Swakane

[huntnphool]

Some good points CEB, welcome to the site.  

If WDFW thinks the only way to protect the bucks is making a draw hunt, then why not at least put out 200 permits for archery.

That would be a good option but I think 200 is way too many. With the success rates being what they have been 15 modern and 100 archery permits in both Swakane and Entiat would help for a few years and then re-evaluate

[cle elum bowhunter]

Ok, I agree that 200 may be to much, was just trying to look at success rates vs. # of avalable permits for and equaling harvest numbers.  I have been drawn for entiat twice since it went permit and ate my permit both times.  Conversely, I've had many friends draw the entiat or swakane over the years and every one of them has filled their modern tags.  Thanks for the welcome, been stalking the sight for about 6 months after a buddy told me about it.  As a Master Hunter, I feel it is time for me to do my part to preserve hunting opportunities within our state.  After 30 years of hunting elk, I'm still looking to bag my first mature bull, and now that our state is starting to produce some quality animals, I don't want to see mis-management, out of season tribal hunting  or anything else diminish what we have going.  Look at what has happened to the Clockum elk herd in the last 5 years.  I don't want to see our muleys go the same way.

[boneaddict]

I swear to God I said this a few posts back but its gone.  Gate the damn thing at the bottom.  This would solve over harvest and tribal influence.

[Curly]

Losing hunting opportunity scares me.... only being able to hunt permit only is not the solution IMO.  I'm curious what you consider as the benefit of permit only? better deer heard, larger bucks, etc?

The benefit of permit only is that the area could actually be managed.  The number of hunters could be limitted to a certain amount based on science instead of just letting everyone who wished to hunt there go show up on opening day.  The 3-point minimum rules could be eliminated and deer herds would become healthier. 

I would bet that the WDFW biologists have suggested permit only.  The idea would get shot down immediately because hunters would complain because they may not get to hunt a certain unit every year.  Therefore, the only management tools they have left is season timing, season length, and antler restrictions to try to manage the herd.

Permit only will never happen in this state.  Hunters will put too much pressure on WDFW.

[Red Dawg]

put in gates along with a large parking lot woould be perfect. that would delete over half of the so called hunters. I say do it state wide. Or make everything draw only.

[bobcat]

Permit only will never happen in this state.  Hunters will put too much pressure on WDFW.

I think at some time in the future this state will be permit only hunting for mule deer, just for the same reason mountain goat, bighorn sheep, and moose are permit only. Just won't be enough animals for the number of people wanting to harvest one. But you're right, the WDFW is going to have to be really desperate and mule deer numbers at rock bottom before they will be able to convince people that eliminating the over-the-counter tags for mule deer is the only option left.

[Red Dawg]

people naturally have a knee jerk reaction to everything. most feel there is no need for a proactive approach to anything. They will wait until everthing is gone before anything will get done. The sad part of it is, is that we do it to ourselves. But I dont think a draw only system is very far away, lots of states have gone to some variation of this and have had great success managing their game. Hope someone will open up their eyes. I dont think it would be to bad hunting mulies every other year or so. That would only make it better.

[huntnphool]

Would it be possible to have a drawing that everyone had to enter upon purchasing a license dividing the groups for the first year into odd or even? Odd meaning for the next 4 years or so you were limited to hunting odd years and the others on even years. Any new license purchased after that would then be split up the same way keeping the groups the same size. I know it would suck but at least you would be able to hunt every other year.

[ICEMAN]

This might cause the end of steelhead and salmon fishing?

[Red Dawg]

some thing like that would work. You can hunt all other species every year but mulies you need to get drawn from a specific unit. It works real well in oregon, and colorado and I think guys hunt dang near every year depending on what unit they put in for. Who knows, but I know that if we do something like they do they deer population wont get bigger but we will have better opportunities at mature bucks to harvest. I think most of us would be in the mountains anyway wether we had a tag in our pocket or not, so your traditional camps could and will exist. It would nothing like the late hunt draw but it would cut the riffraff in half.

[gasman]

I swear to God I said this a few posts back but its gone.  Gate the damn thing at the bottom.  This would solve over harvest and tribal influence.

Sorry guys, i highly disagree and am aposed with gating any public road way for any reason at all.
Gates are not the way to manage animal population. If you gate off roads for the porpose of hunting it stops to many other recreational activity that have nothing to do with hunting.

It would be more productive to move to a permit only system (wich i do not want to see) than to gate of access to the public hunting or not, and only closing the gates for hunting season is not a viable option either. Getting all the gates open or closed when they are suppose to be is another problem. It is a government agency we are discussing.........

[Skyvalhunter]

+1

[huntnphool]

Why Gasman? The only thing the gate stops is vehicles, I would like to see all the roads gated for hunting seasons, you would sure find out who the determined hunters are and who the lazy ones are as well.

[Red Dawg]

  I hunt an area that is gated of now and I love it. We never see other hunters past 2 miles in. I bet half the people that hunt today would quit.

[Skyvalhunter]

I am partial to not gating the roads for personal reasons. I had a dad that was a parapeligic after his accident. Road hunting allowed him to continue his passion. Therefore I am more partiial to their side. Just my side.