Elk hunt participation low

According to numbers from the last two years, some hunters who succeed in the draw, aren't participating in the elk hunt. "The elk draw is still highly oversubscribed [more applicants than seals], but unfortunately we're leaving hunting opportunities on the table every year. Under the current draw system, the MNRF can’t put those tags into a secondary draw. Hopefully we’ll be able to change that in the future,” said Mark Ryckman, OFAH manager of policy. During the 2017 hunt, which ran from Sept. 18 to Oct. 1, licensed hunters harvested four bulls and six cows. Since the initial 2011 one-week elk hunt, applicant numbers have dropped, from a high of 4,419 in 2011 to 1,663 for the two-week hunt in 2016. Numbers increased slightly in 2017, to 1,711 applicants. The Algonquins of Ontario (AOO), whose elk hunt ran from Sept. 1 to Dec. 21, 2017, reported a harvest of two bull elk and three cows across the 10 AOO communities, according to AOO Executive Director Janet Stavinga. 2017: 155 hunters were successful in the elk hunt draw, though 28 hunters chose not to participate in the hunt. Two of 11 available bull tags and six of 44 available cow tags were not purchased. 2016: In 2016, 32 of 152 eligible hunters chose not to purchase a game seal. Originally published in the April 2018 issue of Ontario Out of Doors For more guns and gear, click here Click here for more outdoors news Watch on-demand videos anytime on OFAH Stream