Permit quotas

[bigdub257]

Hot summers? What's that got to do with whether cows are getting bred or not? Never heard of that. They come into heat the same time of the year, every year, and if there are enough mature bulls, they will get bred. If it's hot, might be more active at night. Now the real problem might be the Yakama tribe allowing their members to kill unlimited numbers of bulls so they can sell jerky and sell the trophy heads.

   BINGO!

[Karl Blanchard]

Doubtful heat is a factor in my neck of the woods.  Cool dark timber is abundant and water flows freely in most anything resembling a draw, basin, canyon, or drainage.

Cant speak to other herds but I'd attribute the yakima "decline" to native hunting and NON native poaching.  Its 100% a big issue around here.

I have an email in Two Fish and Game to talk to some folks hopefully next week but I have a sneaking suspicion that this year's winter counts we're not very accurate. animals were big and fat coming into the snow that we got I know different what I saw a lot of the Bulls did not push down like the cows did.  It would stand to reason that depending on where they were counting that they didnt get near as many of the boys as they normally would with a more traditional winter.  Hopefully I will get a speedy response. I've always had great communication from our local region 3 office so I have no doubt I'll hear back shortly.

[Oh Mah]

Thanks for the effort   

The people in the region 3 office are very helpful. 

[bobcat]

This theory of hot summers being a factor in reducing the number of calf elk sounds to me like some biologist trying to find one more thing to blame on global warming.

[idaho guy]

This theory of hot summers being a factor in reducing the number of calf elk sounds to me like some biologist trying to find one more thing to blame on global warming.

  that's a fact-plus elk can and will cycle 2-3 times if not bred on the first go round they go in again. could be late october into November hard to blame a hot summer for no breeding when there could be snow on the ground. I have often gotten into herds last few days of October with a cow in heat and the bulls were going ballistic. Fake news       

[Oh Mah]

Like i said i don't know,Looks like some research needs to be done.But for all the HW biologist posting in here do you have any facts that can rebut the statement i was told and article that has been posted here?

[fishngamereaper]

This theory of hot summers being a factor in reducing the number of calf elk sounds to me like some biologist trying to find one more thing to blame on global warming.

Pretty much looks like it...

And I'll  echo Karl's thoughts... no matter how hot it gets you can still find a water source in every GMU that holds elk..and the elk have no problem finding them.

[Oh Mah]

This theory of hot summers being a factor in reducing the number of calf elk sounds to me like some biologist trying to find one more thing to blame on global warming.

  that's a fact-plus elk can and will cycle 2-3 times if not bred on the first go round they go in again. could be late october into November hard to blame a hot summer for no breeding when there could be snow on the ground. I have often gotten into herds last few days of October with a cow in heat and the bulls were going ballistic. Fake news   

THAT'S A FACT? WHERES YOUR FACTS?Just an fyi in Yakima the heat can be extreme and for long periods,The water all but dries up in some areas and if heat causes stress and they don't ALL go into heat for this reason i can believe it is a factor.and then almost over night here in Yakima the weather turns very cold and if this also causes stress i can believe it can be a factor.Throw in all the other stresses they live with like the cougars and wolves low water and food because of the heat..............No matter what any of us thinks the fact is the calve numbers are low this year.

[fishngamereaper]

Facts are open to interpretation depending on a number of factors including personal experience.

Do I tend to believe wdfw biologists..not so much anymore. I've known a few over the years and even the best will admit that data is often drivin by politics and rough estimates of field surveys.

So to say the "facts" presented by biologists hold more weight than the ,"facts" I have generated by 30 years of boots on the ground is absolutely your right, it just doesn't make it right.

I know what I see, I know what my camera's see, thus I generate my own opinion based on the facts I know to be true.

[idaho guy]

This theory of hot summers being a factor in reducing the number of calf elk sounds to me like some biologist trying to find one more thing to blame on global warming.

  that's a fact-plus elk can and will cycle 2-3 times if not bred on the first go round they go in again. could be late october into November hard to blame a hot summer for no breeding when there could be snow on the ground. I have often gotten into herds last few days of October with a cow in heat and the bulls were going ballistic. Fake news   

THAT'S A FACT? WHERES YOUR FACTS?Just an fyi in Yakima the heat can be extreme and for long periods,The water all but dries up in some areas and if heat causes stress and they don't ALL go into heat for this reason i can believe it is a factor.and then almost over night here in Yakima the weather turns very cold and if this also causes stress i can believe it can be a factor.Throw in all the other stresses they live with like the cougars and wolves low water and food because of the heat..............

you are spot on with the wolf and cougar stress! Try southern Idaho in august and tell me if Yakima is hotter and drier. How about AZ and Nevada? Those area elk populations are thriving. My facts lie  in the biology of elk and if a cow is not bred in September she will come in again in October and if not bread again in November. A cow elk can come into estrus FOUR times! about 20 days apart. They are not breeding in November because it was too hot in August? Its bulls**T and another way to try and blame every problem on global warming (wait I mean climate change) I forgot they had to change the name because we have been setting records for snowfall at least where I live.

[Mr Mykiss]

Facts??!! You can't handle the facts!!

Read em and weep:

Draw odds for the Peaches Rifle BULL Tag

20 points  2.43%
15 points  1.38%
10 points  0.6%
5   points  0.15%

That's 50 (statistically more) years if you have 20 points...so you got your hunter ed when you were 8...accumulated 20 YEARS of points...you would/should be 78 by the time you draw.

Have a nice day.
 

[deerlick]

oak creek winter feed station now will have an optional wave pool for the elk to cool off in if its a warm summer. Inslee will definitely fund that, right up his alley

[Oh Mah]

yes Arizona and Nevada have a rising number of elk but the largest is in Colorado and their average is 86 deg.

First this is not Arizona or Nevada,It is not Idaho or Colorado neither.

Second i am not gonna pretend to know what all the differences are between all these other states vs WA.

3rd. If we get to a point where everything everyone says has to be questioned because of some agenda then all will be lost.

4 the agendas go both ways,i am far from a global warming guy but if you want to say the bio that told me this was just pushing an agenda then what is your agenda?I hope its not that you get your elk at the expense of our kids and grand kids having the same chances.If the herd is down and the calve numbers are low then i have no problem with them cutting elk season all together for a couple years in these areas. 

[BULLBLASTER]

I was in peaches last September and saw no shortage of rut activity or bulls for that matter. Seemed like the cows were actively being bred to me. 

[Stein]

Facts??!! You can't handle the facts!!

Read em and weep:

Draw odds for the Peaches Rifle BULL Tag

20 points  2.43%
15 points  1.38%
10 points  0.6%
5   points  0.15%

That's 50 (statistically more) years if you have 20 points...so you got your hunter ed when you were 8...accumulated 20 YEARS of points...you would/should be 78 by the time you draw.

Have a nice day.
 

Where did you get those odds?  I'm not arguing as they sound about what I expected but I thought only GoHunt was actually calculating the true odds in WA and they haven't released theirs yet.