2008 muley season thoughts/poll (only 24 hours to vote)

[hunterofelk]

I voted for other reasons.  The lack of great winter range.  I haven't seen the numbers of deer, on the east slopes of the Cascades, rebound since the winter of 1996.  More and more land is being eaten up by human development.  Also, road kill and poaching have more impact during the low cycle years.

[bucksnort]

I like how the season always starts on a full moon.  There is no way it is chance.  The WDFW and the bio's like maximum revenue with minimum harvest.  The early start date didn't help either.  I won't complain too much since my son shot a nice 3 pt though.

[dreamingbig]

 

the 3 days taken away.

Unfortunatly most hunters don't realize its not the fact that the season is only 8 or 9 days, the problem is which 8 or 9 days they open it for. I can see F$W adding in those extra 3 days and then patting themselves on the back, only problem is they would add them to the beggining of the season and hope most would not notice. For most hunters its okay, they are just meat hunting and are out there for the vacation time or family time etc. but for anyone that is looking for a mature buck, that will burn a tag unless they find one its a waist of time. For someone like me its permit or not even hunt. I understand that according to them the heards need a little help. I just have a hard time knowing when we used to hunt, knowing there were a lot more hunters then, knowing there are more deer than there were then and yet our season gets pushed back to the middle of the month.

I agree totally.  That is why early archery elk should be the 15th thru the end of the month!

[grizzlygibbs]

I voted for other reasons.  The lack of great winter range.  I haven't seen the numbers of deer, on the east slopes of the Cascades, rebound since the winter of 1996.  More and more land is being eaten up by human development.  Also, road kill and poaching have more impact during the low cycle years.

x2 exactly what i was thinking

[HuntingFanatic]

Other. Its the economy!....lol jk i think its a combo of a lot of things!

[bornforhorns]

I've had an idea for awhile and I have some background in the WDFW.  I think they've made some good changes in the 3pt. or better/shorter seasons to increase herd and mature buck numbers.  I think an alternative draw system could look like the following to satisfy those who need to hunt every year (like me) and those that like the "draw or sit at home" method ie: Oregon.

I think they could reduce the number of late permits since there basically 100% success (or get rid of it), and keep the general season the way it is.  AND.....

AND my grand addition to the current system would be to include a draw that's basically a 70% to 30% split, where if you were drawn you not only get to hunt the first nine days (70%) like everybody else(if you want), but you also get to hunt an additional 7-10 days beyond that where only 30% of the license holders are out there than.  Other advantages would be the possible weather systems, etc. too many to count.  It's not a November hunt but the turnover on getting drawn would be excellent, and you might enjoy a quality hunt every 3 or 4 years.  The draw could be operated like the multi-season draw so you knew whether or not it would be worth it to even apply for a special late tag, or collect "ghost" points if you were drawn.  This would further reduce the number of applicants for special permits. Yeah!

I don't know what the exact percentage would be to split them, maybe you could even go 60% to 40% almost reducing hunters in the field by half, it would make a MAJOR  difference in the number of hunters in the field and the quality of the hunt because the lucky drawing hunters would probably wait and take their time off during their ten days. So....basically two seasons.  Harvest would obviously increase, so you would need to tinker with either the current late permit system or even antler restrictions for the later hunt so as not to over target the mature bucks.

Good idea!

[Nash]

I was up scouting durring the Modern season hoping to see all you guys having some good luck, but only saw one deer hanging.  I have seen very few deer this year so far, and Im sure that its due to all of the reasons that have been discussed. So, now I am just praying for a miracle for the late archery season, and since it sounds like there hasnt been much kill with all the rifle guys out there maybe I will get lucky.   

[huntnphool]

Interesting idea BFH.

[WDFW-SUX]

The current number of late tags is a total joke IMO.

[huntnphool]

The current number of late tags is a total joke IMO.

 

[Wahoo]

I copied this comment from an article in the Seattle Times Sunday paper.

Dave Ware is a state Fish and Wildlife game manager.

East of the Cascade Mountains, hunter turnout was modest compared to the 10-year average, and success declined about 35 percent compared to last year, when about 14 percent of the hunters in the Chewuch Unit in Okanogan County bagged a deer.
"The decline was due to a lack of 3 ½ year old bucks, which occurred because of poor fawn recruitment in 2005 and 2006, and so we predicted that outcome would happen on this opener," Ware said.

[bornforhorns]

I saw that too Wahoo, thanks for sharing.

[big_bucks]

Easterm Cascade winter range is poor compared to places like MT, predator management sucks thanks to the liberal *censored*bags on the westside, and crappy seasons that are both too early and ALWAYS have the wrong lunar cycles. 

I know we always had the best hunting during the last few days of the season when it was a wek later.  We used to see tons of quality bucks Okanogan county when the season was longer.  It was awesome.  Swakane late archery was legit too.  HUGE bucks up there made it so fun to go hunt in the snow with a bow.

IMO the early season dates blow and are a waste of time for anyone hunting for quality.  Risk of forest fires is way higher.  Honestly can't say one good thing about having the modern season that early. Maybe it's a good time to get a little exercise before the late hunts or out of state hunts.

Somebody at F$W needs to figure it out.  How do we get them out, and replace them with ppl who give a crap about something other than money?

[Malottguy]

The Chiliwist herd and some in the Methow had a feed program especially in harsh winters. Now they do not do that and since it has stopped we see alot more deer trying to cross the highway to get into orchards and alfalfa fields more than ever. So more road kill.

I live in Malott and my wife works in Brewster and she has seen a huge increase in deer along the Old Highway since they stopped it.

Part of our license fees is supposed to go to feed programs. What has happened to make them stop??