B.C. Takes Another Shot At Hunting Allocations After Triggering Hunter Uproar

VICTORIA — British Columbia is taking a second shot at setting hunting allocation numbers after admitting its initial attempt at quotas for resident and non-resident hunters missed the target.

 

Natural Resource Operations Minister Steve Thomson says he's revising the 2015 harvest numbers made available for guide outfitters and B.C. resident hunters for elk, moose, bison, Bighorn sheep and grizzly bear.

 

The initial allocation gave guide outfitters the right to harvest 186 animals and triggered protests from hunters and wildlife groups who said the figures favoured the guides and their non-resident hunting clients, even though allocations for resident hunters have increased over the past decade.

 

Thomson says the new changes give guide outfitters harvest rights to 60 animals.

 

There are about 245 licensed guide outfitters in the province, who serve an estimated 5,000 non-resident hunters, while there are more than 102,000 resident hunters in B.C., up from 82,000 only 10 years ago.

 

The B.C. Wildlife Federation says the move is a step in the right direction, but falls short, because it still deprives resident hunters of opportunities to hunt animals in their areas.