Bow season vs other seasons

[stickslinger]

I have been elk hunting the colockum units for over 30 years. And yes archery has gotten more popular over the years(probably because people are tired of the war zone during modern) but trust me the majority of the elk that get pushed do not go into the reserve and the ones that go there do not stay there very long.  If you look at archery boundaries there is quite a bit of ground that is not open that is open to muzzy and rifle. This is done to equal opportunities among all groups, my feeling is if you think all of the elk get pushed into the reserve then you are probably hunting along the reserve.  Venture out and you will find elk no matter what weapon you choose to use

[blindluck]

I would agree, with the added pressure  literally doubled. the mass exitus happens within five days from the beginning of the archery season.

[Mudman]

During the rut do you want pumpkins shooting?  How would the animal breeding fair?  I see this as archery equip has improved but 50 y is still pretty much it.  60 sure if animals doesn't move, its clear view and wind is low etc. etc.  Muzzle has inlines at 200y.  When I hunted powder 100y was the shot.  Modern has 800y+ shots with military sniper rangefinding wipe your butt guns!  So ya all have improved.  A wash in my book or disadvantage archery.  Harvest #'s and animal health should be priority in regulations not pieces of the pie.

[Gringo31]

This thread is a train wreck.


Be Nice.




Yes, too many cow tags filled in 328 and 329.  This isn't on accident.  Why? 

Yes, it's been reduced some this year.  I'd recommend talking to a bio.

[Elkcollector82]

  If the change is for elk  management. I’m totally fine with it. We all know wdfw can’t really make decisions that everyone is happy with. We all can agree with that. But as hard as it is to say. I do agree that making a change is a good start. Does it affect my archery season?  Maybe. Cause now I might see more hunters in the unit I hunt. Is it gonna run me out of this state? No. I jump around from archery, muzzy and MF. I do that not cause of other user groups advantages. I do it all on what season I can hunt more with my kids. Only reason why I change. Do we choose archery over other user groups. Yes. Cause the weather is nicer and the kids enjoy backcountry hunting. I make my hunting plans around what can give them the most enjoyable hunt. What I seen and still seeing. Is hunters putting themselves first and want to complain and whine over a change. That could very well be for the best. Yes they cut archery tags. Ok. Adjust to it. Who says next year they won’t cut muzzy or MF tags. If the tables were turned. It be the archery guys saying deal with it to muzzy or MF.

  I think hunters get blinders on when a change comes and they forget why they are out in the field in the first place. I’m out there to make memories and hopefully watch my kids punch a tag. But if we don’t. Oh well.

[stickslinger]

I will state this one more time.... and yes this has been posted on other threads. Yes archery has grown in popularity and yes they have been able to hunt cows, but for you to say that all of the elk huddle in the reserve is ridiculous. There is a lot of area on that hill that is closed to archery but open to all other seasons. And yes the animals are spooky by the time you get up there but that happens by the second day of archery season, you say that people are whining, maybe they should I'm not saying that cow needed to stay open but to close it down, not offer any special permits for archery but increase the cow tags for ml and mf was wrong !!!    The colockum herd needs help and it can't happen if we are too busy picking and moaning towards each other instead of working together.

I wish I was a better type because I could go on for hours

[KFhunter]

merged

one thread is enough, no need to "cast a wider net" by spamming the same thread in multiple areas of the forum. 

[W_Ellison2011]

I will state this one more time.... and yes this has been posted on other threads. Yes archery has grown in popularity and yes they have been able to hunt cows, but for you to say that all of the elk huddle in the reserve is ridiculous. There is a lot of area on that hill that is closed to archery but open to all other seasons. And yes the animals are spooky by the time you get up there but that happens by the second day of archery season, you say that people are whining, maybe they should I'm not saying that cow needed to stay open but to close it down, not offer any special permits for archery but increase the cow tags for ml and mf was wrong !!!    The colockum herd needs help and it can't happen if we are too busy picking and moaning towards each other instead of working together.

I wish I was a better type because I could go on for hours

100% agree with you. I'm not going to sit here and say that the cow hunting for archery needs to go away. I'm going to say that if they do want to remove it then give archery as many tags as ML or MF get over the next 5-10 years and I bet money that the population will pick back up a bit. Also going to agree that saying that all the elk just run away and hide in an area people can't hunt is silly. I bet you money the elk get just as spooky and moved around by everyone scouting during the summer! So many people go out and spend a ton of time chasing the elk during the summer or even during the archery season, getting ready for the MF and ML seasons, that it has to effect the elk movements.

[KFhunter]

In some areas all cow hunting needs to go away, you can't manage the whole state as one size fits all...errr wait 

[pianoman9701]

I haven't killed an elk with a bow for several years. I think everyone should stay out of the woods until I get my next elk. It's not because I'm not a good hunter because I have decades of experience. It's because of all you other guys! Thanks for keeping my freezer empty, you selfish bums!

About 4 years ago, restrictions were put on cow tags for ML and Modern with little change in Bow regs regarding cows in those units. Now, the archery regs are catching up with the others. My fellow members of WSB probably disagree, but as long as the reductions of cow opportunities for archers are supported by science and statistics, I understand them. But, there lies the rub. The one glaring problem in the area we're talking about is the lack of a winter count last year, which makes the Department's decision seem rather arbitrary. Are the herds in that area hurting, thus dictating a change in harvest? We have no idea. So, all we have to go on is the word of unsuccessful hunters like me or the scientifically unsupported estimates of the WDF&Wolves. If you were to depend on my experience of elk harvest over the last 16 years, the whole SW corner of the state would be shut down completely.  We need better science in this state in a great many categories - ungulates, predators, waterfowl, upland game. With this decision, I believe they're throwing darts in the dark. That doesn't mean it shouldn't of happened. It just means it's not supported by wildlife science. We are facing a great many problems because of decisions made without supporting data.