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By CARL AKERLEY* In 1943 there were herds of more than 230,000 caribou in Alaska. .Tn I97H, 33 years laler, the Fish and Game Dept, employing heli-copters and other aircrafl, as well as ground crews, came up with a figure of about 30,000 caribou remaining, Throughout these years the Commission allowed the caribou to be shot in season. And Indians and. Eskimos were granted special privileges. Now Ihe Commission is taking a second look, but H may be too late. At the rale the caribou are declining, they will soon be on the endangered species list. Now this takes us to moose. Every two years the Maine Legislature is hounded to death with proposed legislation to allow the hunting of Maine moose, and this year is no exception.-. ■ *f ,* • •, The Game Management people in the stale claim there, are about 2fi,000 moose residing in the slate. About.a year ago these same people released the information that there vere'lC.OQO, moreor less, in Ihcslate. Someone had better go over their figures again because a one year jump of TU.nooin the moose population is hardly believable. All the less believable because if there are indeed thnl many moose in Maine—and we asked this same question last year when we heard there were 13.000 — what’s keeping some of tliem from crossing over inlo N.H.? Our herd has stayed just about he same in the last ten years. Wc lose some to cars, snme to heavy winters and, of course, some to poachers. It is doubtful that we have over 200 moose in the whole Stale of N.H., and far fewer, if any, in the other New England stales. If Maine does really have 20,000, or 20,000, or even 16,000* that’s; probably more moose in Maine than we have deer in N.H. We may average about B.000 deer harvested a year. leaving, for a guess, about IG.tKX). although our Game Management people feel we have a healthy herd-of about 30,000 after a hunting season. Talking !o hunters,.guides nnd woodsmen with years of experience, wc find Ihcy feel a figure uf 10 to 12,000 would be high but more to being Qxact fora moose population in Maine. . .?•* Now the question is fnr the Maine Senate and House to decide if they should give Maine resident hunters a chance to nibble away op that population and cut it down a bit. If so, will they know when to stop? Alaska didn’t. Onnn the door is open, it will be difficult to even partially close it. Human nature being what it is. once a privilege has hero granted, taking it away can he most difficult. And illegal taking of moose will be much more difficult to control.r as wn have slated many times be lore, we believe moose arc worlh their weight In gold as tourist attractions to the SlaLc or Maine. Out of stale people spend thousands of dollars each year to go to Maine just Lo see them. Fishermen don’t talk about the trout Ihny natch Down East; when they gel back home it's the moose they saw that they talk about. The some with hunters. Many of them carry cameras to take pictures uf the moose so they can show others who don’t believe their (all talcs. If Maine feels their moose arc getting to be n nuisance, there probably arc a lot of states which would welcome a herd or these tourist attractions. \Vc, for one, would rather see that than lo kill them off via a lottery. Furthermore, shunting a moose is about as sporting as kilfing n cow — the friendly;, dumb beast will jusl stand there and look at you. With nothing to fear from man for 50 long, they arc literally as iamc as cattle..• Teddy Roosevelt, a hunter of some renown, had a few words to say about moose in bis book ,kThe Wilderness Hunter” published In i90fl. He states that moose, when undisturbed, pass the day much as cattle do, alternately meeting and feeding for two or three hours at.a time. He stated that the moose has wonderfully keen nose and ears, but its cyesighL is not remarkable and that when come across hy accident, they frequently showed “a certain ilumsy slowness of apprehension which amounted to downright stupidity. He further slated that hunting moose on snow may be ano very often is mere butchery. It is by far the most destructive kind or htinting and carried on at a season when bulls are hornless and the cows are heavy with calf, and it is rightly and properly forbidden wherever there a re good game la ws.”V: In N.H. we have a good example of what can happen when you open up a season on an animal which may be too easily taken and whose 'numbers will not support the resultant decrease in population. We refer to the problem of the fisher. Fifty years ago these animals were as scarce as hen’s teelh. Then, protected, they made a recovery. Soon there were those who decided wc were being overrun wilh Fisher, so the taking of them was once more allowed, Now fishers arc notoriously easy to trap. For a hunk of meat .they will go into any Coni-bear set, and the first two years uf open season the trappers had a field day. And now, in southern N.H., where there were hundreds of fisher, It is almost impossible Ip find a fisher track. Or course the usher suffers from a lack of sympathisers because of widely-believed old wives* tales — he deliberately socks out and devours house cats; he cleans out all the rabbits: he attacks animals much larger than himself, e.g., Gunnan shepherd and other large dogs; he slaughters chickens and other dumestic animals, etc., etc. ft’s amazing how many folks fall for this’poppycock. 'Jhc behavior of a fisher is more ac-cbratelv evidenced in the following one of many such encounters we have had with the animal. A fewycarshack wc were called toa Durham home where a fisher had been cornered in a tree. And what had sent him cowering to his perch? A big, bad Chihuahua! And until the tiny barking nog was taken Inside, the fisher would not budge. Over* the years wc nave taken many fishers to CJNH where their stomach contents were analyzed. Jt was found that tjieir main diet was red squirrels and mice.■ * • • ( ..' Well, back to moose. Wc have harped on the subject before and it is our intent to now leave the subject be. We have read several sporls columns in Maine papers, and although we find information on the proposed legislation on a season for mnose, it appears none have taken n stnnd on the issue. If Maine people want losave their inoose, a lot of them are going lo have to stand up and be countedarid make their voices heard./ •1 There are a lot of smelt in Great Ray now ana some gooa catches arc being taken. The icc is going fast now nnd the center of the Bay is really opening up. bo watch the weather and the icc conditions closciv. If you are not ltshing every day, you should move your rig off or back towards shore and take it back out when you want to fish. Two more weeks and boats will be the only mode of travel on the Bay.■ Shades of spring? Mrs. Franklin of York Beach called lastSunday to report her first sighting of a red winged blackbird.Where there’s one, there musL be more.•' One snowy owl has returned tn Rye onits way north. Hammy Mctntire told us his neighbor, Fred Currier, saw a large adultnear his home last week.• * *V *Two wardens on the sencoast, Richard Marcella and Robert Ba-tula, spotted a number of loons off Hampton Beach last week.This bird is now on the endangered species list.**, ,•The Fish and Gome Dept, has Just released the annual report on niinting accidents in N.H.; 1976 was not a good year safetywisc. There were 24 hunting accidents, twice as many as during the five preceding years. One was fatal; the victim was mistaken for n deer a( less than 50 yards. Six were self-inflicted; ten took place while hunting big game; 10 small game; 2 upland birds; and 2 migratory birds. Six of the victims could not be seen by the shooter; two were mistaken for game. Over (he last 13 years we have averaged about IB accidents a season. Wc had no folds in . 1965, 1966, 1972 nr 1975. The worst year was 1970 when wc had six , fa I a is.
Newspaper Details
Portsmouth Herald
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, US
Sat, Mar 05, 1977
Page 12
Full Page
Clipped by
Kevin S.
CA 23 Feb 2023
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