Poor WDFW Decision leads to Ruined Quality Bull Elk Permit Hunt

[sakoshooter]

Half the folks commenting obviously didn't read the entire original post.
I would at least want the cape w/horns for mounting and another tag issued with a generous season to go along with it - easy access depredation hunt etc.
I wouldn't have accepted a 'poached elk' either. An animal that was probably allowed to keep it's guts for most of the day and then trucked around on dusty roads the remainder of the day. Maybe not even skinned that day. Who knows???
Lee, I'm very glad you are taking the time to address this situation. The WDFW needs to be held accountable to US.
About 10 yrs ago the WDFW did a controlled burn in the Sinleheiken valley opening weekend of modern firearm deer season. I took a week's vacation with plans on camping in this area. The BAD smoke conditions and my allergies wouldn't allow it plus you could not see a darn thing. Deer hunting ruined. A short week for me scouting other areas. I'll bet a ruined week for many.
I wrote letters to many WDFW staff and after a long run around finally got a response from the Bio from that area:
Response: Sorry. Never thought about the deer season. Blah, blah, blah. I reminded him who he works for and who pays his wages and THE reason he has a job n the first place.
I think half of the WDFW has lost sight of the reason the WDFW was created to begin with. Most that I know of don't even hunt or fish.
Lee, keep at it and please let us know how it turns out. The media is a good options if you can find one with guts.

[Mudman]

It seems the questions have not been answered yet?  Im sure they are just too busy to give a rats azz what we think?  Whats up, update? 

[winshooter88]

Here is WDFW's response to Leed's letter. All it took to get a copy was to call and request it. Since it is public record there is no reason not to post it.

Edit, sorry about the poor image quality. The original file was a PDF and I couldn't get it to post.

[winshooter88]

By the way, I don't have any connection to this issue other than reading about it on this website and being interested in the Colockum herd in general.





Edited to add a word I forgot.

[Skyvalhunter]

Well seems he got his answer to his question and a bit more

[whacker1]

It is unfortunate that there isn't a better option given. 1) relinquish the whole animal to receive anther bull tag or 2) keep the antlers and nothing further except a possibility of a poached elk may exist.

But she knew the options before going into this, her unfortunate outcome was that she killed a monster bull and now had a difficult decision to make.

I too would have had a difficult time giving up a trophy of that size, and I would have also had a difficult time accepting a poached animal, but that would have been the path I would have taken.

While I don't think it resolves the situation, WDFW did give a reasonable response to many of the questions and the letter in total.

[CAMPMEAT]

Just think of all the things WDFW does that we don't even know about until after the fact.............. wolves come to mind first.

[coachcw]

looks like she knew the game she was playing ! live with it ......

[boneaddict]

Yes their timing was wrong, but herd management is important.  If they choose to do it now, their timing is wrong, if they choose to do it earlier their timing is wrong to someone.   

She chose to shoot the biggest animal in the herd.  She was aware of the consequences as I understand it.  No she shouldn't get to go shoot another animal.  Sorry   I'm friends with friends of hers, and I hope I don't offend them, but that's my opinion.


They could have shut the unit down for the year and not drawn any permits at all so they could do their study?

[whacker1]

One other comment.  Even if she relinquishes the whole animal, and gets another bull tag, who is to say that there will be
a) enough time left in the season to hunt - 7 day muzzleloader season
b) an opportunity at an un-collared bull

Frustrating to be in a position where you have to make that decision, but I would take the trophy any day based on the factors above in addition to those we have already talked about.

[Curly]

She did not know the bull was collared before shooting. The collar was very thin and tan in color according to the guy that was hunting with her. I personally would not want a cow shot by someone else not knowing how it was taken care of. IMO They should let her shoot a cow for the meat, its not like we don't have plenty of elk around here.

I agree.  They should give her a cow permit if they told her that if she shot a collared bull she could take another.  Apparently the guy that told her that must have overstepped his authority.  But they should try to make it right by letting her take a cow.   

I am going to disagree with myself here, after reading a little more closely.  (I misread it before; I thought it said that the bio told her if she took a collared bull she could then take a cow.)  Sounds like the bio told her correctly the WDFW policy on what would happen if she shot a collared bull.  She just wants to go against their policy and wants them find a way for her to keep the trophy and get some meat.

While I think WDFW policy should change, they did do right by sticking to the policy they had set in place.......(even though I don't see what it would have hurt to have her take a cow, it would not have been fair since they didn't inform the other permit holders that if they killed a collared bull, then they could just go and take a cow to make up for the lost meat and still keep the antlers.)

It is just an unfortunate situation, and hopefully WDFW changes the timing of collaring the bulls (or the least they could do is not collar any bulls of that caliber).

[buckfvr]

Just think of all the things WDFW does that we don't even know about until after the fact.............. wolves come to mind first.

Add to that, That we pay for............unknowingly.

[chukar58]

WDFW could have cancelled the special permit season and restated her points.  I believe in the hunting pamphlet this is noted that a season can be closed at anytime.   She was made aware of the unusual circumstances and what her choices were before she went on the hunt.  She was able to harvest a OIL bull elk and has a magnificent trophy.  I believe she is one lucky hunter to accomplish what she did and the meat at this point should not be an issue. 

[idahohuntr]

I think wdfw handled the situation just fine.  The hunter was informed of the situation and options in advance of the hunt.  They also offered a cow elk to replace the meat in an effort to work with her. 

This study is important...understanding where these bulls over-winter will improve the understanding of bull:cow ratios which are thought by many to be underestimated.  This may result in more bull tags which means more hunting opportunity.  In this case I very much support the study and find it is worth a little inconvenience to the hunters. 

[Skillet]

 
They even offered her an agriculture damage kill elk, not just a poached elk.  She knew the rules ahead of time, it appears she was aware of the collar on the bull, and chose to kill it anyway.  It appears the WDFW honored their end of the bargain, and she chose one of the options.  This doesn't happen much on this site, but I'll give the WDFW a on this one.