Free: Contests & Raffles.
WDFW has to get back to the bread and butter of the agency and regain focus on FISH and GAME. When they spend more time and effort chasing federal dollars due to the lack of Wildlife state dollars their emphasis is placed where the money is. For years the legislature has given WDFW the directive to cut back on managment without cutting basic functions and recreational opportunity. In trying to achieve this the legislature has cut back funding in hopes of pinching the coffers to a point managment postitions would be reduced. WDFW response chase more federal contracts which come from threatened, endangered, and invasive species. With every federal dollar they receive 32%is slated towards Administration and management fees thus retaining their cubicle in the big house. There is merit in the management of these species and they need to have a place in a healthy ecosystem, however do we need government waste in multiple agencies conducting the same efforts on the same species. Not only does WDFW manage oversee Pygmy rabbits, the federal government have their own team as well as BLM and DNR. We have multiple agencies focusing on the same effort instead of spreading our resources and creating focal points on small pictures rather then big, every agency wants the funding. The legislature has to be convinced that WDFW has become to diverse and has to many pies to put their finger in. Reign in the agency and bring it back to what it was created for to manage fish and game. Let the other players in government worry about 3 toed red bellied salamanders have a collaborative relationship with those other agencies so that the habitat is suitable for all species, but bring the focus and the mainstay of the department back to managing the game species. Probably would result in WDFW attending alot less law hearings as well if their fingers aren't in the pie. I think rather then try to be mediocre at alot of things they should try and be great at a few. Although the offset of that is management in oly may have numbers reduced to the point of becoming a listed or endangered species themselves. I wonder how bats with white-nose syndrome would fare in a uninhabited cubicle environment.
I personally believe a big hit to their pocketbook is the only thing that will open their eyes. I would have no problem holding on to the $200 plus that I typically fork over for one year, if only I could convince about 10,000 other guys to do the same..
Lots of good comments on here.Thank you Bigtex for your input.When I read this, I can't help but think of the reason WFW (Washington for Wildlife) was started. Granted, it has stalled due to normal reasons of people divided with their own interests. Much of that can be time available to put towards it. Fact is Hunters are a pain in the backside. Few are capable of thinking big picture.
Quote from: bigmacc on November 15, 2017, 09:14:51 PMIts like some of us have said, "something needs to be done" its hard to get things done going the political route in this state as phool said. Now, a boycott?...HMMMMMM?Time for me to offend people.Who do you think the commission will listen to more, a wildlife biologist or a group of redneck hunters (I'm one too) who can't put a paragraph together? Obviously it's the bio. When I see the things that are submitted during the season setting process I shake my head. Some of the suggestions don't even look like they're written in English. Us hunters go and complain and basically say "well hunting sucks and there's less deer" but we don't have actual data to back it up most of the time. So it's the word of a hunter vs a professional biologist, and I wonder why the commission goes with the biologist.Fishing groups have biologists who work for them and go to bat for them in the reg changing process. Doesn't seem like the hunting side has that, or they're not very successful. Want things to change? Get facts, not just John Doe's opinion on what's going on in the hills.
Its like some of us have said, "something needs to be done" its hard to get things done going the political route in this state as phool said. Now, a boycott?...HMMMMMM?
Little Joe Shmo could do his part on predator hunting.I do
Quote from: bigmacc on November 15, 2017, 10:00:54 PMQuote from: bigtex on November 15, 2017, 09:30:24 PMQuote from: bigmacc on November 15, 2017, 09:14:51 PMIts like some of us have said, "something needs to be done" its hard to get things done going the political route in this state as phool said. Now, a boycott?...HMMMMMM?Time for me to offend people.Who do you think the commission will listen to more, a wildlife biologist or a group of redneck hunters (I'm one too) who can't put a paragraph together? Obviously it's the bio. When I see the things that are submitted during the season setting process I shake my head. Some of the suggestions don't even look like they're written in English. Us hunters go and complain and basically say "well hunting sucks and there's less deer" but we don't have actual data to back it up most of the time. So it's the word of a hunter vs a professional biologist, and I wonder why the commission goes with the biologist.Fishing groups have biologists who work for them and go to bat for them in the reg changing process. Doesn't seem like the hunting side has that, or they're not very successful. Want things to change? Get facts, not just John Doe's opinion on what's going on in the hills.Well I will only speak for myself hear bigtex but my family celebrated our 100 year anniversary this year of hunting mule deer in the Methow, over those 100 years (and up until the Fish and Game Dept became the Fish and Wildlife Dept) many a Game warden, Biologist and various other folks that represented our Fish and Game visited our camp, had dinner with us and even visited with us at our homes and us at theirs. Over those years many of those folks sat with my Grandparents and Dad and picked their brains about migration routes,staging areas and so on. A lot of the gates that that are up now in different parts of the valley were discussed back in the 60,s and 70,s between my family and the Game dept. Many hours were spent in discussion about migrations and where gates would do the most good with increasing hunter numbers, encroachment, pressure et. etc. The herds were cared about by the Dept. and the Dept. cared about the hunters, now that they are Fish and Wildlife they have way to many irons in the fire, to many special interest groups to cater to and way to many egos and money on the table. I guess when they were the Fish and Game Dept, they actually listened to us "redneck hunters" also.Bigmacc you just said it perfectly.i will put myself out there for the potential lamb-basting that may ensue, I am one of the "professional wildlife biologists" i do not work for the State but my agency shares a lot of the same directives. i got into this field because i grew up hunting and wanted to be a force and voice of good for the sportsman.i am in the middle of re-writing my office's wildlife and habitat management plan and i can tell you first hand that Bigmacc just about said it perfectly, aside from the money portion, a lot of our budgets have been cut pretty drastically, i dont know about wdfw as i dont work for them. but in this new modern era of wildlife management we have so many more stakeholders, initiatives, directives and interest groups to answer to. the old plan i was working under that has expired listed out 3 games species and 2 ESA species. i am now writing a plan that includes upwards of 100 species and their habitats, not a small order by any means.flat out the era of managing solely for game is gone, its done and agencies are now looking at a holistic approach of ALL wildlife this is snakes and lizards, amphibians, game species, ESA species, little brown birds to eagles and species that no one really pays attention to like bats and butterflies.we live in a changing time and we as hunters need to adapt to it. yes there are wolves and more wolves, hate to say it but theyre here to stay and will increase in both numbers and range. wildlife management paradigms are changing and game species are not always the main focus. i will say that the animals are out there, i spend over 200 days afield and see them out there. they are getting better at avoiding predators and that includes us.now i do not agree with everything wdfw does or all of their management techniques. static management of the herds does not work. however, when you have an office of 2-3 biologists that are expected to manage 10s of thousands of acres theres only so much you can do in a given year, especially with the plethora of management directives and studies to conduct. something is going to get left by the way side.so far ive seen everyone here talking about "what can we coerce wdfw into doing to benefit deer hunting". ive read over the threads and seen some good ideas and some not so good. but in reality we should be asking "what can we, the hunting population do to help" we have organization like the Mule Deer Foundation and other groups that have a sole mission of improving opportunities for deer hunting. why are we not thinking what we can do to help. we as hunters can offer a lot of help in the terms of man power for habitat improvement projects, my biggest limiting factor at work is not money or time but MAN POWER. its an unpopular comparison but a very apt one, but have you ever wondered why the washington wolf reintroduction has been such a success? its because there are a ton of everyday members of the public that want it and they volunteer to help out. whether its with citizen science for monitoring or helping with translocation projects or etc. people are willing to donate their time and effort for a cause they believe in.what we should be asking of ourselves as hunters is "how can we come together as a group and provide our time, knowledge,expertise and energy to help solve a concerning issue that we all care about?"
Quote from: bigtex on November 15, 2017, 09:30:24 PMQuote from: bigmacc on November 15, 2017, 09:14:51 PMIts like some of us have said, "something needs to be done" its hard to get things done going the political route in this state as phool said. Now, a boycott?...HMMMMMM?Time for me to offend people.Who do you think the commission will listen to more, a wildlife biologist or a group of redneck hunters (I'm one too) who can't put a paragraph together? Obviously it's the bio. When I see the things that are submitted during the season setting process I shake my head. Some of the suggestions don't even look like they're written in English. Us hunters go and complain and basically say "well hunting sucks and there's less deer" but we don't have actual data to back it up most of the time. So it's the word of a hunter vs a professional biologist, and I wonder why the commission goes with the biologist.Fishing groups have biologists who work for them and go to bat for them in the reg changing process. Doesn't seem like the hunting side has that, or they're not very successful. Want things to change? Get facts, not just John Doe's opinion on what's going on in the hills.Well I will only speak for myself hear bigtex but my family celebrated our 100 year anniversary this year of hunting mule deer in the Methow, over those 100 years (and up until the Fish and Game Dept became the Fish and Wildlife Dept) many a Game warden, Biologist and various other folks that represented our Fish and Game visited our camp, had dinner with us and even visited with us at our homes and us at theirs. Over those years many of those folks sat with my Grandparents and Dad and picked their brains about migration routes,staging areas and so on. A lot of the gates that that are up now in different parts of the valley were discussed back in the 60,s and 70,s between my family and the Game dept. Many hours were spent in discussion about migrations and where gates would do the most good with increasing hunter numbers, encroachment, pressure et. etc. The herds were cared about by the Dept. and the Dept. cared about the hunters, now that they are Fish and Wildlife they have way to many irons in the fire, to many special interest groups to cater to and way to many egos and money on the table. I guess when they were the Fish and Game Dept, they actually listened to us "redneck hunters" also.
@uplandhunter870I have no doubt that manpower is a huge issue so I have a couple of questions.Why do we not see more calls to action from the WDFW and other agencies? If they are doing so they are Extreamly ineffective at getting thier message out.The main experience most of on here have seen is the road blocks placed refurbishing Cherry valley and Stillwater units. I have visited and hunted both. Paul aka Happy Gilmore has documented his efforts to volunteer and Chronicled the beurocratic failures for something as simple as mowing and tilling the property.Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
