Help save our moose!!!!

[Deon Dicks]

My name is Deon Dicks and I'm concerned with the topic that as been on the news,radio talk shows, and other media.

''The moose and problems with moose in Newfoundland''.
Personally I feel that most of the trouble thats involved with moose and people running into them on the highways is speed.Yes ofcourse there is some accidents that happens involving moose, that driving to fast wasn't the problem,it was just the moose wondered on the road and in perfect time, caused the accident.Not because the moose is dumb like i hear people say,if you were to go in the woods in a not so familiar area I bet most of us will be confused as well.

Seems like the over all cure thats talked about is to either wipe out the moose or greatly reduce them.
We have a problem with druck drivers as well in our province, so to solve that problem are we going to simply kill all druck drivers?? No ofcourse not!!
Heres a solution that I have in mind that I hope the gov will consider before they just simply go the easy route and increase the moose hunting quota till theres very few left.
Fencing our highways I agree with,but for a quicker solution why dont we consider," a road side only management area".
I'm not sure what the % of moose lives and roams around our highways,but why should the moose that never see a highway be killed for a few that do, so with that in mind, on our moose applications that everyone one gets when applying for a moose license, along with the options of selecting your management areas and the type of license you want (male only, female only, or either sex) why not include a road side hunting option, what I mean is,a person with a road side license can only hunt a moose anywhere in NL from a highway, which will cut down on the moose that are around the roads, leaving the moose that never come to the roads alone, where if they simply increase the overall hunting quota for the purpose of cutting down on the moose accidents alot of moose will be killed that has never been close to a highway.
Heres how it can be controlled, if your awarded a road side moose license, when you make a kill,contact a wildlife station and have your animal checked by an officer,this will controll people shooting their moose in the woods somewhere off the highway. Have a distance set that your allow to hunt from the sides of the road.I know this may cause confusion on how far away the moose is but just like you can only use a certian type of rifle, when awarded a road side license [you must be in possessing of a range finder to let you know how far the moose is]. That is just a thought, maybe theres other ideas that will fit the law of road side license.
I know theres people like me that feel the same way i do concerning increasing the moose hunting quota, but we need to speak out and let our voices be know.
Thanks Deon.

[Deon Dicks]

Ed, I've been guiding for several years now, and have hunted the great Northern Pen, great place but the idea that moose is 1000's? Now dont get me wrong theres lots of moose up there, but I really dont think there is as many as gov think, you asked the locals up there and also around my area, that got a understanding of moose and they will all say,moose counts are over estimated big time!!!!! So sorry I dont agree with you that we need more licenses issued.
Concerning road side hunting and the danger of it , thats been happening all the time,hunting from the road isnt nothing new,and yes I know it would increase, but simply make the charges stiffer concerning shooting across the highway,making people think twice before they did something stupid.
For sure this is as good of an idea as extending the season, and giving CARELESS PEOPLE the chance to go in the back country and kill moose that has never seen a highway, and a number left to spoil cause they dont know a cow from a bull, when its anlters are gone,plus the moose is yarded up than and only for some trigger happy ............I wont say man, to see 8 moose and wipe them all out, filling the tags of all his friends leaving none alive for that certian area,and having no effect on the road side so called dumb moose.So sorry bud , I dont agree a bigger quota. Or extending the season,

[Edward Smith]

Deon, while I have to agree with most of what you've said I do see some problems that will occur as a result of Highway licenses. All of know that there are some idiots out there that will be shooting across the highway and from the highway itself. posing an even larger problem of human-bullet relations! The hardest part as I see it right know is that there are not enough enforcement officers to patrol a hunt of this size and scope. while I agree that a majority of moose never venture near the highway, many do. The solution to this, and I agree with you, larger quotas seems drastic (God knows we could use a few more licenses). Well, that's my two cents. Ed