Free: Contests & Raffles.
Hey I have a swell idea. Why doesn’t Humane Society of US, Defenders of Wildlife, Conservation NW and any other predator lovin’ group hand over their donations they get from people all over the world to “save” the (fill in the blank) to fill in WDFW financial short falls. Get the people that want all these predators to pay up too since they have so much influence on state managed departments.
I think everyone is looking at this wrong. This could be an opportunity.They want something from us now which is acceptance of a price increase. Now is the time to say OK, What are you going to give me for that?Would you say I'm OK with an increase if you got some changes you really wanted? Let us say an increase in cougar quotas and a redo on the wolf management plan to allow the eastern third of the State to be managed with public hunting.Might be a bridge too far but put hound hunting and trapping on the table..Could be more stuff but tell them we'll support a price increase if we get value for our money.
Quote from: Southpole on May 06, 2018, 10:30:21 AMHey I have a swell idea. Why doesn’t Humane Society of US, Defenders of Wildlife, Conservation NW and any other predator lovin’ group hand over their donations they get from people all over the world to “save” the (fill in the blank) to fill in WDFW financial short falls. Get the people that want all these predators to pay up too since they have so much influence on state managed departments.Careful what you ask for! They are working on exactly that.
Quote from: Southpole on May 06, 2018, 10:30:21 AMHey I have a swell idea. Why doesn’t Humane Society of US, Defenders of Wildlife, Conservation NW and any other predator lovin’ group hand over their donations they get from people all over the world to “save” the (fill in the blank) to fill in WDFW financial short falls. Get the people that want all these predators to pay up too since they have so much influence on state managed departments.. I agree but I think those predator loving groups are getting exactly what they want less hunters every year and the eventual collapse of the North America wildlife management model that worked great for decades. Some people said they wanted to eliminate hunting first and then take guns because people wouldn’t need them! Ha ha sounded crazy at first but watching Washington’s story unfold might not be. At the very least promoting,protecting and introducing predators will end hunting as we have known it. Ineffective predator hunting seasons,small qoutas and outright protection of predators means less deer elk, less hunters, less money and the whole system falls apart. I think it’s exactly what those groups want and they are winning in too many states
Quote from: Humptulips on May 06, 2018, 01:58:33 PMI think everyone is looking at this wrong. This could be an opportunity.They want something from us now which is acceptance of a price increase. Now is the time to say OK, What are you going to give me for that?Would you say I'm OK with an increase if you got some changes you really wanted? Let us say an increase in cougar quotas and a redo on the wolf management plan to allow the eastern third of the State to be managed with public hunting.Might be a bridge too far but put hound hunting and trapping on the table..Could be more stuff but tell them we'll support a price increase if we get value for our money.I like where your head is at... but since the new 3 year package has been adopted for rules how do you think they they can/Will open the whole process back up?Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
Quote from: Humptulips on May 06, 2018, 01:58:33 PMI think everyone is looking at this wrong. This could be an opportunity.They want something from us now which is acceptance of a price increase. Now is the time to say OK, What are you going to give me for that?Would you say I'm OK with an increase if you got some changes you really wanted? Let us say an increase in cougar quotas and a redo on the wolf management plan to allow the eastern third of the State to be managed with public hunting.Might be a bridge too far but put hound hunting and trapping on the table..Could be more stuff but tell them we'll support a price increase if we get value for our money.Interesting idea. WDFW attempted to increase cougar quotas but Inslee vetoed it, and the ban on hounds was due to an initiative. I don't know if WDFW could undo an initiative on their own. I do believe they could attempt to revise the wolf plan, but would certainly encounter massive resistance from several groups.
I'm not so sure the decline in the number of hunters can be blamed soley on the WDFW. Our state is changing, just like the rest of the country, and becoming more developed and much less rural than it was in the past. For many people it's difficult just finding a place to shoot, let alone a place to hunt. I don't think Washington state is alone in having a declining number of hunters. Also I see a lot of things the WDFW is doing to help recruit new hunters. There are special youth seasons for upland bird hunting, waterfowl hunting, and deer hunting, along with special permit hunts for all species of big game. And they also have a program that provides access to private property for all hunters, but many of the properties, and often the most desirable dates, can only be reserved by a hunting party with at least one youth hunter. None of these opportunities existed when I first began hunting 30 some years ago. So I think we need to give the WDFW credit for trying to get more young people introduced to hunting. It's not their fault that due to the increase in the human population, areas that used to be open to hunting are now developed or gated. And kids aren't being introduced to hunting as much as they were in the past, simply because the ability for people to hunt close to home has become much less. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Quote from: bobcat on May 07, 2018, 08:39:45 AMI'm not so sure the decline in the number of hunters can be blamed soley on the WDFW. Our state is changing, just like the rest of the country, and becoming more developed and much less rural than it was in the past. For many people it's difficult just finding a place to shoot, let alone a place to hunt. I don't think Washington state is alone in having a declining number of hunters. Also I see a lot of things the WDFW is doing to help recruit new hunters. There are special youth seasons for upland bird hunting, waterfowl hunting, and deer hunting, along with special permit hunts for all species of big game. And they also have a program that provides access to private property for all hunters, but many of the properties, and often the most desirable dates, can only be reserved by a hunting party with at least one youth hunter. None of these opportunities existed when I first began hunting 30 some years ago. So I think we need to give the WDFW credit for trying to get more young people introduced to hunting. It's not their fault that due to the increase in the human population, areas that used to be open to hunting are now developed or gated. And kids aren't being introduced to hunting as much as they were in the past, simply because the ability for people to hunt close to home has become much less. There are a lot of differences between now and when I hunted as a youth. We hunted pheasants in the Badger Pocket area south of Kittitas. I’ve visited the property several times since and have never seen a pheasant anywhere.We hunted ducks out of rubber rafters in Port Susan bay (we’re lucky to be alive after some of those experiences.) Access now would be nearly impossible.Much of the land we freely accessed requires access fees now of several hundred dollars or more. Much of what was huntable then is developed now.I grew up in Seattle and remember riding with my father on Friday evenings after school to Eastern Washington to hunt elk. I suspect the commute time now would be at least a couple hours longer, not to mention frustration with traffic.We also had fewer distractions then. The electronics of today absorb far too much attention.These trends are national. Add in the media hatred for anything gun related, and it will be more and more challenging to continue to support hunting.
I'm not so sure the decline in the number of hunters can be blamed soley on the WDFW. Our state is changing, just like the rest of the country, and becoming more developed and much less rural than it was in the past. For many people it's difficult just finding a place to shoot, let alone a place to hunt. I don't think Washington state is alone in having a declining number of hunters. Also I see a lot of things the WDFW is doing to help recruit new hunters. There are special youth seasons for upland bird hunting, waterfowl hunting, and deer hunting, along with special permit hunts for all species of big game. And they also have a program that provides access to private property for all hunters, but many of the properties, and often the most desirable dates, can only be reserved by a hunting party with at least one youth hunter. None of these opportunities existed when I first began hunting 30 some years ago. So I think we need to give the WDFW credit for trying to get more young people introduced to hunting. It's not their fault that due to the increase in the human population, areas that used to be open to hunting are now developed or gated. And kids aren't being introduced to hunting as much as they were in the past, simply because the ability for people to hunt close to home has become much less.
Quote from: idaho guy on May 06, 2018, 07:59:13 PMQuote from: Southpole on May 06, 2018, 10:30:21 AMHey I have a swell idea. Why doesn’t Humane Society of US, Defenders of Wildlife, Conservation NW and any other predator lovin’ group hand over their donations they get from people all over the world to “save” the (fill in the blank) to fill in WDFW financial short falls. Get the people that want all these predators to pay up too since they have so much influence on state managed departments.. I agree but I think those predator loving groups are getting exactly what they want less hunters every year and the eventual collapse of the North America wildlife management model that worked great for decades. Some people said they wanted to eliminate hunting first and then take guns because people wouldn’t need them! Ha ha sounded crazy at first but watching Washington’s story unfold might not be. At the very least promoting,protecting and introducing predators will end hunting as we have known it. Ineffective predator hunting seasons,small qoutas and outright protection of predators means less deer elk, less hunters, less money and the whole system falls apart. I think it’s exactly what those groups want and they are winning in too many statesWhich is what I said in my first post, WDFW got exactly what they wanted, but they’re trying to make it sound like it’s our fault for not buying licenses. They conveniently don’t mention why we’re not buying their crappy product anymore. There’s no mystery why they want all the predators, it is to eliminate hunting (for non natives), period.
Quote from: Bob33 on May 07, 2018, 09:14:18 AMQuote from: bobcat on May 07, 2018, 08:39:45 AMI'm not so sure the decline in the number of hunters can be blamed soley on the WDFW. Our state is changing, just like the rest of the country, and becoming more developed and much less rural than it was in the past. For many people it's difficult just finding a place to shoot, let alone a place to hunt. I don't think Washington state is alone in having a declining number of hunters. Also I see a lot of things the WDFW is doing to help recruit new hunters. There are special youth seasons for upland bird hunting, waterfowl hunting, and deer hunting, along with special permit hunts for all species of big game. And they also have a program that provides access to private property for all hunters, but many of the properties, and often the most desirable dates, can only be reserved by a hunting party with at least one youth hunter. None of these opportunities existed when I first began hunting 30 some years ago. So I think we need to give the WDFW credit for trying to get more young people introduced to hunting. It's not their fault that due to the increase in the human population, areas that used to be open to hunting are now developed or gated. And kids aren't being introduced to hunting as much as they were in the past, simply because the ability for people to hunt close to home has become much less. There are a lot of differences between now and when I hunted as a youth. We hunted pheasants in the Badger Pocket area south of Kittitas. Ive visited the property several times since and have never seen a pheasant anywhere.We hunted ducks out of rubber rafters in Port Susan bay (were lucky to be alive after some of those experiences.) Access now would be nearly impossible.Much of the land we freely accessed requires access fees now of several hundred dollars or more. Much of what was huntable then is developed now.I grew up in Seattle and remember riding with my father on Friday evenings after school to Eastern Washington to hunt elk. I suspect the commute time now would be at least a couple hours longer, not to mention frustration with traffic.We also had fewer distractions then. The electronics of today absorb far too much attention.These trends are national. Add in the media hatred for anything gun related, and it will be more and more challenging to continue to support hunting.I agree with both of you. I think there's been significant change even in just the past 10-15 years. I remember having my son get out of school and running him out to Ravensdale to muzzleloader elk hunt. Well a couple years later and those wooded areas are now all homes. Urban sprawl has taken away our hunting lands and also wildlife habitat. I give props to King County for buying some of the last remaining wooded chunks of land in the Ravensdale area to keep it as wooded areas, unfortunately we cant hunt it.The "recent" housing explosion has effected us in many ways, not only financially as our homes become more expensive but also as our wildlife habitat and hunting areas decrease. The fact that my son who is in his late 20s can remember the "good days" of hopping in the truck and within 45 minutes being able to hunt in King County is gone. Yet I remember the days of my younger days hunting the Kent valley, the Issaquah Plateau, etc. All those areas are industrial or mega-homes now.
Quote from: bobcat on May 07, 2018, 08:39:45 AMI'm not so sure the decline in the number of hunters can be blamed soley on the WDFW. Our state is changing, just like the rest of the country, and becoming more developed and much less rural than it was in the past. For many people it's difficult just finding a place to shoot, let alone a place to hunt. I don't think Washington state is alone in having a declining number of hunters. Also I see a lot of things the WDFW is doing to help recruit new hunters. There are special youth seasons for upland bird hunting, waterfowl hunting, and deer hunting, along with special permit hunts for all species of big game. And they also have a program that provides access to private property for all hunters, but many of the properties, and often the most desirable dates, can only be reserved by a hunting party with at least one youth hunter. None of these opportunities existed when I first began hunting 30 some years ago. So I think we need to give the WDFW credit for trying to get more young people introduced to hunting. It's not their fault that due to the increase in the human population, areas that used to be open to hunting are now developed or gated. And kids aren't being introduced to hunting as much as they were in the past, simply because the ability for people to hunt close to home has become much less. There are a lot of differences between now and when I hunted as a youth. We hunted pheasants in the Badger Pocket area south of Kittitas. Ive visited the property several times since and have never seen a pheasant anywhere.We hunted ducks out of rubber rafters in Port Susan bay (were lucky to be alive after some of those experiences.) Access now would be nearly impossible.Much of the land we freely accessed requires access fees now of several hundred dollars or more. Much of what was huntable then is developed now.I grew up in Seattle and remember riding with my father on Friday evenings after school to Eastern Washington to hunt elk. I suspect the commute time now would be at least a couple hours longer, not to mention frustration with traffic.We also had fewer distractions then. The electronics of today absorb far too much attention.These trends are national. Add in the media hatred for anything gun related, and it will be more and more challenging to continue to support hunting.