A few of you have suggested that we get the word out through forwarding emails. So here it is just cut and paste this message out and get it out to all the like minded hunters you know.
This may be somewhat long but please bear with me and read the whole thing. We need to stand together against the slaughter of elk and deer by Indian hunters and this will be the first step in that process. It is obvious that many of you share my beliefs that something needs to be done to stop the decimation of the Colockum bull population by the Yakama Indian Tribe. It is obvious that the game department either doesn't care or is to afraid to do anything about it. Either way it is time that somebody put a stop to this and end the unrestricted hunting of Indians on State Land. It is 2009 not 1855. They no longer have to rely on hunting to sustain them through the winter and in 1855 they didn't have high powered rifles with scopes and ATV's and snowmobiles.
This is what I propose. I'm sure many of you have written letters that have drawn little if any response from the game department. As individuals we can not hope to get anything done. But as a group that works as a team towards a common goal we can do anything. As an individual we are limited by our many flaws, but as a team there isn't anything we can't accomplish. If we get enough people to participate they will do something. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation was started by a few hunters twenty some years ago and look how much they've accomplished.
This is what we need to do. We need to begin an activist group much like RMEF or Green Peace to begin to work towards making Indian hunters abide by the same rules and regulations that we do. I was born in America so how am I any less of a Native American than an Indian is? Currently we as Non-Indian hunters are second class citizens. None of the other Western states allow their Indian tribes to hunt all year round killing as many animals as they want to outside of their reservations so why should Washington be different?
We need to band together and start having meetings and raise money and find lawyers and collect our own evidence about how unfair and stupid this practise is so we can bring it to our state legislature. We need to start a petition around here and maybe even state wide to show how serious we really are and that it's time to stop. Right now they blame it on poachers or even us (we kill too many spikes) but if they are faced with overwhelming evidence that only you as outdoorsmen who are out there all the time are able to collect, then they'll have to listen. Imagine if they tried to say we're a bunch of ignorant people and racist red-necks and then we show them a bunch of pics using game cameras of truck loads of dead elk driven by Indians coming out of the Colockum what they would say then. We also need to see if groups like RMEF and Mule Deer Forever etc will help out as well since they've done this sort of thing before.
I know I spoke mostly about the Colockum but Yakima hunters need to band with us together as well since they the Yakama's do the same thing to your herds as well, such as the Oak Creek Massacre. This message is to get the ball rolling on the first step wich is creating our first meeting time and begin to organize so we can start a group with a President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary etc. The whole nine yards. We can't go half way, we're either all in or not at all.
I've started an email address for this purpose. Its' colockumelk@yahoo.com
If you have any comments or ideas or if you would like to start a group with me that would be great. If you know community organizers or key leaders this would also be great. I'd like to begin having meetings no later than March. Obviously the sooner the better. Also if you have any pics of Indians with big bulls or elk etc, or what would be great is if we could get people to start putting their game cameras higher up in some trees just off of the roads so we can get some good pics of truck loads of dead elk and deer in the back of their vehicles. The game department might be unable but we're not. Enough is enough. If you want to help out please email me back lets set up a group meeting to finally put an end to the insanity that it unlimited tribal hunting. The part after this unofficial name is taken from an email I received that is from an article in the December 2008 issue of The Reel News written by John Fulwiler titled "Tribes Killed the Elk." It explains alot about why our branch bull population in the Colockum has been drastically reduced.
Hunters
Against
Unlimited hunting by
Native
Tribes
> Long time readers know that I elk hunt in the Colockum Wildlife Area.
> My family settled in this area around 1880. At one time my
> grandfather owned or leased in excess of 3,500 acres, and along with
> two other families, was in the process of purchasing all of that and
> more. His untimely passing at a young age resulted in my Grandmother
> selling his holdings to the state. My Uncle Neil owns the section of
> land that rema ined. It is the Colockum Ranch. The road from the
> Wenatchee side accessing the Colockum, runs past his and my cousins
> property. They see what goes up and down this road.
>
> What they saw a lot of this summer was truck loads of dead elk.
> Starting at the end of July, as soon as antlers mature and harden,
> Yakima tribal hunters are decimating the Colockum elk herd. On the
> last Friday of deer season in the area, my dad and brother saw Indian
> hunters with a very large 7 point bull in the back. Nothing was open
> at the time for elk, but the elk was dead, none the less. Relatives
> have seen truck loads of spikes, the only size bull us non Indians are
> allowed to shoot. The man in charge of running the area has been told
> by his superiors, "hands off". It is estimated by people in the area
> that the tribes killed 48 large bulls during the summer of 2008. My
> Uncle works very closely with the Game Department in the area. He
> tells me the Colockum elk herd is down by 1500 animals. All rules for
> this herd will change for the 2009 season.
>
> I really have a hard time comprehending the greed in these hunters.
> They are absolutely classless as far as hunters go. For my lifetime,
> the top of the mountain in the Colockum has been an elk preserve. It
> was donat ed land from one Arthur Coffin. He donated the land for the
> preservation of elk. Non-tribal hunters cannot access this land at
> any time. Absolutely no trespassing. Doesn't apply to the tribes.
> They not only kill elk in the preserve, they camp on it. This year it
> was estimated that over 40 hunters made up this camp at one time. The
> elk have had decades of conditioned learning that they are safe in the
> preserve. Not any longer. And if tribal hunters can't kill their elk
> by hunting on a game preserve, they spot light at night, and it is
> legal by their rules. Amazing.
>
> What is even more amazing to me is the fact that the Colockum elk herd
> was started by non-Indians around 1913. Elk were introduced to the
> area from the Yellowstone herd. Why do the tribes get to hunt for elk
> that weren't there prior to our putting them there? I asked this
> question and was told they have found drawings on caves near the
> Columbia River showing elk. According to the powers that be, this was
> enough to give them elk rights on the Colockum herd. I say it is
> shady closed door decision making at its worst.
>
> I have two references in my collection that state elk were not readily
> available in Washington, except for the Roosevelt's. In the diary of
> Lewis and Clark, Le wis wrote that the tribes on the Columbia River
> really liked elk meat and were quite willing to trade for it, as they
> didn't have a successful means of killing them unless one stumbled
> into a bear pit. I have read that the Nez Pierce traveled to Idaho
> for their elk hunts. In another publication I have, written by R.
> Roundtree about himself, he describes how he and his brothers had to
> travel to Idaho for elk. They settled the Pe Ell area prior to the
> Civil War. But, because they found a drawing, all the history goes
> aside.
>
> Unless I am very mistaken about Indian traditions, they drew pictures
> of animals for reasons other than they were in the area. They would
> draw them to gain power over them for the hunt. They drew pictures in
> thanks for a successful hunt. Those pictures they found could have
> been elk killed in Idaho, which everything I have read shows both
> tribal hunters and non-tribal hunters went for Rocky Mountain elk,
> prior to their introduction here.
>
> Non-tribal hunters have to draw a permit to shoot a branch antlered
> bull. In 2004, when my dad and brother were drawn, 28 permits were
> issued. This year 3 were issued. Just when we thought the practice
> of not shooting big bulls was starting to pay off, the Yakima tribe is
> decimating them. Plus, they ki ll spikes and cows also. I would like
> to see the spike only rule go away. All it is doing is giving
> classless tribal hunters carte blanche on big elk. Another item I
> intend to pursue is getting my hands on the paperwork that had to have
> been drawn up when Mr. Coffin donated all the land to the state for
> the elk preserve. It has to contain language pertaining to
> preservation. Allowing tribal hunters onto that land is not
> preservation. I am thinking someone could take that information and
> make the state nervous.
>
> Hunting in this area has been going downhill for the past 3 years.
> Now we know why. When TRN sent out the questionnaires to the
> gubernatorial candidates, one of the questions was whether they
> supported these closed door secret meetings. Our newly re-elected
> governor chose not to respond. Guess what? We already knew the
> answer. Soon, elk in the Colockum will go the way of salmon, crab and
> the Nooksack elk herd, which was nearly wiped out by tribal hunters.
