What will it take (a wolf thing)

[rosscrazyelk]

I am pretty sure I know how most of us feel about the topic but what are you willing to do about it?
This was brought up in a conversation with a friend. 
I know the sss thing but does it really make a difference?
How did this whole thing happen anyway?
From where I sit it happened by Hollywood,  peta,  rich people who had an agenda. 
It has gotten out of hand.  Herds are hurting.  After a pretty good growth in moose numbers we are now being asked in the hunting regs to report where we see moose.
Woodland caribou are now extinct in Washington.  Yes the were other factors but it really kicked into high gear once the wolves showed up..
So what are we going to do about it?
Money is what it took to bring this problem so in my  eyes money is what it is going to take to fix it. 
What do I mean by this??
I feel if you hurt  the state where it hurts maybe something will happen.
Now I know what I am about to say is sacreligious  to some but I think we have to look at the big picture and not instant  grattification.
I have no idea how to accomplish  it but what if every hunter decided not to buy a hunting or fishing  license for a year ?
And publicly  let the state know where we stand,
With that big of a loss  in revenue do you think it would work?
I am just trying to think of ways to try and fix the situation.
So let's not make this a name calling situation .
Any and all suggestions are welcome.

[syoungs]

I would be willing (and already dont really) by any hunting licenses in washington. The past few years I've done turkey and bear, if forgo those for a year to send a message.

The problem is mobilizing a large enough force to make it work. I dont know how you would even start going about that.

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

   Needs to happen. It's been brought up on the forum before.  But it might be part of the liberal agenda for us to that stand. Then they prove they don't have funding for fishing and hunting then shut it all down?     Very political proposition but I'd like to see where it would go?

[Boss .300 winmag]

It’s going to happen with out a grasss roots effort, people will quit buying in Wa once thier area quits producing, or is just so bleak it’s not worth it. The area I hunt this year yielded no bucks between 3 camps that always pull at least 5-7 nice bucks. Only two hunters saw legal bucks this year, but wolf sign , and confirmed sightings from others was really high. I only spent 1 1/2 days there due to work, and never saw a deer, where in the past each day produced deer sightings. 

[Bobvernon2]

SSS isn't effective in small numbers. However I feel we give the state a chance to deliver on its promise and help push the wolf numbers up and west. Once we hit those numbers we watch and wait for the lawsuits and promises broken then MAYBE then web as hunters can muster some balls and make our own lawsuit Anderson perhaps schedule a no license buy. If those can't work it'll need to Be a lot more aggressive. Just remember our representatives that we did or didn't  vote for on WAg all agreed on the plan and perhaps we should show some support instead of just complaining. PSA I'm not smart on laws and what not but I'll gladly donate.

[actionshooter]

Big Picture...
  Its the WDFWildlife….  not Fish and GAME.... the sportsman (hunter) is on its way out... As more and more biologist for WDFW are anti hunter (yes its real), the wolf is nothing more than a tool so that populations are controlled without us.

 Tin foil hat or not?

[cooltimber]

THe last 25 yrs we hunted in the 342 area for elk,every other yr one of us would make a kill.as the yrs have gone by the herd there has dwindled to nil. some local elk are there but real had to find,as some of you know.cow tag's this yr were 25,whereas 3 yrs ago it was 250..Hmmm obvious..we never saw wolves but knew they were the problem.BUT this yr after going into some of the deep and steep where there was always sign,there was none,none.
       We topped the ridge and started glassing ,there they were 2 wolves heading up about 250 yrds..WE just went back to the trk and went to camp.decided to leave after 2 days there.went blktail hunting and we both got buck's[we know this area very well]..
       So we decided to just hunt blktail's here and maybe hunt elk in another state..
        The state lose's money if you only buy one tag,and give's you an excuse to try another state,im talking about eastern wa elk tag's!  Then we are going to write the game dept and say we will no longer hunt elk in this state because of your mismanagement ..so this is one way 

[cooltimber]

Big Picture...
  Its the WDFWildlife….  not Fish and GAME.... the sportsman (hunter) is on its way out... As more and more biologist for WDFW are anti hunter (yes its real), the wolf is nothing more than a tool so that populations are controlled without us.

 Tin foil hat or not?   you are absolutely correct.

[Humptulips]

The opt out thing will never work. Just giving it over to the animal rights folks.
Another idea but more work on your part. F&W allows public comment periods at their meetings. Open for you to say whatever you want first thing in the morning and right after lunch. You have 3 minutes to voice your displeasure. One guy shows up he gets tuned out but what if there was a coordinated effort and every comment period let us say a 50 people showed up. That is 2 1/2 hours of complaining about wolves in the morning and then do it after lunch and the same at the next meeting. Keep it up until there is changes made.
I think that is a protest that would work. Question is can you get enough people to protest. I'm betting no.

[Whitpirate]

Big Picture...
  Its the WDFWildlife….  not Fish and GAME.... the sportsman (hunter) is on its way out... As more and more biologist for WDFW are anti hunter (yes its real), the wolf is nothing more than a tool so that populations are controlled without us.

 Tin foil hat or not?

Having attended and commented at the open house with the Director and a bunch of Region 4 staff at Issaquah last night this comment above is spot on.  I challenged anti’s to buy a hunt or fish license instead of funding litigation but I was one of 2 pro hunting and existing license holder comments that were countered by 20+ anti and “watchable” wildlife folk.  The new director is a water guy from Ecology and says he’s a 30 year hunt and fish but he seemingly doesn’t like McIrvin and the ranchers in general in the East.  I got boo’d when asked why we allowed the wolves finish off the woodland caribou herd and had an anti state “they weren’t the cause and that herd wasn’t really viable” to which I replied much like the Southern Resident orca.  They want to focus on dam breach, smolt recruitment etc... and when asked why piniped culling wasn’t happening immediately I got a shrug.  On a follow up one on one with Director at 9pm he seemed more reasonable but I think his job is more politic than action.  And with 20-1 numbers for anti’s we have lost the war.

[Skyvalhunter]

Big Picture...
  Its the WDFWildlife….  not Fish and GAME.... the sportsman (hunter) is on its way out... As more and more biologist for WDFW are anti hunter (yes its real), the wolf is nothing more than a tool so that populations are controlled without us.

 Tin foil hat or not?

You have to remember WDFW still has the mission statement of: Our Mission

To preserve, protect and perpetuate fish, wildlife and ecosystems while providing sustainable fish and wildlife recreational and commercial opportunities.

Until that changes we as hunters need to stay on them to make sure they adhere to their mission.

[LongBomb]

If we disagree with one side of a presidential election, what does it gain if a large group refuses to vote and goes mum?.... I know not an exact analogy but you get my drift, i dont think we should stop supporting DFW and go mum.

[RJW]

Department of Fun and Games hands are tied on this problem.  This was the Feds big idea.  The best we can hope for is to get them delisted so the WDFW can open a hunting season on them to try and control the population.

[Jake Dogfish]

Go to fish and Wildlife Commission meetings.  Those that have there ear influence decision making.

[Karl Blanchard]

THe last 25 yrs we hunted in the 342 area for elk,every other yr one of us would make a kill.as the yrs have gone by the herd there has dwindled to nil. some local elk are there but real had to find,as some of you know.cow tag's this yr were 25,whereas 3 yrs ago it was 250..Hmmm obvious..we never saw wolves but knew they were the problem.BUT this yr after going into some of the deep and steep where there was always sign,there was none,none.
       We topped the ridge and started glassing ,there they were 2 wolves heading up about 250 yrds..WE just went back to the trk and went to camp.decided to leave after 2 days there.went blktail hunting and we both got buck's[we know this area very well]..
       So we decided to just hunt blktail's here and maybe hunt elk in another state..
        The state lose's money if you only buy one tag,and give's you an excuse to try another state,im talking about eastern wa elk tag's!  Then we are going to write the game dept and say we will no longer hunt elk in this state because of your mismanagement ..so this is one way

I have to respectfully disagree with you.  I've been a life long resident of the wenas.  It's very easy to blame wolves for everything but the FACT of the matter is WE are as much to blame as anything.  It's quite the coincidence that elk numbers started to drastically dip in the wenis when I started giving out hundreds and hundreds of  rifle cow tags on top of hundreds and hundreds of Muzzleloader cow tags, and then add in general late archery, heavy tribal pressure, depredation tags and dont forget the winter of 2016.  Pretty sure that may have a bit more to do with lower than average elk numbers than possible wolves in the area.  And while elk numbers are at a low vs 5 years ago, historically we still have more elk in Yakima County than we ever have.

WDFW was irresponsible with their tag numbers for a unit that has a rather small number of local animals, as well as the surrounding units that hold the bulk of the yakima PMU numbers.