Free: Contests & Raffles.
Took my daughter into Vail yesterday and this evening. We got into a ton of grouse, got up high into the snow, had 4 different road systems all to ourselves, hiked timber, glassed remote clear cuts and didn't see a single deer. Our friend has been hitting it all weekend and had seen nothing but does and fawns. I talked to my friend at the check station yesterday and they had only checked out only a couple of decent bucks. Very few people were seeing deer. I did find out that Weyco employees have been hunting the piss out of Vail this week, during the week. When we drove in on Saturday, we were one of the first in and the first to get past the upper Deschutes and we ran into 3 trucks about 20 miles in coming out! Kinda funny that the unit has been closed for a year, had great weather this week and the deer are holed up. Usually they haul at leas 30-50 bucks out of there on opening day.
I also hear that the number of cougars has jumped considerably in the past few years.
With the lack of blacktail deer it would be nice if the state went to permit only hunting, for all deer, statewide.
Quote from: bobcat on October 22, 2012, 10:46:21 PMWith the lack of blacktail deer it would be nice if the state went to permit only hunting, for all deer, statewide.Permit hunting takes hunting out of the hands of those who need meat. Go that direction and well end up like england.
Quote from: jtw on October 23, 2012, 07:50:23 AMQuote from: bobcat on October 22, 2012, 10:46:21 PMWith the lack of blacktail deer it would be nice if the state went to permit only hunting, for all deer, statewide.Permit hunting takes hunting out of the hands of those who need meat. Go that direction and well end up like england.For those who need meat, it's much cheaper to buy it at the grocery store.Besides, what are the odds of actually bringing home a deer, when there are so few available?
Quote from: bobcat on October 22, 2012, 10:46:21 PMWith the lack of blacktail deer it would be nice if the state went to permit only hunting, for all deer, statewide. Curse you for saying this! -Steve
I would vote for making it a draw to be able to hunt here. All my buddies in Wyoming have to draw to hunt their areas and they are residents... They have great deer and elk herds.
Quote from: sirmissalot on October 23, 2012, 10:46:19 AMI would vote for making it a draw to be able to hunt here. All my buddies in Wyoming have to draw to hunt their areas and they are residents... They have great deer and elk herds.You have to remeber that Wyoming has alot better predator policy than Washington State. They don't require hunters to purchase a license to hunt most predators except bears and cougars. Wyoming knows how to manage their animals unlike Washington.Look at Wyoming's quota's for cougars vs Washington's quota's. Wyoming can still use hounds to hunt cougars. It is a predator problem, some people don't seem to understand that. They seem to think just put everything into draw and it will be all better. Decline the Predators and we will be better off!
Quote from: JackOfAllTrades on October 23, 2012, 11:06:05 AMQuote from: bobcat on October 22, 2012, 10:46:21 PMWith the lack of blacktail deer it would be nice if the state went to permit only hunting, for all deer, statewide. Curse you for saying this! -Steve I'm going to keep saying it over and over, as long as this subject of plummeting deer populations continues to come up. Something is needed to limit harvest in certain areas. As it is now, there is no management whatsoever. We've got unlimited numbers of deer tags with no control on where those tags are used. Even a point restriction on blacktails would be better than nothing. It's pretty bad when you can go to Vail and not even see one buck the entire day.
I dont see how permits will fix anything. If anything i could see poaching getting worse. Those that hunt for meat would be left with less options.