Swakane GMU 250 closures

[jackelope]

The bigger issue is this ranger is closing down huge chunks of public land without a good reason.  As has been stated in the past once these fires were done the area was re-opened.  Same with farther up the entiat road.  I'm personally sick of her shutting down access to these areas without solid reasoning.

This is the issue at hand. 1 ranger blocking folks out of large chunks of public land.
Nothing else.

[mfswallace]

The bigger issue is this ranger is closing down huge chunks of public land without a good reason.  As has been stated in the past once these fires were done the area was re-opened.  Same with farther up the entiat road.  I'm personally sick of her shutting down access to these areas without solid reasoning.

New wolf pack in the area they are trying to protect 

[GoPlayOutside]

I say gate the roads...then open them for the hunting season.
-but then the jeepers will whine....and I'm sure there's more whiners out there.

[shootem]

I can't help but wonder how many of you in favor of restricting access have personal experience being injured or disabled for yourself or someone you care about. How many have had a grandparent, parent, sibling, child, hunting buddy, or friend that just can't get past the gate? How many of you know a disabled vet that paid a price that now prevents them from going there. God willing you won't get injured tomorrow in an accident that keeps you from doing it. Or maybe cancer and a little chemo therapy. I guarantee everybody here will, at some point in there life, not be able to "walk past the gate" unless you die sooner.

[RadSav]

I know for myself, as I age and after my surgeries, I understand there are some places I just will never be able to hunt again.  I also believe that in certain areas there needs to be a mix of gated access, closed areas and free access to control harvest and give those with the means and physical prowess an opportunity to get away from us smarter and wiser hunters    There should be benefits to being young and in shape.  To this I do not disagree at all.

But, this is the third day in a row where a post has been written that assumes all of us with some sort of physical restriction are just lazy and it has been a life choice.  And that somehow we are less deserving of opportunity because we have, in some way, become obsolete by our own lack of dedication.  As if we should be required to pass certain physical fitness exams before allowed to purchase our hunting license.  Many of us, before our accidents and health issues, would have taken these arrogant young whipper snappers out behind the barn and given them a good arse whoopin!  Just because we can no longer do such a thing doesn't mean we don't still want to

We admit you guys are younger and in better shape.  I myself admire many of these younger hunters dedication and preparation.  You should be rewarded with some places to hunt that us old farts can not reach.  But please, have a little respect for your elders and those with issues you do not understand.  If you start thinking about the wants and desires of others instead of just concentrating on yourself you might start enjoying life a little more.  And, you just might learn something along the way.


My apologies to the OP for taking this thread off track.  I've just been getting tired of all the elitist behavior and lack of respect lately.  And after the past few days I've just hit a boiling point and this seemed as good a place to vent as any.

[DIYARCHERYJUNKIE]

All I can say is WOW!!  What a bunch of Elitist some hunters have become!!

YOU'VE ignore the FACT that the ONLY reason for installing gates is, wait for it, CONTROL!!

NO more NO less.

Like many others who worked at real jobs their entire work life, I have two warn out hip joints, one knee operated on twice and one ankle worked over three times and one shoulder that L&I refused to allowed to be repaired.

I STILL HUNT but not like I use to,  but you clowns have no clue about SPORT or Sportsmanship!

FYI for YOU "elitist"  Check out WHO makes up the USFS "employee union" it will  you!  maybe

So if I don't break my back and get the long end from l and I, I'm not really working?  I love how manual labor folks just think that's the only way on earth to get paid.  And anyone who doesn't burn 6000 calories per day is not really working. 

[antlerking]

WOW HOLLY crap it looks like I have a 6 mile hike in to get my salt blocks out!!!  Ouch I guess there will be a lot of bucks in there with the lack of pressure. That is unreal to close the roads, ecpecially al the way to Dinkleman.

[boneaddict]

All you folks that think it's great.  Wait till you have a life changing situation were you can't get out and spend all day running up and down the hills. It happens to me 2 1/2 years ago I was one of those . I put more miles in the woods then a lot of you   So now that I can't run the hills like I use to. So now I shouldn't be hunting these units. Gates are for private property and timber company's not Natinal forest

It's currently the only legal option to stop the tribal slaughter.   Deal with what they do either by treaty adjustment, or make the sale of antlers or meat illegal....

I agree.  I don't like seeing my father limited from public land and I am smart enough to know I will be soon, probably from some of my normal knee destroying activities.   

In the meantime.....

[muleracks2]

I agree that the real issue is CONTROL without accountability.  The District Ranger has refused to host a public meeting to explain her reason for the closures, refuses to do a NEPA which is clearly required for the upper Entiat and Mills.  There must be a secret hidden in the  Upper Entiat decision. 
Closing roads in the lower valley has some benefits for the mule deer.  Hunters will just need to be fit enough to climb up or hike down, bone out the harvest and do some backpacking.  Road hunters can still drive the Wenatchee side and a couple roads out of Ardenvoir, at the west end of the Swakane Unit

[timberfaller]

"So if I don't break my back and get the long end from l and I, I'm not really working?  I love how manual labor folks just think that's the only way on earth to get paid.  And anyone who doesn't burn 6000 calories per day is not really working."

Opps, must have hit a nerve! 

Being a old geezer,  in life, there are jobs and Then there are jobs you can train anyone to preform, even a monkey!

People want to thank Police for their safety, Firemen for saving their house, Doctors for saving their life.  To bad People don't thank those who supplied their toilet paper and lumber for their house.  Just think of your life without TP       

[huntnphool]

Not such a good deal for the Bighorn sheep draw winner or those with permits.

 Turns it into a tough hunt?

[DOUBLELUNG]

Not sure I agree with all you "pro gate hunters".....  What about the kid, guy, or gal that cannot hike like they use to.  What about the disabled hunter or overweight hunter??  Since when did hunting turn into a young fit persons sport?   If they want gates so they can lock up winter grounds following hunting season...I am all for it.  I am not for shutting down and restricting public grounds any more than they already have.   

I'm fat, with six stents and unstable angina that really limits my ability to hit the back country.
I am in favor of more areas in Chelan County with less open roads.  When all the roads are open, the pressure pushes the game from more accessible areas, into terrain which I cannot access.  I would far rather hunt on foot in "roadable" areas with closed and gated or tank-trapped roads, than to have to tackle steep, mountainous remote conditions. 
A closed road is the best possible access for hunters with young children, and older or disabled hunters who are still capable of limited walking.
Open roads only benefit the truly disabled (nonambulatory) hunter, and unfortunately those are also crowded with road hunters - people who can walk, but prefer to drive roads.  I don't dislike roadhunters - if not for them, my reasonably accessible, 1-2 mile walk-in areas would be far more crowded.  If I had my way, except for the main traveled connectors, all the spur roads would be closed to increase opportunity for more hunters with limited mobility. 

[RadSav]

Not such a good deal for the Bighorn sheep draw winner or those with permits.

Turns it into a tough hunt?

I will gladly die trying if drawn for the Swakane sheep tag!  Might take me a couple days to get in and a couple days to get out.  But I'm sure I can get MLBowhunting to get the sheep to the taxi for safe keeping until I finally crawl out of there.  And if I die trying - so be it.  Better to die on the mountain hunting than in a hospital bed with a tube down my throat.

[huntnphool]

Not sure I agree with all you "pro gate hunters".....  What about the kid, guy, or gal that cannot hike like they use to.  What about the disabled hunter or overweight hunter??  Since when did hunting turn into a young fit persons sport?   If they want gates so they can lock up winter grounds following hunting season...I am all for it.  I am not for shutting down and restricting public grounds any more than they already have.   

I'm fat, with six stents and unstable angina that really limits my ability to hit the back country.
I am in favor of more areas in Chelan County with less open roads.  When all the roads are open, the pressure pushes the game from more accessible areas, into terrain which I cannot access.  I would far rather hunt on foot in "roadable" areas with closed and gated or tank-trapped roads, than to have to tackle steep, mountainous remote conditions. 
A closed road is the best possible access for hunters with young children, and older or disabled hunters who are still capable of limited walking.
Open roads only benefit the truly disabled (nonambulatory) hunter, and unfortunately those are also crowded with road hunters - people who can walk, but prefer to drive roads.  I don't dislike roadhunters - if not for them, my reasonably accessible, 1-2 mile walk-in areas would be far more crowded.  If I had my way, except for the main traveled connectors, all the spur roads would be closed to increase opportunity for more hunters with limited mobility.

 +1

[vandeman17]

Not to derail the thread but if anybody does draw a permit in Swakane or something deep in Entiat and needs help getting something out that is way back in there, feel free to let me know. Heck, even if it is a general season deer, I am 30-60 minutes away depending on road conditions and will happily throw on my pack frame and come help pack out.