Washington State Mule Deer Hunting Future (poll)

[Colville]

Make the methow region a recovery region.  Allow a second eastside bear if you take one in that region. Make whitetail any deer for the next couple years to reduce the pressure on Mule deer.  Ultimately, they are going to have to recover the winter range. Until you have mature winter browse I doubt there'll be a real opportunity for a major bounce back.  It's probably a decade long commitment.

[Jpmiller]

Make the methow region a recovery region.  Allow a second eastside bear if you take one in that region. Make whitetail any deer for the next couple years to reduce the pressure on Mule deer.  Ultimately, they are going to have to recover the winter range. Until you have mature winter browse I doubt there'll be a real opportunity for a major bounce back.  It's probably a decade long commitment.

I think going to any whitetail will have the most impact. A second besr tag would help too. I would have taken the bear I saw if I knew I could to buy another tag but I didn't want to use it on a teeny one.

[huntnphool]

I honestly want to apply for it just so one less doe is not killed.

 There are those that have been doing this for decades, albeit at the risk of being ridiculed and berated.

 If you do it, I'd suggest not admitting it online.

[huntnphool]

Make the methow region a recovery region.  Allow a second eastside bear if you take one in that region. Make whitetail any deer for the next couple years to reduce the pressure on Mule deer.  Ultimately, they are going to have to recover the winter range. Until you have mature winter browse I doubt there'll be a real opportunity for a major bounce back.  It's probably a decade long commitment.

I think going to any whitetail will have the most impact. A second besr tag would help too. I would have taken the bear I saw if I knew I could to buy another tag but I didn't want to use it on a teeny one.

 The issue with that is there are muley does that get killed by idiots every year thinking they are WT.

[timberfaller]

Voted YES,  but know the WDFW all to well to see any "changes" (especially common sense ones)ever taking place.

You'd first need to weed out the "Anti's" out of the department and then hire some "biologist" that understood animal husbandry!!

This is my first year not buying a license or tags(48 years in a row) after the last couple of years in all my old stomping grounds and seeing the lack there of, it was a simple choice.

[vandeman17]

After reading all the ideas I am still good with the idea of doing a combination of increased predator control, even if just that specific region, and reduction in available tags. I travel up that way a lot for work and even the farmers and orchard owners are saying how few deer they see.

[wolfbait]

I wonder where folks get the idea that killing more whitetail will some how help the mule deer, whitetail have survived the wolf impact better then mule deer because they can survive in a smaller area. As far as competion goes for winter range, at least in the Methow it is a joke, we have plenty of winter range for the amount of overall deer.



Too bad hunters don't spend a few years concentrating on predators instead of ungulates, from WDF&Wolves own actions we know that the only management for the game herds will have to come form the public, via predator control etc.. 

 

[Colville]

Let's see, Huge fire on the winter ground. Huge winter kill.  Yeah it's the wolves.  Sorry, they are contributors but they are not the center of the problem.  Whitetails out compete mule deer on any ground where they are together.  If that pushes mule deer in the winter, it's lost energy. I doubt whitetail reduction will be a huge changer.  The "big" changer, mild winter for 2 or 3 in a row.  Outside of that, it's all nibbling at the edges.  There's lot of winter ground, but lots of it contains less of what they used to eat.   Besides, wolves are something we can't address and all the rest, IS.

[wolfbait]

Let's see, Huge fire on the winter ground. Huge winter kill.  Yeah it's the wolves.  Sorry, they are contributors but they are not the center of the problem.  Whitetails out compete mule deer on any ground where they are together.  If that pushes mule deer in the winter, it's lost energy. I doubt whitetail reduction will be a huge changer.  The "big" changer, mild winter for 2 or 3 in a row.  Outside of that, it's all nibbling at the edges.  There's lot of winter ground, but lots of it contains less of what they used to eat.   Besides, wolves are something we can't address and all the rest, IS.

Mild winter would help, but the big change in other states was adding wolves to the list of predators.

[mfswallace]

Wolves, Wolves, Wolves and 1/4 other factors. The first step in recovery is admitting you have a problem!!

[huntnphool]

Wolves, Wolves, Wolves and 1/4 other factors. The first step in recovery is admitting you have a problem!!

 Agreed!

[wolfbait]

Folks trying to figure out what happen to all the deer, need to remember that wolf sighting etc. started in the 1990's and WDFW's own claim is that the wolves started "migrating" to WA in 2002. Remember what happened to the Yellowstone elk herd with 10 years worth of wolves. Remember the Lolo Elk herd?

In 2010-11 we watched the wolves slaughter the hell out of the deer, from Mazama to Carlton, and that was just from county and state roads we hike into kills off of.

In 2004 at least one game warden openly admitted the drop in the deer herd was because of wolves.

Most people now can now see the writing on the wall, in the fact that WDFW does not have hunters interests at heart.

Uncontrolled wolves means no hunting eventually, and you can look forward to the rest of WA looking just like the Methow etc. in your not so distant future.


 

[NOCK NOCK]

There are no known wolves that frequent some mule deer areas (ie; Entiat) So I have a really hard time buying the "all because of the wolves" mentality. I am positive they are a contributing factor(where they are present) but winterkill, human harvest, cats, and habitat loss are by far more detrimental to the Mule deer herds.

[huntnphool]

 Curious if any of you are changing your opinion now that you have been out there this season?

 It will be interesting to see the vote totals around the end of November.......remember that you can change your vote.

[NOCK NOCK]