May 18th spring bear opener?

[jrebel]

I was just throwing mud in your water 

I figured as much. 

[jackelope]

A few years ago, there was big fires down in the Blues and the  Tucannon comes to mind in this discussion. A lot of the Tucannon GMU was shut down, but not all of it. Folks were offered points back if they didn’t want to hunt or keep the permits and hunt the small portion of the unit that was still open.  No partial points because only 20% of the unit was open(I just made that number up). It was all or nothing. I know 2 guys kept their permits and both killed big bulls.  I know a lot gave the permits back and took their points back.

[jackelope]

If you pro-rate the value of the season  (April being less valuable than May or June) then you should really only get 1/8th of your points back, depending how deep into May it opens. 


To be fair

For debate sake....why would April be less valuable than the other months?

Snow preventing access.
Relatively Inactive bears.

These may not be concerns in your specific area, but they are absolutely issues in April in other parts of the state.

That is not a good answer.....a day of hunting is a day of hunting period.   To devalue a 24 hour day that the hunting regs has open over another is really silly.  Again, do we think we should just ask WDFW to shut down the month of April for spring bear?  I would argue that the early bears have nicer coats / hides so there is more value is an early hunt over the later rubbed bears.  I like to eat the meat and save all my hides so hide condition matters.   Again....to each their own but that argument doesn't hold water. 

Your dollar in quarters is not worth as much as your dollar bill because it is harder to carry 20 dollars in quarters in your pocket than it is to carry a 20 dollar bill......LOLOL  Maybe a bad analogy, but you get where i'm going.

Is a day of hunting really a day of hunting when there is 4’ of snow on the ground and you can’t access the GMU you have a tag in? I mean I guess you could say it’s hunting but I’d call that a waste of time, even if the worst day of hunting is better than the best day at work.

[ThurstonCokid]

I haven’t been following anything as closely. Is may 18th a likely opener for spring bear and turkey?


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[KFhunter]

I haven’t been following anything as closely. Is may 18th a likely opener for spring bear and turkey?


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$1000 dollar question right there, we don't know. 


It's speculation (and I'm not sure what that speculation is based off)

[Bango skank]

If you pro-rate the value of the season  (April being less valuable than May or June) then you should really only get 1/8th of your points back, depending how deep into May it opens. 


To be fair

For debate sake....why would April be less valuable than the other months?

Snow preventing access.
Relatively Inactive bears.

These may not be concerns in your specific area, but they are absolutely issues in April in other parts of the state.

That is not a good answer.....a day of hunting is a day of hunting period.   To devalue a 24 hour day that the hunting regs has open over another is really silly.  Again, do we think we should just ask WDFW to shut down the month of April for spring bear?  I would argue that the early bears have nicer coats / hides so there is more value is an early hunt over the later rubbed bears.  I like to eat the meat and save all my hides so hide condition matters.   Again....to each their own but that argument doesn't hold water. 

Your dollar in quarters is not worth as much as your dollar bill because it is harder to carry 20 dollars in quarters in your pocket than it is to carry a 20 dollar bill......LOLOL  Maybe a bad analogy, but you get where i'm going.

Is a day of hunting really a day of hunting when there is 4’ of snow on the ground and you can’t access the GMU you have a tag in? I mean I guess you could say it’s hunting but I’d call that a waste of time, even if the worst day of hunting is better than the best day at work.

The best spring bear hotspots i know of are still a bust due to mud and snow.  Not to mention a general lack of bear activity this early.  Some are out, but your options of where to hunt are very limited right now.

[buckfvr]

I haven’t been following anything as closely. Is may 18th a likely opener for spring bear and turkey?


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$1000 dollar question right there, we don't know. 


It's speculation (and I'm not sure what that speculation is based off)

Its based of impatience, boredom, etc.

[KFhunter]

If you pro-rate the value of the season  (April being less valuable than May or June) then you should really only get 1/8th of your points back, depending how deep into May it opens. 


To be fair

For debate sake....why would April be less valuable than the other months?

Snow preventing access.
Relatively Inactive bears.

These may not be concerns in your specific area, but they are absolutely issues in April in other parts of the state.

That is not a good answer.....a day of hunting is a day of hunting period.   To devalue a 24 hour day that the hunting regs has open over another is really silly.  Again, do we think we should just ask WDFW to shut down the month of April for spring bear?  I would argue that the early bears have nicer coats / hides so there is more value is an early hunt over the later rubbed bears.  I like to eat the meat and save all my hides so hide condition matters.   Again....to each their own but that argument doesn't hold water. 

Your dollar in quarters is not worth as much as your dollar bill because it is harder to carry 20 dollars in quarters in your pocket than it is to carry a 20 dollar bill......LOLOL  Maybe a bad analogy, but you get where i'm going.

Is a day of hunting really a day of hunting when there is 4’ of snow on the ground and you can’t access the GMU you have a tag in? I mean I guess you could say it’s hunting but I’d call that a waste of time, even if the worst day of hunting is better than the best day at work.

The best spring bear hotspots i know of are still a bust due to mud and snow.  Not to mention a general lack of bear activity this early.  Some are out, but your options of where to hunt are very limited right now.

tracked ATV would be awesome about now cruising for boar tracks, who are cruising for sows...

[jrebel]

This is why early is not always bad.  Look at this big bad boar!!!  I have pics of him last year too in the daylight.  I have seen him a couple times but only in the spring.  I don't know what he does in the fall.....I may have to figure that out.  I am hoping to still have a crack at him or some of the other brutes this spring. 

[dmoua]

If it was me I would keep it. I only apply in units that I know which are close to home. With close to 30 days to hunt in prime time spring bear season I wouldn’t even think twice.

[pashok23]

From my experience hunting before the 15th of May for spring bear is more of a hike then anything else. It just starts to get good around that time id definitely be hunting

Thats when i usually go on my MT spring bear hunt. Hope MT opens for nonresidents.

[follow maggie]

I'd hunt. I have an Idaho tag and don't plan on going until June, anyway. Maybe a quicker trip in May to get out of this house where I'm going crazy. I've never hunted spring bears in Washington, so I have to plead ignorance on when the season closes.

[hunter399]

It's gonna suck in the draws next year when a bunch of people are put back in.

[Onewhohikes]

So should they not be allowed in?

[Rainier10]

I am shocked they didn’t make people decide before the original opener if they wanted to turn in their permit and reinstate points.

They have record of all permit holders and what order they drew permits. They also have record of who finished just behind those lucky winners.

They could have made you decide before April 1st if you were hunting and offered the returned tags to those that were next on the list to draw.

I am sure that there are many that would give up their points for a shortened season.