Multi season is a joke!

[Glockster]

Seems like a lot of you came on the scene after "choose your weapon" became the law of the land so let me tell you a true story about the bad ole days:

~There were 50% more deer and elk hunters in the 70's/80's than there are now.
~You could buy all three tags and hunt for 3months if you wanted.  (Limit was still one animal on all big game).
~There was no complicated draw system with points and ghost hunts and 130 pages of regulation.
~Archery went from Sept 1 to 30, then reopened for late season after Thanksgivn and went to Dec 31 in most areas
~Archery, ML was open all units, any animal OK with very few area pt restrictions.
~Mod fire westside deer was almost two months, east was 3 -4 weeks
~Mod Fire elk east was two full weeks , in November, any antlered bull legal

Were the woods more crowded?  Not anywhere near like they are today.

How could this be?  After they split us up, WDFW has gradualy reduced times/areas open/ and opportunities to each user group over the past 30 seasons.  The irony is many within the special interest groups lobbied for this in the name of "quality".  In reality it backfired on them horribly with reduced time in the woods and a much more crowded experience. 

Fewer hunters crammed into shorter seasons and smaller areas has given us much worse crowding than I ever saw in the bad old days of multi season hunting.... eventhough we had 50% more hunters.

Now with the "me" generation we have hunters complaining about other hunters when they should be looking at Olympia and demanding a return to the 'bad old days' when the woods were not half as crowded as they are now.  So Generation Me take notice...the bottom still has not been reached. 

[MtnMuley]

If your hunting and seeing to many people your on the road or to close to the road.  Walk a mile from a road and hunt by yourself.

   I will buy multi every year I can, as I enjoy every minute of it.  Seeing people that effect my hunt has never been an issue anywhere I go.  Oh, the things they miss......

[SevenD]

Its amazing how few deer stand on the side of the road and wait for you to shoot them.

[Mark Brenckle]

I've seen it posted here and elsewhere many times that it's much less crowded during the archery and ml seasons, and you're surprised that there are now more people hunting during these times, or that the revenue seekers would try and capitalize on that?

[MatthewHunter98]

it does suck cause people do want to challenge them selfs with a bow or muzzleloader, then you got all these other people coming in and swamping every one

[BOWHUNTER45]

you would think since Washington is losing hunters day by day they would let us hunt with all 3 weapons but still only let us harvest 1 deer and elk a year .... they would make more money and we would all have more opportunity to take the animal we choose .... 

[runningboard]

I agree with bowhunter45 if like D they charge $20 for the archery permit & $20 for the blackpowder permit in addition to the license & tag that would create more revenue but not be as costly as the multi is now. the thing that worries me is the nimrods who applied and drew then didn't shoot more a dozen arrows in preparation for the season. or even worse, went out & bought a bow LAST WEEK.
agree with others too, when in ID with my kids we will go & sit in a travel route & wait for the elk to come past us as everyone is pushing them to move. It's worked more often than not when the hill looks like a pumpkin patch.

[bassquatch]

  Anyone who thinks WDFW actually CARES about the sportsman!! 

Also, I agree with others, since I have been coming to this site for the past 2 years or so all I seem to hear is "dude you need to archery hunt" when people are complaining about MF overcrowding or lack of game or short seasons. That would lead one to believe that archery is a less crowded longer season with many more opportunities for unpressured game....OOPS on your part! What did you expect would happen??

I am an avid rifle hunter, and a shoulder condition keeps me from the archery game or I would have probably signed up by now as well after hearing all the stories. Hell, after listening to the archery guys that I know personally brag I have thought about getting a doctor's note so I can go the crossbow route!!

Washington State and it's uber-liberal feelings towards us hunters you better believe influences the WDFW and ALL it's decisions! The whole idea behind all the archery perks was to get "guns out of the woods", period! That I know as fact from a guide who used to attend ALL the WDFW meetings back in the late 80's and early 90's.

Divide and conquer guys, it's that simple. They want us bickering, they want us so frustrated with the system we quit hunting or move away! Once hunting funds dry up they can shut it down due to lack of interest and then it's just that much more whining they can do to the Feds and they will be compensated by them, they don't NEED us or our hunting "blood money"!

I say and always have, the more the merrier! The more voices, the more they will hear us, the more people we get talking positively and having positive experiences with our sport the slower the death of it will be in this State.

If you aren't willing or capable of out hiking the crowds then deal with them, at least you are surrounded by other hunters and not people trying to chase you out of the woods with protest signs!

[bobcat]

you would think since Washington is losing hunters day by day they would let us hunt with all 3 weapons but still only let us harvest 1 deer and elk a year .... they would make more money and we would all have more opportunity to take the animal we choose .... 

That would be stupid. Our deer and elk are over-hunted now as it is. Allowing EVERYONE to hunt all three seasons would just put more pressure on the animals, when they need less.

[teanawayslayer]

I don't think the issue is who "belongs" where or any of this East v. West BS...the bottom line is that one of the draws of archery hunting is having far fewer people and when you double the number of multi-season tags it decreases the quality of the archery hunting.  I have seen many more hunters this year in a lot of areas I hunt...and yes, I do get off the damn road!  I would prefer to limit the multi-season tags to help reduce the number of people out during archery season...but it is just another revenue source for wdfw so I doubt that will happen.  They just want more money and could care less about how poorly they are managing the publics wildlife or hunting.

Quality.  You nailed it.!

[teanawayslayer]

That's how hunting season works. 95% of the people don't go in the woods until the season starts.  You shouldn't be surprised, especially since it sounds like you are hunting an area that is popular and easy to access (since people who obviously don't scout know about it).

Well my response to people knowing that its a good spot is because someone gets lucky and kills a nice buck and start gabbing on here about where they killed there animals.  Hmmm! Not your local folks I will tell you that.

[dr.derek]

 

[6x6in6]

Seems like a lot of you came on the scene after "choose your weapon" became the law of the land so let me tell you a true story about the bad ole days:

~There were 50% more deer and elk hunters in the 70's/80's than there are now.
~You could buy all three tags and hunt for 3months if you wanted.  (Limit was still one animal on all big game).
~There was no complicated draw system with points and ghost hunts and 130 pages of regulation.
~Archery went from Sept 1 to 30, then reopened for late season after Thanksgivn and went to Dec 31 in most areas
~Archery, ML was open all units, any animal OK with very few area pt restrictions.
~Mod fire westside deer was almost two months, east was 3 -4 weeks
~Mod Fire elk east was two full weeks , in November, any antlered bull legal

Were the woods more crowded?  Not anywhere near like they are today.

How could this be?  After they split us up, WDFW has gradualy reduced times/areas open/ and opportunities to each user group over the past 30 seasons.  The irony is many within the special interest groups lobbied for this in the name of "quality".  In reality it backfired on them horribly with reduced time in the woods and a much more crowded experience. 

Fewer hunters crammed into shorter seasons and smaller areas has given us much worse crowding than I ever saw in the bad old days of multi season hunting.... eventhough we had 50% more hunters.

Now with the "me" generation we have hunters complaining about other hunters when they should be looking at Olympia and demanding a return to the 'bad old days' when the woods were not half as crowded as they are now.  So Generation Me take notice...the bottom still has not been reached.

Perfectly said!!
I miss those times back then, A LOT!!!!

[Bigshooter]

 

[teanawayslayer]