GRAND BANK, N.L.
The 2018 moose hunting season on the Burin Peninsula opened Saturday, Oct. 6, with many hunters already enjoying success.
On opening day, Troy Trimm of Grand Bank along with his father-in-law Clyde Butler bagged two fine bull moose in the Monkstown area with Trimm’s large animal tipping the scales at 550 pounds dressed and sporting a 19-point rack.
Typically most of the animals are harvested during the first two weeks of October during “the rut” when the bulls are most rambunctious. This is the time when both the bulls and the cows will often come to a hunter’s moose-call to check out a potential mate.
There are two different moose hunting areas on the Peninsula; #30 — Burin Peninsula Knee and #38 — Burin Peninsula Foot. The 2018 season for both zones are the same, Oct. 6 – Dec. 31.
This year a total of 450 licenses have been issued for “the Knee” while 270 licenses have been handed out for “the Foot”.
The overall total of licenses issued to residents on the island of Newfoundland this year is 24,830. Another 370 licenses have been issued to “charitable/not for profit” organizations by the provincial Wildlife Division while 130 have been awarded by Parks Canada.
It is interesting to note that of all the different “moose management areas” in this province the Burin Peninsula Foot consistently enjoys the highest overall success ratio. Last season, 2017, the success rate of moose hunters on “the Foot” was 84.4 percent. “The Knee” also enjoyed a respectable hunter success rate of 74.2 percent, also one of the highest in the province.
