Antlerless Deer Hunt Opened in the Methow

[wsmnut]

First, I'm glad the WDFW has so many armchair advisors, there's no way they can fail, now.   Second, if there is un-utilized winter range on the other side of the river, what is going to make the deer on the east side of the river, cross to feed, if they don't know to go there now? Does the scent of uneaten browse blow upon the wind? Third, for those concerned about recovery of a low herd population, maybe limit mature buck harvest to permit only.  You shoot a doe, you only kill one, possibly two deer if it's pregnant.  You kill 1 mature buck, you potentially prevent, what, 20-30 fawns from being born?  Seems doe harvest makes more sense for a struggling herd. JMHO

The deer cross the river all the time.  Next time you drive 153 or 20 just pay attention.
Why do you suppose there is a roughly 400 deer annual road kill in the Methow?
These animals are mobile!  They don't respect roads, rivers, creeks or GMU boundaries. 

[huntnphool]

First, I'm glad the WDFW has so many armchair advisors, there's no way they can fail, now.   Second, if there is un-utilized winter range on the other side of the river, what is going to make the deer on the east side of the river, cross to feed, if they don't know to go there now? Does the scent of uneaten browse blow upon the wind? Third, for those concerned about recovery of a low herd population, maybe limit mature buck harvest to permit only.  You shoot a doe, you only kill one, possibly two deer if it's pregnant.  You kill 1 mature buck, you potentially prevent, what, 20-30 fawns from being born?  Seems doe harvest makes more sense for a struggling herd. JMHO

First,the wdfw doesnt have any armchair advisors,thats part of the problem.
Second,YES those deer will cross the river to find food,I,ve seen more than one winter and i,m sure others here also have seen them pack up and move 40 miles to get to food during a tough winter,and ad to that a feeding program  this winter which they have already commited to. I agree wiyh you on the killing a buck part of your statement....

Yeah, the does will get to their typical draw and stop, then starve to death standing there wondering where all the food went.

[Griz231]

Myself and all three of my buddies all got the second deer whitetail antlerless tag.
I had this tag a few years ago and the whitetails were tough to find in 242.
Not sure if I'll make it over but sure would enjoy the meat in the freezer.

[huntnphool]

Third, for those concerned about recovery of a low herd population, maybe limit mature buck harvest to permit only.

You could start with reducing the late permit tags, rather than increasing them like they have the last couple years.

[Big game archer]

Y'all must think deer are monogamous. 

 

[idahohuntr]

Y'all must think deer are monogamous. 

Males are almost never the limiting factor in a population. 

[Katmai Guy]

three nails, I know for a fact not all doe are bred each year, for whatever reason.  I should have included in my post, something about the quality of the genetics in breeding the does. Mother nature makes the biggest and the best fight for the privilege of being able to breed, we shouldn't be letting spikes, two points and young three points repopulate the herd, in my opinion that is not the best thing for the herd.
  Big Mac, everybody's it advocates not using these permits is an armchair advisor to the WDFW. It just happens to be your opinion and everybody on here has a different one.
  WSM, my point was that there is nothing going to make these deer all of the sudden utilize winter range that hasn't been used in the past, as posted. Some deer will find this area but, they're not all going to say"hey, lets go over to that hillside we've been savin for after a fire"

Phool, I agree, after watching what happened with the elk in the little Naches unit and the antler restrictions, I would advicate shooting spikes and two points and having to draw a permit to shoot four points and larger.
  I know these are all just opinions.  a little background on me, I'm not just a coaster, I learned to fish at the mouth of Libby Creek 49 years ago and have been hunting the valley since I was old enough to carry a rifle.  My family has lived in the Valley since the early 60s and still does.  I care what happens to that deer herd as much as if I lived in the valley 24, 7, 365.
 

[spin05]

This same problem arose after the Entiat fire in the 90's.  It recovered just fine......

[boneaddict]

First, I'm glad the WDFW has so many armchair advisors, there's no way they can fail, now.   Second, if there is un-utilized winter range on the other side of the river, what is going to make the deer on the east side of the river, cross to feed, if they don't know to go there now? Does the scent of uneaten browse blow upon the wind? Third, for those concerned about recovery of a low herd population, maybe limit mature buck harvest to permit only.  You shoot a doe, you only kill one, possibly two deer if it's pregnant.  You kill 1 mature buck, you potentially prevent, what, 20-30 fawns from being born?  Seems doe harvest makes more sense for a struggling herd. JMHO

 

[bigmacc]

Third, for those concerned about recovery of a low herd population, maybe limit mature buck harvest to permit only.

You could start with reducing the late permit tags, rather than increasing them like they have the last couple years.

Your on the money phool!

[turkeyfeather]

Third, for those concerned about recovery of a low herd population, maybe limit mature buck harvest to permit only.

You could start with reducing the late permit tags, rather than increasing them like they have the last couple years.

Your on the money phool!

And give up the extra money from selling useless extra tags. You must be either joking or delerious. 

[bigmacc]

three nails, I know for a fact not all doe are bred each year, for whatever reason.  I should have included in my post, something about the quality of the genetics in breeding the does. Mother nature makes the biggest and the best fight for the privilege of being able to breed, we shouldn't be letting spikes, two points and young three points repopulate the herd, in my opinion that is not the best thing for the herd.
  Big Mac, everybody's it advocates not using these permits is an armchair advisor to the WDFW. It just happens to be your opinion and everybody on here has a different one.
  WSM, my point was that there is nothing going to make these deer all of the sudden utilize winter range that hasn't been used in the past, as posted. Some deer will find this area but, they're not all going to say"hey, lets go over to that hillside we've been savin for after a fire"

Phool, I agree, after watching what happened with the elk in the little Naches unit and the antler restrictions, I would advicate shooting spikes and two points and having to draw a permit to shoot four points and larger.
  I know these are all just opinions.  a little background on me, I'm not just a coaster, I learned to fish at the mouth of Libby Creek 49 years ago and have been hunting the valley since I was old enough to carry a rifle.  My family has lived in the Valley since the early 60s and still does.  I care what happens to that deer herd as much as if I lived in the valley 24, 7, 365.
 

I will only speak to my part of this Katmai,call me an "armchair advisor" if you like,like i said earlier thats the problem(IMHO). the wdfw should listen to opinions from sportsman,people who grew up in the valley and know these deer.There was some game guys back in the 60,s and 70,s ,in the methow that you could actually talk to about this kind of stuff and sometimes they would disagree and other times would agree and actually pass on information,thaughts and ideas to the higher-ups.In the late 60,s and early 70,s my family(mostly my dad)had long discussions with some game people about migration routes my dad and my family knew of, these discussions were instrumental in getting some gates put up in the methow to help keep the motorhome camps and such from setting up shop smack dab in the middle of these routes, trying to ease up on the slaughters that would take place when weather hit.One year, before gates were put up,the weather did hit and triggered a pretty good migration,one of those camps(with about 3 motorhomes and a couple trailers) shot the snot out of them,they had a bunch of big bucks hanging and when my dad talked to one of the "hunters" he bragged to my dad how they shot 4 or 5 of them from their lawnchairs while sittin around the fire! After conversations with my dad about different routes and his concern for these deer along with a family hunting history in this valley dating back to 1919,they listened and alot of roads were closed or gated,some in exact spots my dad and a warden drove to and my dad pointed at a spot in the road and said "gate it hear".Katmai,there are alot of folks that in live in that valley,grew up in that valley,theres folks on this site and hunters with years of hunting that valley who may have ideas and thaughts that might be worth listening to,but unfortunatly as far as this days wdfw goes, your right,we are all just "armchair advisors" just as you said....and that is whats so wrong nowadays....

[huntnphool]

three nails, I know for a fact not all doe are bred each year, for whatever reason.  I should have included in my post, something about the quality of the genetics in breeding the does. Mother nature makes the biggest and the best fight for the privilege of being able to breed, we shouldn't be letting spikes, two points and young three points repopulate the herd, in my opinion that is not the best thing for the herd.
  Big Mac, everybody's it advocates not using these permits is an armchair advisor to the WDFW. It just happens to be your opinion and everybody on here has a different one.
  WSM, my point was that there is nothing going to make these deer all of the sudden utilize winter range that hasn't been used in the past, as posted. Some deer will find this area but, they're not all going to say"hey, lets go over to that hillside we've been savin for after a fire"

Phool, I agree, after watching what happened with the elk in the little Naches unit and the antler restrictions, I would advicate shooting spikes and two points and having to draw a permit to shoot four points and larger.
  I know these are all just opinions.  a little background on me, I'm not just a coaster, I learned to fish at the mouth of Libby Creek 49 years ago and have been hunting the valley since I was old enough to carry a rifle.  My family has lived in the Valley since the early 60s and still does.  I care what happens to that deer herd as much as if I lived in the valley 24, 7, 365.
 

I will only speak to my part of this Katmai,call me an "armchair advisor" if you like,like i said earlier thats the problem(IMHO). the wdfw should listen to opinions from sportsman,people who grew up in the valley and know these deer.There was some game guys back in the 60,s and 70,s ,in the methow that you could actually talk to about this kind of stuff and sometimes they would disagree and other times would agree and actually pass on information,thaughts and ideas to the higher-ups.In the late 60,s and early 70,s my family(mostly my dad)had long discussions with some game people about migration routes my dad and my family knew of, these discussions were instrumental in getting some gates put up in the methow to help keep the motorhome camps and such from setting up shop smack dab in the middle of these routes, trying to ease up on the slaughters that would take place when weather hit.One year, before gates were put up,the weather did hit and triggered a pretty good migration,one of those camps(with about 3 motorhomes and a couple trailers) shot the snot out of them,they had a bunch of big bucks hanging and when my dad talked to one of the "hunters" he bragged to my dad how they shot 4 or 5 of them from their lawnchairs while sittin around the fire! After conversations with my dad about different routes and his concern for these deer along with a family hunting history in this valley dating back to 1919,they listened and alot of roads were closed or gated,some in exact spots my dad and a warden drove to and my dad pointed at a spot in the road and said "gate it hear".Katmai,there are alot of folks that in live in that valley,grew up in that valley,theres folks on this site and hunters with years of hunting that valley who may have ideas and thaughts that might be worth listening to,but unfortunatly as far as this days wdfw goes, your right,we are all just "armchair advisors" just as you said....and that is whats so wrong nowadays....

 Sig was a good guy!

[Bango skank]

Exactlly if we draw I'm gonna enjoy every minute of my daughter harvesting a big fat doe for the freezer.one doe down one less fawn. One buck down lots of fawns not born . No brainer for us.

Wait, you're saying that one doe will contribute only one fawn to the population, but if a buck dies than a ton of does will not be bred?  Like another buck wont fill his shoes?   Is this a serious statement?  Besides the obvious fact that if buck "A" gets killed, buck "B" will be happy to breed the does, you do realize that a healthy doe will typically give birth to two fawns per year, not one, and that doe will breed more than one year in her lifetime right?

[csaaphill]

Exactlly if we draw I'm gonna enjoy every minute of my daughter harvesting a big fat doe for the freezer.one doe down one less fawn. One buck down lots of fawns not born . No brainer for us.

doe meat is good eats!