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By Liam Verster

Hunting Regulations

Mountain sheep hunting now prohibited in the Okanagan

May 19, 2022 | 4:45 PM

Hunters can no longer hunt the Okanagan Mountain Park mountain sheep.

The government is closing the mountain sheep limited entry hunt (LEH) in the Okanagan.

The decision comes as the past six surveys of Okanagan Mountain Park mountain sheep have found continuous decline in the sheep population. In the last three surveys, there were less than 75 sheep and there were fewer than 30 lambs born each year.

The continuous population decline was also compounded by a severe respiratory illness in 2020, which created concerns that the population would not be able to rebound quickly.

The province said closing the mountain sheep LEH will reduce the added mortality pressure on this herd and assist in population recovery.

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Along with closing the LEH for Okanagan mountain sheep, the province is:

• Putting in more restrictions and limitations on caribou and moose hunting in the Peace Region;
• Opening an LEH for elk in North Vancouver Island and Port Renfrew areas;
• Opening a new either sex elk archery only LEH near Nanaimo;
• Amending and increasing LEH opportunities for elk in the South Coast;
• Replacing Fraser River mountain sheep General Open Season (GOS) with LEH;
• Closing the Passmore mountain goat LEH;
• Replacing all Kootenay Region GOS for full curl bighorn ram mountain sheep with LEH;
• Closing the Taseko bighorn mountain sheep LEH;
• Replacing the South Skeena GOS and bow only GOS for bull moose with LEH;
• Extending private land antlerless elk LEH in the Vanderhoof and Fort St. James areas;
• Closing all cow or calf moose hunting seasons in the Parsnip Valley;

The province said the decisions to make the changes to hunting regulations were made in partnership with First Nations to support reconciliation and improve wildlife stewardship and habitat conservation.

The province added work will continue with regional First Nations and affected stakeholders to develop an approach to wildlife co-management that improves shared understanding and management of the wildlife resources.