Free: Contests & Raffles.
The fact there is a cougar quota is frickin ridiculous especially with the current lack of hound hunting.
Are there estimated numbers for the size of the WT herd in the NE? Bearpaw's numbers just with Predator loss is amazing. Add in all the other factors, I'm surprised there are any deer at all.
Im going to try to get the tribal numbers. I think they have their finger on the pulse a little better. They still chase cougs, but Im guessing they are feeling the wolf impact a bit and are trying to adjust. (as noted about their announcement to expand their wolf hunting)
Simple mathmastics.....CougarI can go out and find 5 times as many cougar tracks in one day as I could in the seventies and early 80's. So if northeast Washington used to have 300 cougar and there are now 1500 cougar then there are 1200 more cougar eating deer each year. F&G studies have shown that one cougar eats from 25 to 50 deer per year, so those 1200 additional cougars are eating 30,000 to 60,000 more deer per year. Even if the cougar population has only doubled (an underestimate) there are 300 hundred more cougar eating 7,500 to 15,000 more deer per year.Wolves Another new and increasing predator on the landscape, this is another predator we have not had in volume for over 100 years. WDFW admit to having roughly 80 wolves in northeast WA. Studies have also shown that wolves also eat about an identical amount of game as cougar. So there are 80 wolves and each probably eating 25 to 50 ungulates per year. That's 2,000 to 4,000 more deer, elk, or moose being eaten by wolves.BearThere's not much of an argument, bear numbers have increased since baiting and hounds are no longer allowed. While it is documented and proven that bear prey on fawns for a period in the spring I don't have any solid numbers to suggest how many deer might be getting eaten by the additional bear on the landscape.CoyotesSince the fur industry has been pretty much eliminated by greeners coyotes have really multiplied. It is no secret how devastating coyotes are on young fawns in June and July or on adult deer during January and February during winters with deep snow. Again I don't have any study to quote numbers, but with likely twice as many coyotes running around today there is no doubt more deer being killed by coyotes.HomesThere are a lot of new homes in NE WA. However whitetails do very well in human populated areas. In NE WA I'm certain there are far more whitetail in human inhabited areas than out in the remote areas, whitetail actually thrive around humans but there are other associated factors with having more humans.AutosThis is another huge factor, with twice as many autos driving the highways there are probably twice as many deer killed on the roadways. There are a lot of roadkills in northeast WA.Domestic DogsRural areas have seen the most growth in northeast WA. Most counties have doubled or more in population and nearly everyone has dogs they let run loose. I saw some stats from a F&G study done somewhere that showed a significant portion of overall mortality caused by domestic dogs.HuntersThere are actually fewer hunters in the woods, however, more of these hunters are killing doe deer than several decades ago. If we kill too many of the breeders you can't increase the herd size. Again it's very simple mathematics!Blue Tongue & Hard WintersThese are usually the most population reducing factors in NE WA. I think it's been three years since blue tongue had a big impact and two or three years since a big winter kill. Some have suggested a winter kill last winter, I don't think there was much die off last winter, we would see fresh bones in the spring if there was a big winter kill. However, when nature reduces the herd it takes a few years for numbers to build back up. If during this time of low deer population the predator numbers are too high then the recovery is slower and may take many years to recover.WDFWIf during this time of a deer herd trying to recover you have a F&G Dept that is trying to make it appear deer numbers are better than they are and are trying to keep license sales going strong, and are allowing more antlerless hunting then it is very likely to have a negative impact on the deer numbers in a herd that's trying to recover during a period of extreme predation. WDFW seems to have gone predator crazy, their main goal appears to be in putting as many predators on the landscape as possible. Do the math, add up all these increased impacts by predators, increased impacts by autos and dogs, and the fact that hunters are taking more antlerless breeders. How can a deer herd recover in a normal amount of time? Will the deer herd ever recover to the levels we had in the past?Just my