Then they took Newfie moose and introduced them to New Zealand. That didn't work out.

Grizz
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Old 08-14-2019, 09:01 AM
Smoky buck Smoky buck is offline
 
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Odds are if you put in the research and contact local biologists that would have access to the records of past transplants the story of Alaskan moose will come up as false. CO’s are not the most reliable on this kind of stuff

Don’t matter where you go you will hear crazy theories about game populations/genetics and very few turn out to be true
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Old 08-14-2019, 02:13 PM
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I have a book called Hoofed Mammals of Alberta, edited by Brad Stelfox, published in 1993.

This book is basically a compilation of Alberta government records on native ungulates.
A section covers all the translocation to and from Alberta, 1900-1993.

There have been four translocations of moose within Alberta (other than individual problem animals).
All of these involved moose that were sourced from Elk Island.
Moose were never introduced to Elk Island.

Moose translocations within Alberta.
1942 - location unknown
1956 - Cypress Hills Prov. Park
1987 - Blackfoot Grazing Reserve
1987 - Rocky Mountain House area


Old F&W cops are hunters and fishers too.
Of course they never stretched the truth.
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Old 08-15-2019, 07:46 AM
Justahunter Justahunter is offline
 
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Originally Posted by Big Grey Wolf View Post
Moose are thriving in Parkland/farm areas throughout Alberta. Just a fact their are no wolves, bears or 24/7 hunters. Cows will be seen with twin calves on regular basis as calves not eaten by bears.
That is likely the biggest single reason for the rebound in MOOSE #`s in those zones. Couple that with limited seasons , reduced First Nations harvest due to a lot of private land and bingo you have a win,win,win, situation. Currently the Eastern Slopes has been wiped off the map for MOOSE because of one BIOLOGIST that lied ,lied and lied again to get GRIZZLY on the endanger list ( HA,HA) and canceled the wolf control program ,and kept the the COUGAR harvest at under 10 % when she admitted that it should be 30%. BUT we Albertans continue to pay her wages DUH
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Old 08-15-2019, 08:00 AM
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Originally Posted by Justahunter View Post
That is likely the biggest single reason for the rebound in MOOSE #`s in those zones. Couple that with limited seasons , reduced First Nations harvest due to a lot of private land and bingo you have a win,win,win, situation. Currently the Eastern Slopes has been wiped off the map for MOOSE because of one BIOLOGIST that lied ,lied and lied again to get GRIZZLY on the endanger list ( HA,HA) and canceled the wolf control program ,and kept the the COUGAR harvest at under 10 % when she admitted that it should be 30%. BUT we Albertans continue to pay her wages DUH
You'd better add Elk to that, biggest wildlife complaint here, these days. Nobody minds moose, but elk are a different story.

Grizz
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Old 08-15-2019, 11:39 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Justahunter View Post
That is likely the biggest single reason for the rebound in MOOSE #`s in those zones. Couple that with limited seasons , reduced First Nations harvest due to a lot of private land and bingo you have a win,win,win, situation. Currently the Eastern Slopes has been wiped off the map for MOOSE because of one BIOLOGIST that lied ,lied and lied again to get GRIZZLY on the endanger list ( HA,HA) and canceled the wolf control program ,and kept the the COUGAR harvest at under 10 % when she admitted that it should be 30%. BUT we Albertans continue to pay her wages DUH
Moose, deer and elk populations in 214 are as high as I’ve seen in a long time but along with that there are way more bears (including grizz), wolves and cats around.
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Old 08-31-2019, 04:04 PM
Jayhad Jayhad is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Esox View Post
I hope to find a good bull with my bow in 214 this fall on my draw tag.
Do you have a location as of yet?
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  #26  
Old 08-31-2019, 06:13 PM
buckman buckman is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bonedogg View Post
I remember seeing moose on their knees in 314 a plethora of times growing up, always thought it was normal?
It is I have also observed this several times.
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Old 08-31-2019, 06:47 PM
Salavee Salavee is offline
 
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I have seen that position often as well, most often in the agricultural areas. Moose were built for Browsing. I guess they change tactics when grazing ,
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Old 08-31-2019, 08:58 PM
Remi3006 Remi3006 is offline
 
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I also live and hunt in 214. Lots of moose/elk in the past few years... my plan is to make it 1 less bull this year also!
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Old 09-01-2019, 09:09 AM
Esox Esox is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jayhad View Post
Do you have a location as of yet?
Not yet no, lots of small to medium bulls but nothing to make me draw an arrow yet.
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