Free: Contests & Raffles.
I’m more bothered by antlerless harvest. No idea if that still includes that, but you have antlerless harvest for 65 and older antlerless harvest for 18 and under, antlerless harvest for veterans, antlerless harvest for disability, antlerless harvest for those with covid, antlerless harvest for all the illegals that were separated at the border, antlerless harvest for….And then second, and third and maybe now fourth tags. Mind blown.
...and no tags sold
I can’t believe the sentiment of hunters and the ammo we continue to give Wdfw and /or antis to shut down all hunting opportunity. Blows my mind!!When not just start a petition to take away all opportunities…….period??!!What is the success rate in the late archery??? Anyone take the time to look? What’s the difference between someone that filled tags in the early season vs someone that wants to fill them in the late season. And for curious minds…..121 late archery is “buck only”, no youth does, no 65 / older does, no dissolved does, no special permit does and no second deer tags given out. For heavens sakes guys…..stop giving the anti hunting group, to include our Wdfw more ammo to shut things down. If you want to chase deer in the late season have at it. If you want it shut down, do your part and stop hunting in the general season too.
I don't disagree that something needs to be done, but to just pick a user group and suggest that is the problem and will fix our deer numbers is a false narrative. If that was the case and we thought eliminating one of the the user groups opportunity....we should just eliminate all rifle hunting seasons being that is the largest user group that hands down kills the majority of animals.....maybe not from a percentage standpoint but definitely as it pertains to total number of deer being shot. From now on, Washington should be a primitive weapon state. I would vote for that long before I ever agree to giving up more opportunity. Less animals would be killed and at least the tradition of hunting with family and friends would remain intact. I understand what you saying about 121 and the blue tongue damage this year. Reality is the late bow season will not change how long it takes these deer to recover. The deer that died from blue tongue are....well dead. The ones that weren't effected are very healthy and very much alive. The pressure of bow hunters will undoubtedly be the same as it has been every year during this hunt. Less animals will be killed due to the smaller number of animals to harvest. The sun will rise and fall and next year will bring a new hunting season. Harvest numbers will remain low as the heard rebuilds and with any luck and a little bit of actual give a F&*& from out game department, we will have a healthy heard again in the years to come. As a disclaimer:::I also rifle hunt so my suggestion of taking away that user groups opportunity is said in gest. I also spend about 25-35% of my year in 121 and have not seen the decline of numbers in my general area. Our heard has remained very healthy and strong. Our does are as fat as they have been and we have had a great fawn year with most does having twins. I see the predator problem in 121 being a far bigger problem than any hunting. I have at least 5-6 cougars that roam my property throughout the year and have pictures of at least 18 different bears this spring. We have killed 4 bears off the property and it won't put a dent in the population....OHHHHH AND NOW THERE IS NO SPRING SEASON FOR 2022!!! Where does the problem lie?? At the end of the day, I am tired of surrendering opportunity to out state because we feel a few bow hunters are going to kill all the deer.....that simply is not the case. If people were truly that concerned, blue tongue was in full swing long before the rifle season started....and the locals would not have shot the buck they did, to then now be appalled that bow hunters now get to hunt a season that has existed for a decade or longer.
Quote from: jrebel on November 21, 2021, 05:34:10 PMI don't disagree that something needs to be done, but to just pick a user group and suggest that is the problem and will fix our deer numbers is a false narrative. If that was the case and we thought eliminating one of the the user groups opportunity....we should just eliminate all rifle hunting seasons being that is the largest user group that hands down kills the majority of animals.....maybe not from a percentage standpoint but definitely as it pertains to total number of deer being shot. From now on, Washington should be a primitive weapon state. I would vote for that long before I ever agree to giving up more opportunity. Less animals would be killed and at least the tradition of hunting with family and friends would remain intact. I understand what you saying about 121 and the blue tongue damage this year. Reality is the late bow season will not change how long it takes these deer to recover. The deer that died from blue tongue are....well dead. The ones that weren't effected are very healthy and very much alive. The pressure of bow hunters will undoubtedly be the same as it has been every year during this hunt. Less animals will be killed due to the smaller number of animals to harvest. The sun will rise and fall and next year will bring a new hunting season. Harvest numbers will remain low as the heard rebuilds and with any luck and a little bit of actual give a F&*& from out game department, we will have a healthy heard again in the years to come. As a disclaimer:::I also rifle hunt so my suggestion of taking away that user groups opportunity is said in gest. I also spend about 25-35% of my year in 121 and have not seen the decline of numbers in my general area. Our heard has remained very healthy and strong. Our does are as fat as they have been and we have had a great fawn year with most does having twins. I see the predator problem in 121 being a far bigger problem than any hunting. I have at least 5-6 cougars that roam my property throughout the year and have pictures of at least 18 different bears this spring. We have killed 4 bears off the property and it won't put a dent in the population....OHHHHH AND NOW THERE IS NO SPRING SEASON FOR 2022!!! Where does the problem lie?? At the end of the day, I am tired of surrendering opportunity to out state because we feel a few bow hunters are going to kill all the deer.....that simply is not the case. If people were truly that concerned, blue tongue was in full swing long before the rifle season started....and the locals would not have shot the buck they did, to then now be appalled that bow hunters now get to hunt a season that has existed for a decade or longer. Not my intent to single out the archery people, I was also opposed to the modern weapon late hunt. I ve been hunting 121 for over 25 years and have watched the whitetail numbers decline consistently over the years. Where I used to commonly have 15-20 whiteys show up daily around the house, I now occasionally see 1 or 2. Yes, the ones I see are fat and healthy looking, there just aren't the numbers anymore I don't like lost opportunity anymore than anyone else, but as I posted earlier, I went thru this scenario in the 60's in Utah and it was not good. Everyone there said the old "don't worry, they,'ll come back", they didn't until closures and major restrictions happened that totally changed deer hunting opportunities.Blue tongue did hit our area (glass carefully the big fields on the west side of Bissell road and you'll easily see 5 deer carcuses, all whitetails and most likely blue tongue-we checked them out carefully) I don't think it hit our area as hard as others. I just fill we need to give up some of the special hunts now rather than all of them later
I would consider a complete, one year, shutdown of all deer and elk hunting statewide it WDFW would allow and one year of hound hunting cats (one year / year round) and hound hunting / baiting of bears (one year / year round) to reduce the population of predators. Allow all hunters to take up to two bears and 1 cat in that year.... period and lets see what happens to out ungulate population.
ummmthe commission just voted down a spring bear hunt, what chance is there of turning over a voter referendum and allowing hounds? and how could enough hunters get hounds up and running within a year? That's a lifestyle - you're married to your dogs
Quote from: jrebel on November 21, 2021, 07:26:12 PMI would consider a complete, one year, shutdown of all deer and elk hunting statewide it WDFW would allow and one year of hound hunting cats (one year / year round) and hound hunting / baiting of bears (one year / year round) to reduce the population of predators. Allow all hunters to take up to two bears and 1 cat in that year.... period and lets see what happens to out ungulate population. Sort of like 2 weeks to flatten the curve? I’m with you though…that’s a decent idea which is exactly why it won’t happen.
Guess the various predators don't like mule deer, there numbers around me have increased dramatically over the past few years. Again this year seemed to be a very healthy population of fawns. Don't suppose it had anything to do with a apr, no late hunts, no various antlerless hunts on them. No question the predators are out of control around us, especially the lions, but obviously hunting restrictions are helping mulies thrive.
Quote from: baldopepper on November 21, 2021, 07:55:29 PMGuess the various predators don't like mule deer, there numbers around me have increased dramatically over the past few years. Again this year seemed to be a very healthy population of fawns. Don't suppose it had anything to do with a apr, no late hunts, no various antlerless hunts on them. No question the predators are out of control around us, especially the lions, but obviously hunting restrictions are helping mulies thrive.The mule deer down by you have far fewer predators than the deer up canyon. I run cameras on a couple properties, one not far from you off the hwy and have only seen one cougar and one bear in two years. The mule deer thrive in that area and I have to believe it is because the lack of predators relative to further away from the hwy properties.....and the increase in residency / human presence. I also know of some large tracts that have sold that do not allow hunting any longer which decreases the human predation. Now if the bucks had time to grow so we had quality mule deer.....that would be something else. I would be a huge proponent of WDFW moving to a 4 pt minimum for mule deer in the area.
Quote from: jrebel on November 21, 2021, 08:20:47 PMQuote from: baldopepper on November 21, 2021, 07:55:29 PMGuess the various predators don't like mule deer, there numbers around me have increased dramatically over the past few years. Again this year seemed to be a very healthy population of fawns. Don't suppose it had anything to do with a apr, no late hunts, no various antlerless hunts on them. No question the predators are out of control around us, especially the lions, but obviously hunting restrictions are helping mulies thrive.The mule deer down by you have far fewer predators than the deer up canyon. I run cameras on a couple properties, one not far from you off the hwy and have only seen one cougar and one bear in two years. The mule deer thrive in that area and I have to believe it is because the lack of predators relative to further away from the hwy properties.....and the increase in residency / human presence. I also know of some large tracts that have sold that do not allow hunting any longer which decreases the human predation. Now if the bucks had time to grow so we had quality mule deer.....that would be something else. I would be a huge proponent of WDFW moving to a 4 pt minimum for mule deer in the area. well, there is some truth to that, although we and our neighbor commonly have lion pics on our trail cams, but why wouldn't the whitetail also be taking advantage of that? Honestly, I would like to see us have the bucks only October hunt only and give the whiteys a break for a couple years. Kids could have shot several nice mule deer bucks last week, including one very nice 4x5, so they are around. We're due for a rough winter, and I'm concerned that ,combined with the blue tongue,could be devastating to our whitetails in the area.
Yes, as I stated previously Utah went from complete.closures to reopening, albeit on permit basis. Bad from the point of view that the big family groups seemed to disappear when only one or two members drew, but good from a deer herd recovery basis. With the herd numbers in some of the units what they are, we are only a hard winter away from a complete disaster.
Quote from: baldopepper on November 21, 2021, 08:33:14 PMQuote from: jrebel on November 21, 2021, 08:20:47 PMQuote from: baldopepper on November 21, 2021, 07:55:29 PMGuess the various predators don't like mule deer, there numbers around me have increased dramatically over the past few years. Again this year seemed to be a very healthy population of fawns. Don't suppose it had anything to do with a apr, no late hunts, no various antlerless hunts on them. No question the predators are out of control around us, especially the lions, but obviously hunting restrictions are helping mulies thrive.The mule deer down by you have far fewer predators than the deer up canyon. I run cameras on a couple properties, one not far from you off the hwy and have only seen one cougar and one bear in two years. The mule deer thrive in that area and I have to believe it is because the lack of predators relative to further away from the hwy properties.....and the increase in residency / human presence. I also know of some large tracts that have sold that do not allow hunting any longer which decreases the human predation. Now if the bucks had time to grow so we had quality mule deer.....that would be something else. I would be a huge proponent of WDFW moving to a 4 pt minimum for mule deer in the area. well, there is some truth to that, although we and our neighbor commonly have lion pics on our trail cams, but why wouldn't the whitetail also be taking advantage of that? Honestly, I would like to see us have the bucks only October hunt only and give the whiteys a break for a couple years. Kids could have shot several nice mule deer bucks last week, including one very nice 4x5, so they are around. We're due for a rough winter, and I'm concerned that ,combined with the blue tongue,could be devastating to our whitetails in the area.It is super weird that the mule deer in that area tend to live where whitetail should and whitetail live where mulies would. Still haven't figured that one out in the area.
Quote from: jrebel on November 21, 2021, 08:46:54 PMQuote from: baldopepper on November 21, 2021, 08:33:14 PMQuote from: jrebel on November 21, 2021, 08:20:47 PMQuote from: baldopepper on November 21, 2021, 07:55:29 PMGuess the various predators don't like mule deer, there numbers around me have increased dramatically over the past few years. Again this year seemed to be a very healthy population of fawns. Don't suppose it had anything to do with a apr, no late hunts, no various antlerless hunts on them. No question the predators are out of control around us, especially the lions, but obviously hunting restrictions are helping mulies thrive.The mule deer down by you have far fewer predators than the deer up canyon. I run cameras on a couple properties, one not far from you off the hwy and have only seen one cougar and one bear in two years. The mule deer thrive in that area and I have to believe it is because the lack of predators relative to further away from the hwy properties.....and the increase in residency / human presence. I also know of some large tracts that have sold that do not allow hunting any longer which decreases the human predation. Now if the bucks had time to grow so we had quality mule deer.....that would be something else. I would be a huge proponent of WDFW moving to a 4 pt minimum for mule deer in the area. well, there is some truth to that, although we and our neighbor commonly have lion pics on our trail cams, but why wouldn't the whitetail also be taking advantage of that? Honestly, I would like to see us have the bucks only October hunt only and give the whiteys a break for a couple years. Kids could have shot several nice mule deer bucks last week, including one very nice 4x5, so they are around. We're due for a rough winter, and I'm concerned that ,combined with the blue tongue,could be devastating to our whitetails in the area.It is super weird that the mule deer in that area tend to live where whitetail should and whitetail live where mulies would. Still haven't figured that one out in the area. well, I'll have to meet you down at the Hunters Tav sometime, buy you a cold one and we'll figure it out. LOL
Predator Incentive Points...
So if cow and doe hunting/kill is such an evil thing, why does every surrounding state allow this?
this isnt just a issue in 121, its pretty much all the NE units. I have places in 121,105 and 101 I hunt and its sickening to see whats happened to the whitetail herd. Im done chasing them around in those units until they rebound. WDFW we all know will do jack^%$# or something 4-5 years too late.Like mentioned above with predator hunting that is something we can do! and would help herds drastically if we put a dent in them. This is not an opinion or a maybe. There are several studies out there showing the impact that bears have on calves and fawns. Problem is maybe 10% of the deer and elk hunters actually specifically hunt them am I am not talking getting a bear while deer and elk hunting and getting lucky.
"we must carry the burden of losing hunting opportunities"Take a look at success rates for late season and tell me how this is going to increase herd sizes? Or even make an appreciable difference? I get the sentiment, but imo the collapsing herds will be the tool to peel hunting from our future and our kids' future. If the WDFW commission was dedicated to preserving, protecting, and perpetuating the state’s fish, wildlife, and ecosystems while providing sustainable fish and wildlife recreational and commercial opportunities they'd be pushing predator hunts by any means necessary.More ungulates means more of everything, more predators, more weasels, more birds, better habitat. Even the fur from a long dead carcass makes squirrel and bird nests, there's more bugs...the entire ecosystem suffers with very low ungulate counts.
Ok, you're invited but you have to buy at least one round.
Quote from: baldopepper on November 27, 2021, 09:51:08 PMOk, you're invited but you have to buy at least one round. I like where this is going!!
