Got opinions on WA deer management?

[Skyvalhunter]

There in lies the problem!! When they ask hunters to comment on the seasons proposals VERY few people comment. I know this because I have read the comments and lack of comments. WDFW takes this as hunters not caring. Well it shows that its not a big deal to them and do as they want. I know they know me as I send them lots of feed back. So complain all you want you have no one to blame but yourselves.

[no.cen.wa]

I plan to attend the meeting in Montesano on the 13th, my concern  is NCW mule deer, I was born in Twisp and need to let them know my thoughts.

[singleshot12]

I think the reason most hunters don't comment is because they feel their comments don't really make a difference or matter anymore. Things have already been decided well before any comment period it seems anymore.

[bigmacc]

There in lies the problem!! When they ask hunters to comment on the seasons proposals VERY few people comment. I know this because I have read the comments and lack of comments. WDFW takes this as hunters not caring. Well it shows that its not a big deal to them and do as they want. I know they know me as I send them lots of feed back. So complain all you want you have no one to blame but yourselves.

 ....100% agree with this. I know I,ve probably told this story before but here it is again. Like it or not my Dad was a big advocate of gating roads in the Methow, back in the 70,s(especially after the North Cascade Pass opened), he hounded and hounded the then Game Department to start thinking about gating some of the roads especially ones that criss crossed or cut through staging areas and known migration routes. My dad basically made a pest out of himself and I,m pretty sure Game Department personnel from the Methow to Olympia knew him by his 1st name . I remember many visits by multiple Game dept. folks to our camp, sometimes 4 or 5 of them total that consisted of everyone from Game wardens to Bios to Regional guys. They would pick my dad and grandfathers brains for hours around the fire about staging areas and migration routes that my family knew of going back to 1917. These meetings went on for 3 or 4 years and I remember my dad and myself going on many drives with Game folks and first hand showing them areas where there should be gates and spur roads that should be burmed to cut down on vehicle access during peak times. Back them the seasons were longer and later and more people were discovering the Methow because of the pass opening and my dad could see the writing on the wall that with the influx of all the new hunters along with motorhomes, trailers etc., and the all the roads, some of which were smack dab in the middle of migration routes that the stage was being set for full scale slaughters, especially if weather hit. After many meetings, drives(some of which took place at midnight depending on moon and deer movement) and even a petition that my dad started that had hundreds of signatures and that he hand delivered he finally caught their attention. One of the big turning points(IMO) was a story that my dad told them of a camp we came across in the north part of the valley that consisted of 3 or 4 motor homes all parked in a semi circle with (I think it was) at least 4 or 5 BIG bucks hanging on the ridge pole, we stopped in and talked with them for awhile and found out it was their first time hunting the Methow(the pass had just opened the previous year)and they couldn't believe all the deer that were around. It was the 1st week in November if I remember right and there was about 4-5 inches of snow on the ground(from a storm that hit about a week prior) and temps were in the teens, deer were literally pouring in through various migration routes and the one these guys(along with many other camps) was right in the middle of one of the best routes in the valley....Period! I remember them saying that it was like "catching fish in a barrel" and that all of them were shot right from where we all were sitting, right around their campfire, in fact one fella said something to the effect that they all could have been killed with spears they were so close. That story along with many others, countless miles of driving and hiking with Game Department personnel and my dads wisdom with family history going back to 1917 accompanied by hundreds of pictures of our family camps convinced them that there could be some truth to this guys predictions. The moral. is, things won't get done by just bitching to ourselves around the campfire for one or two weeks out of the year, sometimes things need to be taken up a notch and told to the right people and yes sometimes it needs to be told over and over again. When those gates started going up and roads starting getting burmed it was a very sober mood actually for my dad and great grandpa(who was 80 at the time and was in hunting camp until his last year at 86) that it had come to this, in fact I remember my dad saying at the time that "more hurdles were in front of this herd besides just gating roads" and boy was he right. My dad had a history and a passion for this herd that was passed on to him and then he passed it to the next generation and now it is being passed onto my brother and I,s kids and grandkids, to this day letters are written, conversations are had and stories are told and hopefully the "right people" hear them. My dad continued to walk into all his old spots that were gated well into his 80,s, yes it was tough for him in his later years but in his mind it wasn't about him, it was about his beloved Methow mule Deer and he wasn't afraid to stand up for them even if it meant ruffling the feathers of his fellow hunter...RIP pardner and "keep your powder dry, you'll need it for that big fella".

[bigmacc]

As I said, I know there are folks that don't agree with the gating of roads during hunting season(trust me I,ve heard a lot of belly aching from guys over there) and the thing is most are fellas in there 20,s and 30,s. I tell them that a lot of the roads that they see gated with the "migration" sign on them were hand picked from my dad and great grandpa, then I tell them why they fought for it and how they both hunted their old spots by having to walk and hike for miles/hours to get to their old haunts and they both did it well into their 80,s. The looks I get are priceless .

[bigmacc]

I plan to attend the meeting in Montesano on the 13th, my concern  is NCW mule deer, I was born in Twisp and need to let them know my thoughts.

 , perfect.

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

Whatever. It’s a joke. I’ll keep giving WA my yearly hour of deer hunting and take the majority of my money elsewhere.

[bigmacc]

Whatever. It’s a joke. I’ll keep giving WA my yearly hour of deer hunting and take the majority of my money elsewhere.

I agree "its a joke" and I,m one of the biggest advocates to get a separate Game Department back in power, a department that has the best interest of our big game herds, hunters and sportsman as top priorities, not the way it is now as the WDFW that has to many irons in the fire, everything from wolves, to frogs and lizards to other animals that directly and negatively affect our big Game animals, all gods creatures need their advocates and I can respect that but putting them all under the same umbrella of the same agency is not in any of their best interests, it just creates conflict and generates its own political firestorms because of the many special interest groups that are involved. In the meantime its what we got, it is what it is and like my great grandpa said and what my dad said "its not about me, its about the herd and they need someone to stand up for them". So even though it is a "joke" they will still hear from me....just my opinion and 

[Rob Allen]

I am mostly  ignorant  on managment.  But my observation is that the deer in the unit i hunt west klickitat  the deer go full nocturnal  after opening day.. there are plenty  of deer but no real opportunity  to hunt them. I say shorten the general season and add a 5 day late season taking place at least one week after  elk season

[no.cen.wa]

I believe we need to shorten ALL seasons in NCW for mule deer, The general season, quality buck,buck, anterless, second deer, youth, over 65, disabled, high buck, archery, muzzy, and on and on! the deer are hunted for more days than I can count.
It's constant pressure that takes a toll on the herd, I can take less days of hunting.

[pmm]

I agree with having hound hunting or even bating . So I become go friends with a biologist from UW that works along side states he’s pretty much told me a few others that the deer population is thriving in those areas and just like the elk is become over populated  .You can still hunt late archery and muzzleloader in all those units so I find it hard to believe the population theory . This is about the Fish and wild life just looking for ways to capture as much money as possible .The problem is the amount of declining hunters in this state is part of the short fall finacialy for the fish and game department .Im all good with paying more for tags and Licenses but not when their going to act like the Seattle city council and take take take and don’t give .

[JakeLand]

I live in these areas (448) and I’ll tell you right now the deer and elk aren’t thriving!
What’s thriving are bear, cougar,coyotes and bobcats . Whatever the bio says is BS a couple of us spend more time up in there in one year then most due in 20-30 years . My trapline runs close to 150 miles round trip and every year there are more coyotes in areas they weren’t previously and there’s no effective way to manage coyotes other then foot holds and snares . Now bear and cougar we have a effective way to control them but it’s illegal  now and they did away with our spring  bear tag opportunity here . Bobcats are easy to trap in a cage, now the whole problem is this state wants to manage the ungulets but want zero effective management of predators and that lies the problem in this state ! Alls I can say is shoot every coyote that you have a opportunity on year round !

[NOCK NOCK]

I believe we need to shorten ALL seasons in NCW for mule deer, The general season, quality buck,buck, anterless, second deer, youth, over 65, disabled, high buck, archery, muzzy, and on and on! the deer are hunted for more days than I can count.
It's constant pressure that takes a toll on the herd, I can take less days of hunting.

X2

[Mr Mykiss]

Shorten all seasons.
All east side seasons become draws.
Don’t give out thousands of mule deer for tags.
I’ll give as many bios and managers my opinion as I can muster.
At least I get a honest answer when they say “We manage for opportunity not quality”
Given that fact...you can see why a guy might have such a negative opinion on the deal.

[sagerat]

Shorten all seasons.
All east side seasons become draws.
Don’t give out thousands of mule deer for tags.
I’ll give as many bios and managers my opinion as I can muster.
At least I get a honest answer when they say “We manage for opportunity not quality”
Given that fact...you can see why a guy might have such a negative opinion on the deal.

I don’t support shortening all seasons. I also don’t support managing for quality when all tribal hunters continue to get “governor tags” year after year.