Hunter Harvest Analysis
Last Update/Review: August 12, 2002
Moose harvest goals were adjusted annually in response to additional moose population information made available from the program. In MMAs 5, 6, and 7 (Figure 1) conservative harvest goals were implemented to promote an increase in bull numbers. In 1995, the General Season was reduced to one month throughout northern Alberta to decrease bull harvests. The General Season was replaced by a second draw season in MMA 5 in 1996 in response to continued over-harvest of moose.
Analysis of moose harvests in MMA 5 (Table 8) showed continued improvement relative to the harvest goal. In MMAs 6 and 7 (Table 9 and Table 10) the harvest of moose continued to be in excess of the harvest goals. At the WMU level there remained high variation in the harvest in the General Season; in some cases hunters harvested two or three times the harvest goal. The harvest during the General Season was more controlled by weather than by management practices. The repeated over-achievement of harvest goals in MMA 5 may be corrected by the elimination of the General Season and the implementation of a second draw. Moose Management Areas 6 and 7 continued to show large fluctuations in the General Season harvest and significant over-achievement of harvest goals at the WMU level.
The harvest of moose in MMAs 8 and 9 (Table 11 and Table 12) remained below the harvest goal, however this harvest must be considered in context of the lack of access in many of these WMUs. The harvest goals are based on the entire WMU population, whereas the harvest is largely limited to only accessible areas. In a WMU, such as 540, only some 13% of the WMU is vehicle/quad accessible in an average year. The entire harvest for that WMU primarily comes from only that accessible area, resulting in a significant over-harvest of moose in the particular area, but not the WMU. In many WMUs of MMAs 8 and 9, the current harvest is reasonably close to the goal when accessibility is considered.
