White-tailed deer hunt proposals to be reviewed in August meetings

[washelkhntr]

WDFW NEWS RELEASE
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091
http://wdfw.wa.gov/

August 12, 2010 

Contact: Dave Ware, (360) 902-2509 or Kevin Robinette, (509) 892-7859

White-tailed deer hunt proposals to be reviewed in August meetings

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) will host four public meetings in August to review proposals to modify Washington white-tailed deer hunting regulations in northeastern Washington game management units (GMU) 117 and 121. 
The meetings, which will run 7 - 9 p.m., will take place:

Aug. 19, Pierce County Library, PAC Room A & B, 3005 112th St. E., in Tacoma.
Aug. 24, Colville Campus of Community College of Spokane, 985 S. Elm St., in Colville.
Aug. 25, Center Place Regional Event Center, Great Room, 2426 N. Discovery Place, in Spokane Valley.
Aug. 26, Yakima Convention Center, Room A, 10 N. 8th St., in Yakima. (Due to construction, visitors should access the convention center from the Yakima Avenue entrance or the North Parking Lot entrance.)
The proposed changes include restricting harvest of bucks to white-tailed deer with four antler points or more. Under current rules, any buck can be harvested in GMUs 117 and 121.
 
The antler-point restriction was requested last spring by the Stevens County Fish and Wildlife Advisory Committee in a petition to the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission. The nine-member citizen commission, which sets policy for WDFW, requested that the department seek additional public input prior to consideration for the 2011-12 hunting season.

WDFW staff, the county advisory committee and other stakeholders met last month to develop specific proposals for public review. WDFW staff will incorporate stakeholder and public input into a final proposal, which will be part of a recommended 2011-12 hunting season rules package.

The commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the 2011-12 hunting season rules package during its March meeting. The commission is expected to take final action on the rules package during its April meeting. 



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[270Shooter]

Those units have the most deer in the state why do they need a 4 point minimum? I could see 2 point maybe so some yearling wouldnt get shot, but what do I know.

[Austrian Hunter]

Those units have the most deer in the state why do they need a 4 point minimum? I could see 2 point maybe so some yearling wouldnt get shot, but what do I know.

 

[bobcat]

Well, here is the petition the Stevens County commissioners presented to the Fish & Wildlife Commission at a meeting last March:

[DoubleJ]

Right idea, wrong GMU's

[huntinhick]

I think it is the wrong management plan!  how many areas in this state do they have point restrictsion?  and how fast are the herds rebounding?  I think they may want to try some diffrent ideas.  Kansas encourages they hunting of does to keep the buck doe ratio in line and promote more breeding!  another thing they do is on the public hunting land that is farmable they let the farmers farm it but they must leave 1/3 of the crop in the field, works out good for wildlife and the farmers (free land).  not saying it is a perfect system but the whitetail where almost gone in Kansas now they are considered a nuisance by many farmers because there are so many.  I really don't understand how not shooting young bucks helps they population,  white fight for the right to breed and the big dominate bucks are the breeders not the young ones.  the other way they managed the numbers was by having some GMU's being by lottery because there was only a set number of tags.  now I am not talking like the special hunts it was a generous number but it still kept the hunter numbers down.  just my opinion
 
Carl

[Elkaholic daWg]

Well, here is the petition the Stevens County commissioners presented to the Fish & Wildlife Commission at a meeting last March:

 Also in April in in the Bavarian tourist trap meetings. Was there, told them I had my own 4 point restriction most of the time, I don't need to force others to also.  Wolves are coming also

[drk9988]

The current regulation that restricts the harvest of does in all early seasons will do more then this proposal. This seems like a push from the locals to keep out westside folk..It would make a trophy unit all for themselves. There is plenty of high country and private land that holds deer. Attend the meeting and speak out if you live near one of the meeting sites. They should call for better ways to study these populations neither the current ways of the department or the feeling of the locals are enough. Whitetails can bounce back despite a few hard winters..You think they would want to promote a more liberal season to increase tourism money..

[PolarBear]

Right idea, wrong GMU's

Move it to 101 & 204!

[huntnnw]

I am all for some sort of point restriction in some gmus. It is night and day from the quality of hunting south of the river as opposed to the north side of the river. Sorry but watching fields with 100 does and a coulple dink bucks running around is waaaay outta whack.

[bowhunterforever]

I like the idea! Let those dumb young bucks live a couple years and buy the time there 4 point or better they will be smarter, so in the long run there will be more mature bucks running around

[Sneaky]

I am all for some sort of point restriction in some gmus. It is night and day from the quality of hunting south of the river as opposed to the north side of the river. Sorry but watching fields with 100 does and a coulple dink bucks running around is waaaay outta whack.

The big bucks are there, they just do not come out into the fields with 100 does. They are smarter than that.

The problem with hunting in NE Washington is poor relationships between private landowners and hunters. A point restriction would do little to solve the issues in this part of the state.

My experience hunting in this part of the state for most of my life has led me to believe that there are plenty of deer, and plenty of trophy-quality bucks, in this part of the state. My main observation has been poor buck to doe ratios. A buck can only breed so many does during the rut, a number that most agree on as 15 or less does bred per buck. If you have a buck to doe ratio of say, 1:25, ten of those does are not going to bred. Therefore, they will not reproduce. Therefore, they are not a productive member of the herd and will spend winter eating the available food source and the herd will see little for it. Then, a hard winter happens along, and look what happens. Deer numbers in the northeast have been adversely affected by the last winters due to the abundance of un-bred does which is caused by an out-of-whack buck to doe ratio.

The answer is to harvest more does. Less does will increase the strength of the herd by creating an environment with more fawn production, and therefore potentially more opportunity to grow bucks. Keeping doe numbers in check will provide the potential for a better overall herd.

But how do you keep does in check? My experience is that many of the public land/national forest areas in NE Washington don't experience the same "100 does in a field" problems as the lowland areas. There are plenty of deer, but not as many as you see driving through town. This is due to the fact that many private landowners don't allow hunters to hunt their fields, where the large numbers of deer live. This problem has been addressed by WDFW in the issuance of permits such as the Spokane North, South, and HWY 395 Cooridor tags, as well as by removing all general early season doe opportunity in 117 and 121. This will definitely help boost numbers, but will do little to address the true problem of out of whack ratios.

The institution of a point restriction would do little for the deer herd in the NE and would only accomplish less hunter turnout, which would result in less tourist dollars for an already depressed region. I feel for these reasons that a point restriction in the NE is not a suitable answer to existing problems.

[drk9988]

In the proposal by the Stevens County group they point out the departments lack of accurate counts.. The only counts they state are the opinions of the ranchers that live along side the deer!! This is very scientific! More bred does will increase the deer population if that is what is desired by the group not more mature trophy class bucks! What is the benefit of the herd if all the 4 points and larger are killed??.The bucks that make it to the 4 point level with todays seasons are the deer we want breeding and plenty of these exist just not road hunting..I guess who wouldn't promote something that will keep people out of their back yard all along creating a trophy unit right out the back door...These farmers and ranchers are going to be begging for money and permits do to crop damage if this goes...

[Hangfire]

There were ten groups of people from both the NE corner and western Wa. that presented their feelings to the FW people. The group of ten called the white tail stakeholders had many diverse feelings about accomplishing what they want. 

Any body that has concerns should attend one of the meetings coming or keep track of where this is going and let FW know what your feelings are.I understand that this is the brainchild of sports groups and county commissioners.They chose 4 point (3 point plus eye guard), because spikes, 2 points and even 3 point deer are mostly 1.5 year class deer. They also had other recommendations that they want.

I have yet to talk to a resident in northern Spokane or Stevens county that is in favor of this. That doe's not mean it will not pass. I know some land owners that are very opposed to this.

[alwinearcher]

In the proposal by the Stevens County group they point out the departments lack of accurate counts.. The only counts they state are the opinions of the ranchers that live along side the deer!! This is very scientific! More bred does will increase the deer population if that is what is desired by the group not more mature trophy class bucks! What is the benefit of the herd if all the 4 points and larger are killed??.The bucks that make it to the 4 point level with todays seasons are the deer we want breeding and plenty of these exist just not road hunting..I guess who wouldn't promote something that will keep people out of their back yard all along creating a trophy unit right out the back door...These farmers and ranchers are going to be begging for money and permits do to crop damage if this goes...

But the thing about it is, all 4 pnt and larger bucks wont be killed. SOME 4 pnt and larger bucks will be killed, BUT once the bucks have a couple years to mature and reach their 4 pnts, they will have a lesser chance of getting shot because they will have added years of wisdom