Hunters need to make a Statement

[hunter399]

Well I for one was hoping that you all boycott.
More for me,yaaay ....

And don't try to tell me that you all are not thinking the same thing as me.

[arrowflinger]

Us not buying tags, judging by the way things are going so far this year, will only make them happy that less people are hunting.

As mentioned multiple times already, I think it's too crowded already. I personally would support permit only mule deer hunting in Washington to reduce the crowds and the pressure, to help the deer herds and to create a more quality experience.

In closing, I fully support everyone on here not buying tags and permit applications this year. That would create much better odds of me finally drawing an elk permit.

 

[KFhunter]

I don't agree that everyone should be able to hunt all seasons. It's already too crowded as it is, that would only make it worse, and it's the reason in the first place many years ago that they went to a choose your weapon type system. However I do agree people should try to cut back as much as they possibly can on how many licenses and applications you purchase.

So explain to me then. Why do people choose to spend money in other states where they can hunt with their choice of several weapons. I believe that you are one who does this. I also get that there are different species you can hunt. But other than speed goats we have pretty much the same choices.

not very many western states allow multiple weapon season hunting and if they do it usually involves an additional fee.

Fact is MS (deer specifically) puts a lot of additional strain on a limited resource. Ive been shouting for years that this state needs to tighten up deer hunting for the sake of our mule deer. We are THE ONLY western state with completely wide open and unbridled deer hunting and we have embarrassingly low deer numbers. We have all screamed "follow the science" in recent months due to the spring bear debacle but we fall silent on mule deer when following the science means less opportunity. 

As for hitting wdfw in the wallet, that does nothing more than feeding into exactly what Inslee and his anti's want. Their goal is NO HUNTING so if everyone stops participating they have achieved their goal. Its quite literally exactly what they want. License sales are a mere drop in the bucket that is WA states annual budget. They'll reallocate some funds to pay for blue bird boxes and wolves and they won't give hunting a second thought.

Don't we have fewer overall hunters than the heydays of the early 90's?   

Too many hunters isn't the problem, I rarely bump into them.  The problem is hunters being corralled in smaller spaces due to road closures and dwindling access, and less game due to lack of predator management. 

[blackdog]

The smartest move that hunters can make is to get involved in this falls election. Find the candidates you can support and doorbell for them and march in parades with them. Majorities matter.

[KFhunter]

The smartest move that hunters can make is to get involved in this falls election. Find the candidates you can support and doorbell for them and march in parades with them. Majorities matter.

"feelz" and "mean tweets" > hunting and 2A rights

[Ridgeratt]

Don't we have fewer overall hunters than the heydays of the early 90's?   

Too many hunters isn't the problem, I rarely bump into them.  The problem is hunters being corralled in smaller spaces due to road closures and dwindling access, and less game due to lack of predator management. 

I don't see many other hunters either, the road closures are keeping them condensed into smaller areas. You and I both agree KF that roads we used to travel are blocked off. This leads to slower fire response times and that reduces habitat when it burns. Will take several years for it to come back.

[pianoman9701]

I don't agree that everyone should be able to hunt all seasons. It's already too crowded as it is, that would only make it worse, and it's the reason in the first place many years ago that they went to a choose your weapon type system. However I do agree people should try to cut back as much as they possibly can on how many licenses and applications you purchase.

So explain to me then. Why do people choose to spend money in other states where they can hunt with their choice of several weapons. I believe that you are one who does this. I also get that there are different species you can hunt. But other than speed goats we have pretty much the same choices.

People hunt out of state for many reasons. But many definitely hunt out of state because it allows them to harvest more critters. If you allowed them to harvest more critters here by allowing hunters to hunt all seasons and methods, we'd have a problem with declining ungulate populations. We already have that with mule deer, blackies, and in some areas, elk.

[bobcat]

Yes, for sure much less land is available to hunters. Here in southwest Washington all the timber company land used to be open, 15 years ago, even 10 years ago a lot more was still open than now. There's almost no private land open anymore, unless you pay $300 to $400 for access, and even that is very limited in the number of permits sold. But having said that I still don't agree that people should be allowed to hunt all seasons. In fact I don't even think multi season permits should be available.

[Ridgeratt]

We already have a declining ungulate problem in the northeast corner.

[Karl Blanchard]

I don't agree that everyone should be able to hunt all seasons. It's already too crowded as it is, that would only make it worse, and it's the reason in the first place many years ago that they went to a choose your weapon type system. However I do agree people should try to cut back as much as they possibly can on how many licenses and applications you purchase.

So explain to me then. Why do people choose to spend money in other states where they can hunt with their choice of several weapons. I believe that you are one who does this. I also get that there are different species you can hunt. But other than speed goats we have pretty much the same choices.

not very many western states allow multiple weapon season hunting and if they do it usually involves an additional fee.

Fact is MS (deer specifically) puts a lot of additional strain on a limited resource. Ive been shouting for years that this state needs to tighten up deer hunting for the sake of our mule deer. We are THE ONLY western state with completely wide open and unbridled deer hunting and we have embarrassingly low deer numbers. We have all screamed "follow the science" in recent months due to the spring bear debacle but we fall silent on mule deer when following the science means less opportunity. 

As for hitting wdfw in the wallet, that does nothing more than feeding into exactly what Inslee and his anti's want. Their goal is NO HUNTING so if everyone stops participating they have achieved their goal. Its quite literally exactly what they want. License sales are a mere drop in the bucket that is WA states annual budget. They'll reallocate some funds to pay for blue bird boxes and wolves and they won't give hunting a second thought.

Don't we have fewer overall hunters than the heydays of the early 90's?   

Too many hunters isn't the problem, I rarely bump into them.  The problem is hunters being corralled in smaller spaces due to road closures and dwindling access, and less game due to lack of predator management.

where in my statements did I claim we have more hunters now than in the 90's and how is that stat relevant to current game populations, usable habitat, and fixing the issues at hand?

[Mtnwalker]

Jingles...I also don't agree with most of what you said.

Us not buying tags, judging by the way things are going so far this year, will only make them happy that less people are hunting.

As mentioned multiple times already, I think it's too crowded already. I personally would support permit only mule deer hunting in Washington to reduce the crowds and the pressure, to help the deer herds and to create a more quality experience.

In closing, I fully support everyone on here not buying tags and permit applications this year. That would create much better odds of me finally drawing an elk permit.

Three years ago I would agree with this... these days, I don't know how to feel about deer hunting in WA. I don't think it will ever get any better, and looking at the cuts to elk tags over the last few years I can't imagine that mule deer wouldn't go the exact same way if it went to draw only. At this point I've conceded to the fact that Washington deer hunting just is what it is and it will never be any better than it is today. It's an opportunity for a bunch of people to get out in the woods and maybe harvest a 2 or 3 year old deer if you're lucky. Unless we go back to a game department or radically change the current commission I don't want to give them my blessing to remove one ounce of opportunity, and I hate to feel like that. 

[Chesterdog]

I think people go to other states, where they can hunt more than one season, because there is simply more game to go around.  Washington State has 116 people per square mile, and her human population has been doubling every 20 years since the late 1800s.  Idaho has 22.3 people per square mile.  Even Oregon has only 44.1 people per square mile.  And then, of course, Montana and Wyoming- 7.5 and 5.9 people per square mile. 

I don't disagree that there is currently a concerted effort by the animal rights types to eliminate as many kinds of hunting in Washington State as they can get away with.  But when it comes to opportunity, or lack thereof, I think it is due in part to just too high a population density of people.  I think the state had to go to a "choose your weapon" system to manage pressure on the game and maintain some kind of quality to the hunt.

Why is there such an effort in the WDFW literature to paint the picture that hunter participation is down?  It seems opposite to what I've experienced. 

[KFhunter]

I don't agree that everyone should be able to hunt all seasons. It's already too crowded as it is, that would only make it worse, and it's the reason in the first place many years ago that they went to a choose your weapon type system. However I do agree people should try to cut back as much as they possibly can on how many licenses and applications you purchase.

So explain to me then. Why do people choose to spend money in other states where they can hunt with their choice of several weapons. I believe that you are one who does this. I also get that there are different species you can hunt. But other than speed goats we have pretty much the same choices.

not very many western states allow multiple weapon season hunting and if they do it usually involves an additional fee.

Fact is MS (deer specifically) puts a lot of additional strain on a limited resource. Ive been shouting for years that this state needs to tighten up deer hunting for the sake of our mule deer. We are THE ONLY western state with completely wide open and unbridled deer hunting and we have embarrassingly low deer numbers. We have all screamed "follow the science" in recent months due to the spring bear debacle but we fall silent on mule deer when following the science means less opportunity. 

As for hitting wdfw in the wallet, that does nothing more than feeding into exactly what Inslee and his anti's want. Their goal is NO HUNTING so if everyone stops participating they have achieved their goal. Its quite literally exactly what they want. License sales are a mere drop in the bucket that is WA states annual budget. They'll reallocate some funds to pay for blue bird boxes and wolves and they won't give hunting a second thought.

Don't we have fewer overall hunters than the heydays of the early 90's?   

Too many hunters isn't the problem, I rarely bump into them.  The problem is hunters being corralled in smaller spaces due to road closures and dwindling access, and less game due to lack of predator management.

where in my statements did I claim we have more hunters now than in the 90's and how is that stat relevant to current game populations, usable habitat, and fixing the issues at hand?

I believe the focus is wrong, we need to focus on increasing access to timberlands, we need USFS,DNR etc to focus on opening closed roads, and we need to focus on predator management rather than reducing hunters even more.   We're already a 3% minority and your ideas will further reduce that, why have hunting at all for a 1 or 2% minority that squabble about there being too many hunters?   Shoot yourself in the foot for better hunting and less pressure in a couple years?

[KFhunter]

How many hunters will there be when draw odds reach a 5 year average? 10 year average?   0.2% odds with 15 points?

[Humptulips]

Enough with reducing hunter opportunity! Every year we get the same thread, hunting sucks so let's reduce hunter opportunity or let's not buy tags so we can make WDFW hurt.
Sure, hunting sucks but everyone knows what the problem is, and it isn't hunters taking too much game. It is 100% political and the latest Commission appointments make that in your face apparent.

The smartest move that hunters can make is to get involved in this falls election. Find the candidates you can support and doorbell for them and march in parades with them. Majorities matter.

Best advice in this thread but I will go a step farther. We need a strong PAC that researches candidates, connects better with sportsmen and can make a difference in races. That takes involvement and money. Put those dollars you were going to spend on an access permit, towards dumping the likes of Insley, Van de Wege, Chapman.