It’s been a “hit-or-miss season” for annual moose aerial inventories, a Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) professional instructed Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) members throughout a current webinar.
“It hasn’t been great,” MNRF Senior Biologist and Provincial Wildlife Monitoring Program lead Philip DeWitt mentioned throughout the Jan. 26 night OFAH Inside Access hosted by OFAH Wildlife Biologist Kirsten Snoek.
Ideal circumstances would come with 5 centimetres of snow added to a base of 30 to 50 cm and the arrival of a chilly entrance — like three days of blue skies and little wind, DeWitt mentioned. “That gives us time for moose to set tracks and us to see the tracks that lead us to moose.”
A webinar participant had requested how the surveys have been impacted within the north, given the shortage of snow additional south, save for a dumping at Christmas.
“It has been better, up north … but it’s been difficult to get good blocks of weather consistently,” DeWitt added.
Data helps MNRF features
Webinar contributors realized concerning the historical past of moose aerial inventories, together with how they’ve been used to estimate moose populations since an method first labored on within the mid-Seventies was standardized within the Nineteen Eighties.
Crews decide abundance, intercourse ratios, calf recruitment, and developments — essential information which helps MNRF features together with cervid administration, harvest planning, and habitat administration by means of forest insurance policies.
An up to date methodology for predicting moose densities was adopted in 2019. Crews prioritize monitoring high-density plots for statistical causes. Spending extra time in these areas will increase survey effectivity, DeWitt mentioned.
As many as 15 plane, every with a pilot, navigator, and two rear observers, could also be required at any given time, relying on climate. Survey circumstances, together with snow, play an enormous function within the ultimate planning phases, DeWitt defined.
Conditions vital
Surveying begins when climate circumstances allow and the managed hunt has ended, from Dec. 1 to roughly Feb. 15, beneath particular circumstances the place moose are most seen.
These embrace surveying two hours after dawn till two hours earlier than sundown and when the sky is hazy or clear (for gentle), six to 72 hours after snowfall, when wind is lower than 20 km/h, and when the temperature is beneath -5˚C, for contemporary tracks and animal behaviour.
There should even be sufficient snow to cowl rocks and stumps. Not sufficient means crews might be taking a look at darkish, brown issues that aren’t moose, and an excessive amount of means moose will cease transferring, which can also be problematic.
Drones a risk
DeWitt was additionally requested if the MNRF is contemplating different survey strategies, corresponding to using drones, to survey moose.
“We are having conversations on it, is the short answer,” he mentioned, mentioning that drones have solely turn into cheaper prior to now couple of years.
Challenges to utilizing them prior to now have included their comparatively brief flight durations, how they wanted to be within the line of sight of the operator, and licence necessities.
“Those rules have changed … which are opening up more opportunities,” DeWitt mentioned, noting that they’ve been examined in Manitoba, with “positive outlooks in open areas.”
How efficient they’d be in conifer-dominated areas stays up within the air, he mentioned. Looking ahead, as local weather modifications continues and snow turns into extra dynamic, the ministry might find yourself utilizing a number of totally different strategies, corresponding to aerial inventories, cameras, and hunter reporting, as a substitute of arduous shifting into a brand new expertise.
It’s an thrilling query, Dewitt mentioned. “It’s always ticking around, in the back of our minds, trying to anticipate how we can take that next step to move it forward.”
Harvest planning mentioned
DeWitt’s presentation additionally coated the in depth planning that goes into the surveys, the significance of moose tracks and the way crews observe them, how bulls, cows, and calves are recognized, and the calculations used to find out moose densities.
He was joined by MNRF Senior Wildlife Biologist and Policy Advisor Patrick Hubert, who spoke concerning the moose harvest planning course of, together with the significance of aerial information and the way it interprets into tag allocations.
The webinar is one in a sequence of digital displays provided by the federation. Others have targeted on the moose tag allocation course of and firearms.
“The OFAH is continuing to bring our members valuable information and resources so they can get the most out of their hunting experiences,” Snoek mentioned.