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Who's Naughty - Who's nice |
Christmas is closing in like a charging grizzly on those of us who didn't buy gifts before Thanksgiving. So don't delay - buy your loved one a hunting trip with BC SAFARIS today. Or at least put our web page on their favourites list.
We just got back from the Northwest Guides Assoc. annual convention in Smithers with a lot of positive feedback on some important issues. There is a new Wildlife Allocation Policy in the works, the document that defines how BC's wildlife resorces will be divvied up. On the plus side for guide-outfitters and their clients is an overall increase in the resource. And it was encouraging to hear it clearly re-stated by not only our assocaiation but by the BC Wildlife Federation representatives and the Ministry of Environment officials as well. The Resource Comes First!
We also heard from the Environment Ministry that they want to see hunter numbers increase in the future, both resident and non-resident. With the buoyant economy in the province there seems to be a few more dollars floating around for wildlife issues as well. For the most part I expect that things will stay pretty much as they are in terms of quotas for most outfitters in the Skeena Region of the province.
From Shane's and my perspective things are definetely positive. We recently won a partial victory from the Environmental Appeal Board that allocated us 3 more grizzly bear permits over the next 3 years, meaning we can now offer a spring grizzly hunt in the best part of our area. Our sheep harvest from the past 3 seasons included rams that were all over 8 years of age, an indication that there is a healthy population of rams. In fact 4 of the rams our hunters shot this year were 10 years or older. We've seen our moose population increase noticeably since 2002 and our caribou...Well, who really knows about caribou. There greatest protection is their unpredictability. But we did have 100% success this year and there certainly seemed to be a heck of a lot of bulls in our good caribou ranges again this year.
There were a few negative items that came out of our meetings but for the most part they won't have a direct influence on us. And that's why we have an association, so we can help our fellow members who are facing some challenges and we will continue do so.
Bookings are steadily coming in and we're busy preparing our annual newsletter and figuring out travel schedules to the shows we plan to attend this year. They include SCI, Dallas Safari Club and FNAWS as well as our annual Guide-Outfitters Assoc. of B.C. fund raiser in Victoria March 24-25.
We've got a lot of flexibility in the dates we can offer right now but that will change big time at SCI January 18. Contact us if you see something that interests you, like a 21 day mixed bag hunt for Christmas, and we'll wrap it up with a bow!
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