Is Eastern Washington Elk Hunting dying?

[hughjorgan]

I’ve numerous pics of a couple natives from kooskia that have hunted Dayton for years, in September with a rifle. 180”-190” mulies from unit 11-11a, full velvet with a rifle, the same injun that killed a huge ram in 11 a few years ago...

I get that people are upset about what the natives do, but realistically they take relatively small amount of elk and deer every year. You can look up and see how many deer and elk are killed on our highways; WSDOT keeps statistics through their highway activity tracking system(the numbers are low in my opinion since a lot of workers never enter what they pick up and now you have salvage permits as well). A quick google search showed from 2000-2004 nearly 15000 deer state wide were killed by automobile but no one seems to care about all those deer being killed or elk along I-90 that are hit by traffic but one Indian shoots some elk and ah H E double hockey sticks breaks loose. The deer and elk herds go up and down, they’ll bounce back!

[Mudman]

Dunno bout that but I do know bear n cougar kill far more than 10000 Indians.   I wish Natives would take up predator hunting n trapping.  Use those treaty rights for good!

[buglebrush]

Dunno bout that but I do know bear n cougar kill far more than 10000 Indians.   I wish Natives would take up predator hunting n trapping.  Use those treaty rights for good!

. Put that Casino money into Helicopter wolf hunting!

[Cheif]

Haha how many 300" bulls get ran over in Walla Walla , Columbia and Garfield counties???  What came to a end in 5 years, will take 20 to rebuild due to lions, bear, wolves, Indians and mismanagement.... At least.

[hughjorgan]

Well when it is the females that make up the majority of the critters hit on our roads that is going to to put more of a hindrance on rebuilding herd numbers than Indians taking some bulls. It only takes one bull to impregnate dozens if not more cows. Besides you can’t eat horns and it is just added weight to pack out anyhow.

[Cheif]

Ok, how many cows get run over on 12 in those counties? I've never seen one...

[hughjorgan]

If your talking about the blues, I have no idea. Plenty of elk being killed between the vantage bridge and snoqualmie pass. Pretty sure highway 12 going over white pass probably gets quite a few as well.

[Gringo31]

Maybe I'm just in a bad mood....but the issue isn't road kill.  The issue is proper management with the big emphasis on predators.

BUT!  None of that even matters.  WDFW is in charge and they will "charge" us increasingly forever with no consequences to the final results of what they're selling. 

[trophyhunt]

I’d say the only secret is the amount of bulls taken by tribes in the 346 area and the blues, the tribes will never post those numbers. 

[duckmen1]

 

[fishngamereaper]

Is road kill the same as killed from the road.

[hughjorgan]

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/jul/30/roadkill-on-the-menu-1600-dead-deer-elk-salvaged-f/

An average of 2,994 deer and 83 elk died in automobile collisions on state highways each year from 2000-04, according to a Fish and Wildlife Department survey. However, Kelly McAllister, a state Department of Transportation wildlife biologist who tracks where animals are hit by vehicles, said maintenance crews pick up between 5,000 and 6,000 deer and elk a year from state-maintained roadways

Obviously roadkill isn’t the only factor but I think it isn’t really even brought up as much as people like to blame natives. There is a lot affecting the health of the herds. WDFW didn’t help the Yakima/Ellensburg herds with all the cow permits. Add predators to the equation, poachers, habitat, etc...

[1Guy]

 Those are probably just State Highway numbers . County does not Even keep tract of deer or elk hit. Which is also quite a few. Not to mention city, which a lot of deer are hiding in now.

[dvolmer]

I’d say the only secret is the amount of bulls taken by tribes in the 346 area and the blues, the tribes will never post those numbers.

The tribes don't even know the numbers.  No reporting required!!!

[sandman76]

really unbelievable to see whats happened to units I use to hunt in 101 and 105 the whitetails are almost gone in many areas in the mountains. It was just 6 to 7 years ago you could throw out some bait and a cam and get lots of deer, several mature bucks. Now some of the same spots are void of deer. 20 years ago you would see mule deer in these spots, now its a miracle to see one. Our whitetail spots in 101 Id venture to guess 60-70% decline in deer in last 6 years.

My friends and I could not agree more!

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