Got opinions on WA deer management?

[bigmacc]

Yep, it sucks. and yep it does need to happen along with a whole bunch of other things.  Get rid of doe tags(unless absolutely needed and then on a year by year basis), get rid of multi season tags, and get rid of quality tags. Predators, absolutely put bounty's or enhanced/incentive driven hunts on them all(bear, cats, yotes), If we can't bring back all the old ways of controlling predators then we need to team up, think outside the box and get the predator problem under control. Here we go again, yep the "good ole day" stuff, now days we(the young hunters, not me ) are spoiled as far as "hunting seasons", back in the day you had ONE season and yes, it lasted 2-3 weeks but that was it. You hunted with your rifle or your bow or your muzzy or your bare hands if thats what you wanted, but you had your 2-3 weeks and done, PERIOD. The deer were left to be deer before and after those 2-3 weeks, now they are being pressured by not only predators that are exploding in numbers year round but in a lot of areas are being chased by hunters for 2,3,and even up to 4 MONTHS. You know what really sucks, it sucks if your a deer or an elk for that matter! When I was young and my dad would sit me on a remote draw or in a cold dark saddle and say "you know what pard" I want you to sit here and "think like a deer", "what would you do" and "where would you go if something was pushin you"......Not to many options now days because of greed by the state, and yep by we as hunters also.

[hunter399]

Yep, it sucks. and yep it does need to happen along with a whole bunch of other things.  Get rid of doe tags(unless absolutely needed and then on a year by year basis), get rid of multi season tags, and get rid of quality tags. Predators, absolutely put bounty's or enhanced/incentive driven hunts on them all(bear, cats, yotes), If we can't bring back all the old ways of controlling predators then we need to team up, think outside the box and get the predator problem under control. Here we go again, yep the "good ole day" stuff, now days we(the young hunters, not me ) are spoiled as far as "hunting seasons", back in the day you had ONE season and yes, it lasted 2-3 weeks but that was it. You hunted with your rifle or your bow or your muzzy or your bare hands if thats what you wanted, but you had your 2-3 weeks and done, PERIOD. The deer were left to be deer before and after those 2-3 weeks, now they are being pressured by not only predators that are exploding in numbers year round but in a lot of areas are being chased by hunters for 2,3,and even up to 4 MONTHS. You know what really sucks, it sucks if your a deer or an elk for that matter! When I was young and my dad would sit me on a remote draw or in a cold dark saddle and say "you know what pard" I want you to sit here and "think like a deer", "what would you do" and "where would you go if something was pushin you"......Not to many options now days because of greed by the state, and yep by we as hunters also.

I agree with ya .
Sounds familiar with my father,
Except you would get dropped off at bottom of mountain ,he would say see that ridge,or that rock ,or that big tree up there I will be waiting for ya .Then he would drive up there.

Or walk you for miles in circles all dang day.,Then say which way is the truck.Then have you lead the way to the truck .It would start getting dark,and he would say it's time you better start figuring it out.then it would be dark and he would say it's this way you been going the wrong way.Sometimes I wonder if he was lost too.

I'm glad that wdfw is starting to see a problem.I just wish they would stop doe permits for a year or two.Not just reduce them.

[Ridgeratt]

Captures for predator-prey study resume in northeast Washington


OLYMPIA – Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) staff will start capturing deer in northeast Washington in early December and fit them with radio-collars as part of an ongoing predator-prey study that began two years ago.
The study, scheduled to run at least five years, will help to assess the impact of wolves, cougars, and other predators on deer and elk by monitoring the interactions of all species.
This winter, researchers hope to capture at least 30 white-tailed deer in Stevens and Pend Oreille counties – primarily on public land, but also on private land where WDFW has secured landowner permission. Capture techniques include trapping animals using bait, entangling them in drop nets, and darting them with immobilization drugs from the ground.
The study plan also calls for radio-collaring wolves, cougars, bobcats, and coyotes in Stevens, Pend Oreille, and Okanogan counties. Some wolves are already radio-collared in those areas, but researchers want to maintain collars on at least two wolves in each of the packs within the study area. Cougar capture work with the use of dogs will get underway in late November, followed by bobcat and coyote captures using box traps and foothold traps after Jan. 1.
Collaborating researchers from the University of Washington (UW) will join WDFW research scientists and field biologists to monitor radio-collared ungulates and track their movements, distribution, habitat use, diet, productivity and survival. Cougars will be monitored to learn about changes in social behavior, population dynamics, prey selection and movements in areas where wolves also occur.
State wildlife managers ask that hunters who harvest a radio-collared deer or elk – and residents who encounter a dead radio-collared animal – contact WDFW's Eastern Region office in Spokane Valley (509-892-1001), so researchers can recover the collar and collect biological samples from the carcasses.
Funding for the five-year study comes from a 2015 state legislative appropriation, federal Pittman-Robertson funds, and state wildlife funds.The UW also secured National Science Foundation grant funds for part of the project.


https://wdfw.wa.gov/news/nov2818a/

[BULLBLASTER]

I’ll derail this thread now...

Keep in mind I’m not a trapper, but aren’t foot hold traps illegal because they are inhumane and can rip and break legs off animals and kill indiscriminately (or so were told?) but they are ok for the department to use for their collaring and tracking studies?

[Ridgeratt]

I’ll derail this thread now...

Keep in mind I’m not a trapper, but aren’t foot hold traps illegal because they are inhumane and can rip and break legs off animals and kill indiscriminately (or so were told?) but they are ok for the department to use for their collaring and tracking studies?

Not derailing it, But what about the legal trappers during the season who may have a bobcat detained in a box trap? Could they become a research animals and be released prior to the trapper harvesting them?   

[JimmyHoffa]

I’ll derail this thread now...

Keep in mind I’m not a trapper, but aren’t foot hold traps illegal because they are inhumane and can rip and break legs off animals and kill indiscriminately (or so were told?) but they are ok for the department to use for their collaring and tracking studies?

The department knows how great they are for catching animals and how little they injure or stress animals out....but doesn't seem to say it in defense of trapping for non-bios.

[Humptulips]

When we are trapping it is usually  because we want to harvest the animal so I don't know how much study gets done unless DFW pays the trapper to turn something loose.
There are times when I do let stuff go like Bobcat kittens though and I suppose they could be collared. My experience with getting someone from DFW for a release though is not good. At best it is an entire day wasted. Most likely 2 days.
Turning in Cougar accidentally caught it has taken me as long as 7 days of phone calls to get a response.

I once caught a collared bobcat and called DFW about it. No one seemed interested and the collar pretty much ruins the fur value.

I have to add I think a bobcat preying on deer is a pretty unusual occurrence. It does happen I will admit but I have opened up 100s of bobcats and the indications of feeding on deer is almost non-existent. Possibly it may occur more often in the spring with new fawns so there may be some validity to looking at it.

[hunter399]

I did see a doe wearing a collar in Stevens county this year durring hunting season.

[luckyman]

I did see a doe wearing a collar in Stevens county this year durring hunting season.

That must be how they collar a wolf.

[jager]

"Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) staff will start capturing deer in northeast Washington in early December and fit them with radio-collars as part of an ongoing predator-prey study that began two years ago."

I read this the other day.

The study has already been going on for two years?? Two years? What have they been doing?

So they might have answers in 5 years... for the 2024-2025 season... Horse s***

[Ridgeratt]

Anterless permit reduction planned


One management change is expected next year, Prince said. The number of anterless deer permits will be cut in third.
This was the first year in a long time that anterless permits have been offered in Northeast Washington. Because WDFW doesn’t have past years of data to compare and contrast, Prince said the agency is acting conservatively by reducing the number of permits in 2019.
In 2018, WDFW offered 630 anterless permits. In 2019, they will offer about 200.
“Our permits get adjusted every year,” she said. “The longer we have them, the more informed they become.”

"Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) staff will start capturing deer in northeast Washington in early December and fit them with radio-collars as part of an ongoing predator-prey study that began two years ago."

I read this the other day.

The study has already been going on for two years?? Two years? What have they been doing?

So they might have answers in 5 years... for the 2024-2025 season... Horse s***

Apparently they have just started Looking at the does number's. 

[jager]

It's. just. mind blowing 

[KFhunter]

They wanted the wolf fully established before they release bad news about herd collapses. 

[Seabass]

In 1991 they started talking about how to handle the goats in the Olympic National Park. Just recently OR 27 years later...they settled on a plan to remove the goats....shouldn’t be long before we get some answers.