Could CT support huntable moose or elk?
Connecticut
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Could the habitat in Connecticut ever support a huntable moose or elk population? It seems very unlikely but I'm curious nonetheless. We already have moose roaming if not residing in CT but could we ever hold enough animals to consider issuing tags? Take that one crazy step further and could we ever re-introduce elk to our state? It's hard to imagine but Eastern Elk (larger than their western relatives) were plentiful during colonial times. The subspecies was hunted to extinction prior to game laws but traces of the gene pool still exist (i.e. in New Zealand). I realize this subject is a bit off the wall but promise I'm drinking black coffee. Hunting should be accessible to all regardless of financial means but can you imagine how much the state could auction off moose or elk tags for if CT ever had a huntable population? Thousands and thousands of dollars. Feel free to chime in if you're up for exploring the theoretical.
Moose numbers are decreasing pretty severely in VT and NH, the tags are down to less than 100 per year in each. Maine's population is dropping and tags are being cut as well, but not as drastically.
CT is estimated to have roughly 100 Moose. It's very hard for me to imagine that we'll hunt them any time soon. If that number were to grow, and they were becoming a major problem, I suppose a small limited hunt is theorectically possible. But I wouldn't hold your breath.
I don't see elk as at all realistic, not enough open space and big woods. They'd be eating up farmer's crops and causing major traffic issues.
Getting a chance to hunt Bears and Bobcats is much more realistic.
Nope and Nope. For reasons above and did I say Nope and Nope. ;)
Just stock them every year like trout and pheasant. We can wait for the stocking truck to pull up on opening day.
I keep waiting for the day I get a moose pic on my trail cameras in the NW corner of the state. Close but no cigar... so far
Yes but only with the Atlatl !!!
Our summers are too warm for a sustainable moose population. We are losing habitat to support forage for even white tail deer, let alone a herd of elk.
Only time I have ever got a moose on camera. In Roxbury, the next day he was running through the hospital parking lot in New Milford.
Only time I have ever got a moose on camera. In Roxbury, the next day he was running through the hospital parking lot in New Milford.
I agree that Elk would never fly here. The biggest public parcel in the entire state isn't big enough to hold a decent-sized herd of them, and wouldn't support them even if you fenced them in. And I just Googled around a little bit and the consensus view is that we never really had them in CT in the first place, unless maybe they occasionally drifted east int the NW corner...
Moose might be a different story, since they keep more to deep woods and waterways, though in looking at distribution maps, it looks like they were never a strong presence here any more than the Elk...
Forage issue for whitetails is self-inflicted; the herd got to be way too big, the landscape got hammered, and now the herd is down quite a bit, but still not quite enough to allow the range to recover to where it needs to be in order to support the deer density that a lot of us would like to see... Catch-22 - in order to get as many deer as we'd like, we're going to have to go through a time where there are substantially fewer than most of us will stand for...
notme's Link
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/moose-killing-ticks-thrive-in-shorter-winters-due-to-climate-change/70000948
Was up by Moosehead lake, Maine last summer. Locals said the ticks are devastating the moose population. The Game wardens wanted to hit the animals with ticket repellent paint balls, but the liberal asshole PETA fought it. Mad Dog
N8tureBoy's Link
That sucks. Too bad they can't make moose feeders like the one in the link for deer. I think the last sentence in the article posted by NotMe was the most poignant. Hunting the moose would help solve the problem... but then there would be fewer Meece (sp?) and that would somehow hurt the local economy. Too bad the author didn't consider how much guided moose hunting helps the local economy.
This state is way to over populated and congested to hold a herd. AS Bigwoods71 mention we have barley enough open space / habitat for our deer population.
That,s too bad, the mountain lions could use more prey
Wait until the pigs get here
Yeah, they'll be living high on the hog
only pic of ct moose I have 2015 west suffield
Look into the Pennsylvania Elk here and you can get an idea of land mass required, herd size, and hunting a small population. Don't see that happening in CT
Look into the Pennsylvania Elk here and you can get an idea of land mass required, herd size, and hunting a small population. Don't see that happening in CT