Would be nice if this thread contained respectful discourse...

MN Moose Management

Seems much time has a been spent writing about the moose's demise. Big money spent researching the moose's demise and accidently killing some calves in the process. Yet we have done nothing to help them. Why not??

Would be nice if states dnr offices shared info. In Michigan on Isle Royal their dnr thinks wolves are the best way to control moose population. Yet 20 miles away here in Minnesota the dnr wants to manage everything but the wolves to help the moose.

I always find the comments section in the strib to be quite entertaining.

Having deer hunted the proposed "moose area" quite a bit, I don't see the benefit of reducing the herd any more than it is. In a lot of the area, the deer numbers are already below 10 DPSM. The population would need to come up if they really want to sustain 10 DPSM.

That said, the area doesn't get hunted much anymore due to the low deer numbers. No hunters, no money.

I love seeing moose just as much as the next guy, but they need to figure everything out before they start placing much of the blame on deer. C'mon.

I'll say this as nicely as I can...when the DNR gets done with their proposed Moose/Deer plan, what we will be left with is a large swath of NE MN that has neither moose nor deer.

Frenchy19: "Would be nice if this thread contained respectful discourse...

MN Moose Management "

And it would be nice if spring had come today, too.

If science was used to make management decisions regarding moose (instead of politics or emotions), we would have an actual moose management zone in NE Minnesota where the PRIORITY would be MOOSE.

Deer numbers would be kept very low using liberal bag limits for deer hunters.

Logging would mimic the role of wildfires to promote the young browse desired by moose, and large blocks of old evergreen timber would be reserved for winter and summer thermal refugia.

Wolf hunting/trapping may or may not be needed. Wolves kill plenty of moose calves, but they kill even more deer. Deer and moose do not mix.

As usual, the Minnesota DNR is trying to have it both ways with its current deer management plan in regards to moose. No real leadership.

arctic: "If science was used to make management decisions regarding moose (instead of politics or emotions), we would have an actual moose management zone in NE Minnesota where the PRIORITY would be MOOSE.


Deer numbers would be kept very low using liberal bag limits for deer hunters.


Logging would mimic the role of wildfires to promote the young browse desired by moose, and large blocks of old evergreen timber would be reserved for winter and summer thermal refugia.


Wolf hunting/trapping may or may not be needed. Wolves kill plenty of moose calves, but they kill even more deer. Deer and moose do not mix.


As usual, the Minnesota DNR is trying to have it both ways with its current deer management plan in regards to moose. No real leadership.


"

Interesting, I think you are mostly accurate, but I am not ready to blame the DNR on the Moose decline. I think they did a fairly good outreach on this, had some good people acting as advisers, and came up with a plan. The plan is open for discussion, but I give them credit for coming up with something.

The deer and the moose I dont think are friends, but they have coexisted for hundreds of years. Why at this point, are they not coexisting in the same terrain? Something else larger is at play.

flopnfolds:
The deer and the moose I dont think are friends, but they have coexisted for hundreds of years. Why at this point, are they not coexisting in the same terrain? Something else larger is at play. "

Actually, before the pine logging era of the early 20th century deer were scarce or non-existent in northeastern Minnesota. This was the domain of moose and woodland caribou.

Deer becoming well established in the region were probably a big part of the demise of caribou by 1920, as caribou are even MORE susceptible to brainwork than moose are, and are FAR more susceptible to human disturbance as well.

Deer, even in relatively low densities across the landscape, are still more numerous than moose or caribou ever were, and this has kept higher numbers of wolves on the landscape than were supported in the pre-logging days.

Northeastern Minnesota, like nearly the entire Lower 48 states, is a radically different place than it was 150 years ago.

Dooger: "Having deer hunted the proposed "moose area" quite a bit, I don't see the benefit of reducing the herd any more than it is. In a lot of the area, the deer numbers are already below 10 DPSM. The population would need to come up if they really want to sustain 10 DPSM.


That said, the area doesn't get hunted much anymore due to the low deer numbers. No hunters, no money.


I love seeing moose just as much as the next guy, but they need to figure everything out before they start placing much of the blame on deer. C'mon. "

The Isabella lake area is like 2-4 deer per sq mile now at best from DNR own estimates.