Do you think the WDFW is doing a good job?

[brush hunter]

I think they do a poor job at management, but a great job at rakeing in tons of cash.

[Curly]

They could do better.  But it is hard to manage wildlife in this state when the WDFW has its hands tied by initiatives that the *censored* voters of this state make into law (ie - banning hounds, no baiting for bears, no trapping). 

And it seems that they manage by public opinion a lot of the time.  Why do they even have biologists when the management ignores the bio's recommendations?  For instance, the elk that hang out by the St. Helen's observatory should have thinned-out a few years ago, but they weren't because they did not want to offend the tourist that were there viewing the volcano.  (So WDFW deserves some blame for the starving elk there; instead of avoiding the heat from the public that might be offended by witnessing elk being shot, they should manage by what is right.)

Another example is over the counter tags.  Most of Eastern Washington GMU's probably should be 'draw only' for mule deer instead of OTC tags because of the open country and ease of spotting and killing a deer.  But because of the pressure that hunters put on the WDFW, they will not make it permit only.  How can they be expected to manage the herds when it is OTC tag?   And I think it is only OTC because of the amount of pressure hunters put on the department to keep it that way.  So, how can we blame the WDFW when the hunters "force" it to be OTC?

But on the other hand, how can they be expected to manage anything when the herds get wiped-out anyway by the native americans?

So, the bottom line is..........I think they are doing okay given 1) the huge population of people in this state, 2) stupid initiatives that get passed by *censored* citizens that shouldn't even have the right to decide game laws, 3) Indians that slaughter the herds.

[finnman]

Curly is on target!

[littletoes]

Mixed feelings here too.
I don't think they are actually trying to "rape" us, but its hard to overcome the beuacracy.

We have the entire population to make "happy" here. When ever a law is passed, it gets voted on by the entire public, not just the Hunting public, so who loses?
You pose some law to this little 'Ol Lady, or some heavy liberal that sits in their house, or office with the air conditioning on...."ooohh, see the prety deer!"....they don't think like most hunters do, and they HATE to think of us chasing those poor animals with either hounds or guns...

For Example; When I see a nice buck hit on the side of a road....I can't help but thinks "What a waste, should be hanging on some wall"( I can just imagine what some liberal would have thought of THAT way of thinking (Sick! sick, sick, sick-"poor deer")).

And I've also met a couple of the top folks in the WDFW. Nice managers (Key work; MANAGERS!), thats right managers, NOT HUNTERS! Sure they can move people and products around, but they don't live for the hunt. They don't seem to understand us.

Kinda like Game Wardens to me....how can they understand us if they themselves don't enjoy hunting? Must not if they work during Hunting Season all thier life! And all they can think about is how things look to the General Public (NOT HUNTERS!). We look at things differantly.

This was all brought to my attention when a Warden wanted to bust this young kid 'cause he got blood on the back of his truck while loading up his deer. Yeah, his truck was white, and maybe the tail-gate wouldn't open, so he got some big streaks of blood on the back, and on one side. Warden said that would look terrible to the Public!
Screw the Public! What the hell do they think when they eat a Hamburger!???! SOMEBODY had to kill that cow. Those folks need to get back in touch with what they are. "WE" eat meat, and to do so "WE" kill animals.

[littletoes]

I guess if "THEY" don't kill the cow for the purse, leather coat, shoes, or Hamburger, they can sleep at night with a clear conscience.......

what a state our Country is coming too. Why don't we just hug everybudy? sheesh. (that last statement was meant with total sarcasm, for those that missed it)

[arrowflinger]

What about the  people that think having deer as pets, Love the deer in their yards, but as soon as they eat the rose buds, or tops off the newly planted trees.............they want the State to pay for the damages. What about the landowners that won't let hunters come in and manage a herd of animals................then want money for their loss. Remember, we all might not be bad sportsmen, but the ones that are, give us a bad name. We as sportsmen need to teach our new generation of hunters the ethics of hunting and one day They will have a future of making the right choices.......be it life or politics.

[HuntinCrazy]

All you guys are so right about all these so called Leaders of the WDFW. Just read  http://wdfw.wa.gov/wildlife.htm    , Almost word for word concerning the ELK HERD MANAGEMENT . There was supposed to be a 3 year "study" back in the 90's to see which plan ( shooting SPIKES on the East side and leave the larger elk to be DRAWN for) This study has lasted for 15 years now.(more revenue for the WDFW). But the West side elk hunters, leave the Spike elk to grow up to become mature animals .

Per Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation,Elk heads numbers for Washington State;


                           1975 - 2000  ----     Roosevelt Elk 35,000       

                          1975-2000----      Rocky Mountain Elk 23,000   

Colorado has awesome Elk herds. Numbering 292,580

Maybe we should look at how these states manage their elk herds. Hire them to come here and fix our problem. Maybe we should all ban  together and BOYCOTT buying hunting/fishing licenses /tags ,buying any and all hunting and fishing products . Then let them scramble. What would happen to the great economy??? With out people like US this state would crumble. With out people like US this nation would crumble.

Other that my venting.........LOL  I think this is an awesome site where  we can all have our say and learn and meet some new people and /or future hunting partners.

[bobcat]

Per Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation,Elk heads numbers for Washington State;


                           1975 - 2000  ----     Roosevelt Elk 35,000      

                          1975-2000----      Rocky Mountain Elk 23,000

Can you please clarify this? I don't understand what these numbers represent.

[Curly]

Bob, what needs clarifying.............they are numbers of elk.

http://members.cox.net/big_river_chapter-ri_rmef/ElkPopulationsUS2000.pdf

HuntinCrazy, Colorado has a lot more habitat to sustain the high number of elk herds that they have.  The elk habitat in Washington is limited and the numbers of elk are probably about right for the habitat.  It really isn't a fair comparison to compare the numbers of elk in CO to the #'s in WA and say that the WDFW sucks because the elk numbers are too low..........it all has to do with the amount of food available for the elk.

[boneaddict]

Votes for the WDFW or things that I see really aren't helpful to them....

1.Feds and their treaties with the indians that have their hands tied.
2. Funds going to the general fund from license sales etc, instead of going into the wildlife fund.  This may have changed recently, but unclear on that.
3.Again, the feds in regards to wolf management etc.
4. Liberal groups/*censored* voters that voted out hound hunting and trapping.
5. Funds for enforcement.  Again because we are not supporting them, its coming from the governor.

Now I voted against the WDFW, but in reality its a personal bias as I don't think wildlife is managed real well in this state.  So much money is spent on study, yet typical of government crap, nothing good comes out of it.  How do I put it to words.  Seasons and bag limits don't react to current situations.  Trophy areas are on ceded lands.  I don't know, I'm sure there is a list.  For some reason I think the WDFW should be in charge of managing wildlife.  How in the hell did trapping and hound hunting come up for a public vote.  Why should thousands of people who in reality wouldn't know the difference in a Martin and a mink, etc. be allowed to decide the fate.  Obvious, I'm also upset because they don't run their operation like a business. in regards to tag drawings etc.  Huntin Crazy, I would also have to agree with Curly, you can't compare Washington to Colorado in regards to elk.  If there was one success story from Washington other than Turkeys, I think they have done a pretty good job with the elk herds.  I disagree with some of their hunts, but in the big scheme of things.  By the way, the spike only season has improved the herd dramatically.  I couldn't tell if you were trying to say it was a bad thing. 

[HuntinCrazy]

Curly... I agree with you about Colorado's habitat. I guess the point I was trying to make is WA should look at how these other states manage their elk herds. From 1975 to 2000 Oregon's elk has risen every year. Totaling over 120,000. We have 58,000.  They can't tell us if their "plan" to see which hunting method has worked. Shoot big bulls or shoot spikes. It just pisses me off that our commission in the WDFW continue to change the regs to make more money. ELK = $$$  for the state

Some of my back ground; I served on the Washington State Sports Council. Pierce County Sports Council. Served on the Board of Directors with the Tacoma Sportsmen's Club for 16 years . Past President of TSC 2000-2002.

 As you can see I do get very involved in habitat and conservation of our natural resources . Its up to us, the general public to challenge those who exploit it for selfish gain.

[boneaddict]

They can't tell us if their "plan" to see which hunting method has worked. Shoot big bulls or shoot spikes. It just pisses me off that our commission in the WDFW continue to change the regs to make more money. ELK = $$$  for the state

That I will buy.  It goes to kind of what I was saying as there is no clear reason why they decide to do what they do.  Its on the whimsey of whomever is in charge at the moment. again....typical government crap.  I used to see it all the time with the forest service, and whoever was the ranger at the time.

[bobcat]

Per Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation,Elk heads numbers for Washington State;


                           1975 - 2000  ----     Roosevelt Elk 35,000      

                          1975-2000----      Rocky Mountain Elk 23,000  

Maybe I'm stupid but I'm still not understanding what this means. Are these the population estimates for the year 2000, or 1975? Or something else?

[boneaddict]

Looks like an extremely vague statistic, meaning that during that period there was an average of that many elk.  Kind of hard to track a trend analysis with 25 year increments.

[bobcat]

Now about the spike only thing...the reason they have a spike only season on the eastside and 3 point minimum on the westside, was that the WDFW biologists wanted spike only statewide, and it was that way one year, then hunters complained too much and got them to change it to a 3 point minimum on the westside. In my opinion, they listen to what the general public wants too much. The WDFW has biologists on staff in order to make the right decisions in how to manage our big game, yet they listen to us and other residents of the state who know nothing about wildlife management.