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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Yellowknife sport hunter Simon Toogood shot his first moose near the North Arm of Great Slave Lake on the Thanksgiving long weekend.

The bullet passed through the big bull's lungs, killing the animal in seconds. After returning home, Toogood wondered if it was the right thing to do.

Yellowknife residents Craig Scott, left, and Simon Toogood with the head of the first moose Toogood ever shot near the North Arm of Great Slave Lake on Oct. 8, 2011. - photo courtesy of Simon Toogood

"Now that I have shot this moose, I feel kind of guilty," Toogood said. "At first, you're all pumped about getting meat locally instead of from some farm or factory down south, but then I was speculating that what happened to the caribou might happen to the moose."

The territorial government implemented a caribou hunting ban on Jan. 1, 2010, after researchers determined population estimates of the Bathurst herd had dropped to approximately 32,000 animals in 2009 from 126,000 in 2006.

"I'd just like to know whether or not what I'm doing will have some unforeseen impact, such as reducing the moose population to the point we can't hunt them anymore," Toogood said.

Dean Cluff, regional biologist with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (ENR), said researchers are also concerned about the extent to which the decline of the barren-ground caribou is putting pressure on the moose population in the North Slave region. However, based on research to date, he maintains non-aboriginal sport hunters may feel confident they are participating in a sustainable hunt if they harvest responsibly while assisting the department in their moose-monitoring efforts.

To help ensure the continued sustainability of the moose hunt, Cluff advises sport hunters impose a voluntary ban on harvesting cows. The ratio of bulls to cows is a major parameter contributing to the health of moose numbers. While there are no restrictions against harvesting cows in the NWT, shooting cows is illegal in the Yukon and Alaska.

"Shooting a bull only or a calf will preserve the cows for reproduction," Cluff said.

Sport hunters can assist researchers in their ongoing studies into moose population density by reporting the general location of any animals sighted or killed as well as by supplying ENR with incisors from the animal's lower jaw.

Cluff's conclusion about the current sustainability of the recreational moose hunt in the North Slave is based on his analysis of aerial surveys conducted in 2004 and 2007, supplemented by moose sightings documented in the course of other wildlife research and sightings reported by the public.

The next aerial survey of the North Slave is planned for November 2012.

Biologists embarked on the 2004 study after the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, North Slave Metis Alliance, and Lutsel K'e First Nation expressed concern about the lack of statistics collected pertaining to the moose population. Aboriginal groups also questioned how moose are being affected by factors such as the growth of Yellowknife's population, proposed industrial development, increased tourism, and expanded public access to moose habitat along the Tibbitt-to-Contwoyto Winter Road.

Cluff described the 2004 study as helpful, but "semi-flawed" because it was conducted in March after bulls had shed their antlers and because researchers at the time had little information to go on.

Researchers conducted the 2007 study in late November when bulls still carried their racks. This allowed for the age and sex of the moose to be more accurately determined by researchers, who observed a sample of the region by flying overhead in a grid pattern aboard two 185 Cessnas from Air Tindi.

"We count these moose and we classify them into bulls, cows, or calves and we run this through a software analysis that looks at the distribution of moose and comes up with a population estimate," Cluff said. "It extrapolates to the whole based on the sample."

The 2007 results estimated the total moose figures fall within an 80 per cent confidence range, which forecasts the number of moose to be around 500 to 964 in the Taiga Shield ecozone, a 17,617-km area east of the North Arm of Great Slave Lake, and in the range of 151 to 361 moose in the Taiga Plains zone, which covers 8,000 square km west of Behchoko.

"What that means is that if we were to do the survey again under the same conditions, there is an 80 per cent chance that new point estimate would fall within that range," Cluff explained.

Cluff said the ratio of cows and calves to bulls is healthy in both regions, with a higher ratio of cows and calves in the Taiga Shield, where three sets of twins were spotted. No twins were found across the lake in the Taiga Plains. Twins are evidence of the health of the habitat.

"I'm speculating there is more predation in the Taiga Plains because of the lack of twins," Cluff said, adding that wolves and black bears have more alternate prey options, such as bison and caribou, in the Taiga Shield.

Sport hunters report their annual take to be between 80 to 100 moose, but not all sport hunting necessarily takes place in the North Slave region. There have been 2,835 moose tags sold in the territory from 2008 to the present. The extent of the subsistence aboriginal moose hunt is largely undocumented.

Toogood said he is reassured to know moose population density is being tracked in the North Slave.

"If we are going to be utilizing this resource, we should be looking at where it is and what the numbers are to make sure we are not over-harvesting or over-hunting," Toogood said. "It's good to know that it's on the radar of ENR. I expect if there is an issue with it, they will do something about it."

Toogood said he plans to go on his second hunt next season.

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