Troubling Changes to Turkey Regulations - Call to Action - Comment Period

[hunter399]

It's really just people complaining in 124 GMU .It happens all the time that regulations are set a little more loosely in higher populated areas to deal with property damage and nuisance calls. The same thing has been happening in 124 for deer the past 5 years,lots of antlerless tags given and there only starting to pull back on antlerless now populations have been declining for awhile.
I'm almost sure turkeys will be hit hard for many years in gmu 124 before it's pulled back.
But it happens all the time ,more cougar quotas,more antlerless tags,more Turkey tags. Anything else the general public will complain about.

[dilleytech]

Seems odd they would reduce the klickitat limit to 1 when the population is continuing to grow. If anything give us a 3 bird limit in the klick.

Klickitat has always been 1 bird spring and last year was the first year for OTC fall hunt for 1 bird.  Prior the Klickitat was was permit draw only for fall.

Incorrect, it’s a 2 bird spring limit.

[Special T]

The state limit has been 3 birds for a long time correct? What’s the increase your against exactly? I can’t really understand that link.

It has been only 2 birds for NE and SE GMU's.  1 bird on eastern Cascades amd 1 only on westside.  So here is where the 3 for the state comes from.  We have a WA slam Merriam in the NE and Rio Grande in the SE and Eastern in the west but you can still get 2 Merriams or 2 Rio's but still only 3 birds total.   Here is where it gets fun.   Say if you get a bird in east Cascades you are only allowed one more bird on the east side.   So the proposal goes they are wanting to increase the total to 3 birds in Spokane gmu only.   2 birds in Klickitat and Chelan only.  How that will go is you get your 3 birds in Spokane gmu your done on the east side and then you can get you eastern in the west side.   If I read it right.  But I am guessing that you will only be able get one bird in Klickitat one in Chelan and you will be done on east side.  This is going to be tricky writing that is for sure. Won't go into effect this spring though.  Going to be too late once the commision decides.

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Do you think this change is influenced by the equipment change allowing rimfires? Do you think they are trying to mitigate or buffer percieved harvest?

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[bigtex]

If they don't want them around then why $15.00 for a tag that's a lot for yard rats.

Well for one its because there's a limit on how many birds you can shoot in a year. Take that away and how do you know if the hunter has shot one bird this year or 50?

And of course there's the financial aspect. WDFW gets to bill some of their turkey work to the funds generated by the sale of the tags.

[Stein]

I think he means $15 a tag is pretty expensive, not that there shouldn't be tags.  MT is $6.50 if I remember right.

[Russ McDonald]

The state limit has been 3 birds for a long time correct? What’s the increase your against exactly? I can’t really understand that link.

It has been only 2 birds for NE and SE GMU's.  1 bird on eastern Cascades amd 1 only on westside.  So here is where the 3 for the state comes from.  We have a WA slam Merriam in the NE and Rio Grande in the SE and Eastern in the west but you can still get 2 Merriams or 2 Rio's but still only 3 birds total.   Here is where it gets fun.   Say if you get a bird in east Cascades you are only allowed one more bird on the east side.   So the proposal goes they are wanting to increase the total to 3 birds in Spokane gmu only.   2 birds in Klickitat and Chelan only.  How that will go is you get your 3 birds in Spokane gmu your done on the east side and then you can get you eastern in the west side.   If I read it right.  But I am guessing that you will only be able get one bird in Klickitat one in Chelan and you will be done on east side.  This is going to be tricky writing that is for sure. Won't go into effect this spring though.  Going to be too late once the commision decides.

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Do you think this change is influenced by the equipment change allowing rimfires? Do you think they are trying to mitigate or buffer percieved harvest?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

Nusiance birds is how they are justyfying any of this. They can increase the tags in Spokane GMU but most of the birds are in the city no hunting in the city.

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[Wanttohuntmore]

Nuisance birds stay on private property for the most part.   If you complain about nuusance birds,  open your property up to more hunters.   There will always be complaints until they are all gone.

[Dave Workman]

I will give you some incite.   We cavitation that just in turkey tags in 2019 the state made 100K.  That does not include small gane license or any of what turkey hunting brings to communities.  I sat in a meeting 5 years ago with the state and our NWTF bio to get the states turkey plan back on track.  That plan had expires 10 years at that time.  We got aa far as breaking out the trap and transport to make it an SOP.  All it needed was signed.  There was turn over with personel and it got lost.  The state has been trapping and relocating but I heard that they are moving them to places that have to many birds.  I sat in a meeting when these proposals came out with the state.  I can tell you that they are managing turkeys by nusiance and not much science.  In the last 5 years as the NWTF state president I have felt that I have been pounding my head on a brick wall.  In 2022 I mosy likely be stepping down as the president.   Not out just need my head to heal.  The last thing is most wildlife biologist in this star consider turkeys to be non native birds.  The biggest reason in my opnion that they don't want them around.

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I've had that impression for several years. Ever since Dan beefed up the turkey program back in the 1980s. 
Interesting observations. Even with a "tapatalk" that is one to typos. 

[Russ McDonald]

I will give you some incite.   We cavitation that just in turkey tags in 2019 the state made 100K.  That does not include small gane license or any of what turkey hunting brings to communities.  I sat in a meeting 5 years ago with the state and our NWTF bio to get the states turkey plan back on track.  That plan had expires 10 years at that time.  We got aa far as breaking out the trap and transport to make it an SOP.  All it needed was signed.  There was turn over with personel and it got lost.  The state has been trapping and relocating but I heard that they are moving them to places that have to many birds.  I sat in a meeting when these proposals came out with the state.  I can tell you that they are managing turkeys by nusiance and not much science.  In the last 5 years as the NWTF state president I have felt that I have been pounding my head on a brick wall.  In 2022 I mosy likely be stepping down as the president.   Not out just need my head to heal.  The last thing is most wildlife biologist in this star consider turkeys to be non native birds.  The biggest reason in my opnion that they don't want them around.

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I've had that impression for several years. Ever since Dan beefed up the turkey program back in the 1980s. 
Interesting observations. Even with a "tapatalk" that is one to typos. 

Damn typing on a phone is working 💪. 

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[bearpaw]

The way I understand it a major problem in the NE is nuisance birds on private property so I'm assuming that's part of the problem in other areas of the state. Because of complaints WDFW want to reduce turkey populations. What is frustrating, they open the whole area to fall either sex harvest and the hunters on public land push all the birds onto private land where in many cases hunting isn't allowed. If WDFW had even half a clue, they would open the fall season only on private property, the hunting pressure on private property would push the birds onto public lands where they are not a nuisance to landowners. The landowners who don't allow hunting would have to put up with the birds only because of their own choice of not allowing hunting.

I guess that would just be too simple for WDFW? 

[PA BEN]

I know of land owners who never had a Turkey on their land until  trap and transport took place in the 90's. They are pissed at the game dept for bring Turkeys to their hood.

[walt]

  More than a few land owners.  To me they are a nuisance.  My vote would be to harvest 3/day, either sex, with a small game license, open to any method of take.  I could have whacked one with a stick in my driveway this morning.