2022 Hunting proposals adopted by the commission

[fishngamereaper]

There's nothing wrong with bull to cow ratios in the central herds... actually probably the best I've seen in years....
Wdfw is just realizing they can offer less and still make a bunch of money. 

[elkchaser54]

I was referencing white tail DEER tags in the blues area.   Not elk they are vastly different .

[emac]

I was referencing white tail DEER tags in the blues area.   Not elk they are vastly different .

The whitetail in the blues and the foothills aren't doing that great.  Numbers are down as the eye test shows

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[bigdub257]

There's nothing wrong with bull to cow ratios in the central herds... actually probably the best I've seen in years....
Wdfw is just realizing they can offer less and still make a bunch of money.

Maybe they decided to factor in (wild guess) the (unknown) bull harvest by other user groups.   

[Tbar]

So they're now saying the Yakima elk herd is at or slightly above objective 

They increased cow tags in the Yakima units but decreased the bull permits. What could possibly be responsible for bull numbers to decrease while cows increase 

Shooting bulls is “trophy hunting”!   Duh! 

But to be serious, it makes no sense.  The 25% reduction in quality archery elk tags was not addressed at the meetings.  Not sure what WDFW is driving at other than perhaps knowing a lot of bulls are being taken by other user groups so hoping to get bull to cow ratio back inline?


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Has to be.  I can't think of any reason to do this other than the bull/cow ratio is incredibly bad.

Without knowing more than I witnessed at the feed lots, I see zero representation for this move.    This is a reduction coming off of a 90+% reduction!  It screams naive or a lack of due diligence.  With it being above objective ( ) there was probably some flexibility to have a considerable bump in bull hunt but without clarity it leaves users guessing.  The entirety does not sit well.

I don’t think it was justified.  I have zero rationale for why they did it…. My guess was low bull to cow ratio.  Why else would they slash bull permits when herd is approaching objective again?


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Your guess is as good as any I think, maybe better since you have quite a bit of knowledge of the central herd.  I just don't know why you always throw little jabs without representation.  I have heard nothing to justify anything but a return to normal at objective type of management.  Personally I'm always in favor of a more conservative approach in regards to the factory. I'd rather they increased bull harvest not cows.  There's usually more moving parts like ag concerns or  . There are a bunch of red flags here that do not make the department look competent.  I hope I'm missing something like a crazy low spike escapement or lack of bulls overall but one would think this type of information is easy shared and understood.

[huntnphool]

I was referencing white tail DEER tags in the blues area.   Not elk they are vastly different .

The whitetail in the blues and the foothills aren't doing that great.  Numbers are down as the eye test shows

 Numbers are down vs when?

[Limhangerslayer]

So they're now saying the Yakima elk herd is at or slightly above objective 

They increased cow tags in the Yakima units but decreased the bull permits. What could possibly be responsible for bull numbers to decrease while cows increase 

Shooting bulls is “trophy hunting”!   Duh! 

But to be serious, it makes no sense.  The 25% reduction in quality archery elk tags was not addressed at the meetings.  Not sure what WDFW is driving at other than perhaps knowing a lot of bulls are being taken by other user groups so hoping to get bull to cow ratio back inline?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Has to be.  I can't think of any reason to do this other than the bull/cow ratio is incredibly bad.

Without knowing more than I witnessed at the feed lots, I see zero representation for this move.    This is a reduction coming off of a 90+% reduction!  It screams naive or a lack of due diligence.  With it being above objective ( ) there was probably some flexibility to have a considerable bump in bull hunt but without clarity it leaves users guessing.  The entirety does not sit well.

I don’t think it was justified.  I have zero rationale for why they did it…. My guess was low bull to cow ratio.  Why else would they slash bull permits when herd is approaching objective again?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Your guess is as good as any I think, maybe better since you have quite a bit of knowledge of the central herd.  I just don't know why you always throw little jabs without representation.  I have heard nothing to justify anything but a return to normal at objective type of management.  Personally I'm always in favor of a more conservative approach in regards to the factory. I'd rather they increased bull harvest not cows.  There's usually more moving parts like ag concerns or  . There are a bunch of red flags here that do not make the department look competent.  I hope I'm missing something like a crazy low spike escapement or lack of bulls overall but one would think this type of information is easy shared and understood.

they have a standard of around 12-16 bulls per 100 cows in the Yakima herd, and supposedly with their count that’s what they are hovering at.  I had a lengthy conversation the other day about this with the biologist.  Predators and native harvest were 2 big factors.  And because the latter of the 2 can make $4-500 dollars on a set of antlers connected to the skull the branch bulls have a price on their head.  Then they turn the rest into jerky and pepperoni to sell they now have a business.  He tried to change the numbers with the higher ups not having it.  So be ready.  Unless something changes it’s going to be like this for the foreseeable future.

[trophyhunt]

So they're now saying the Yakima elk herd is at or slightly above objective 

They increased cow tags in the Yakima units but decreased the bull permits. What could possibly be responsible for bull numbers to decrease while cows increase 

Shooting bulls is “trophy hunting”!   Duh! 

But to be serious, it makes no sense.  The 25% reduction in quality archery elk tags was not addressed at the meetings.  Not sure what WDFW is driving at other than perhaps knowing a lot of bulls are being taken by other user groups so hoping to get bull to cow ratio back inline?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Has to be.  I can't think of any reason to do this other than the bull/cow ratio is incredibly bad.

Without knowing more than I witnessed at the feed lots, I see zero representation for this move.    This is a reduction coming off of a 90+% reduction!  It screams naive or a lack of due diligence.  With it being above objective ( ) there was probably some flexibility to have a considerable bump in bull hunt but without clarity it leaves users guessing.  The entirety does not sit well.

I don’t think it was justified.  I have zero rationale for why they did it…. My guess was low bull to cow ratio.  Why else would they slash bull permits when herd is approaching objective again?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Your guess is as good as any I think, maybe better since you have quite a bit of knowledge of the central herd.  I just don't know why you always throw little jabs without representation.  I have heard nothing to justify anything but a return to normal at objective type of management.  Personally I'm always in favor of a more conservative approach in regards to the factory. I'd rather they increased bull harvest not cows.  There's usually more moving parts like ag concerns or  . There are a bunch of red flags here that do not make the department look competent.  I hope I'm missing something like a crazy low spike escapement or lack of bulls overall but one would think this type of information is easy shared and understood.

they have a standard of around 12-16 bulls per 100 cows in the Yakima herd, and supposedly with their count that’s what they are hovering at.  I had a lengthy conversation the other day about this with the biologist.  Predators and native harvest were 2 big factors.  And because the latter of the 2 can make $4-500 dollars on a set of antlers connected to the skull the branch bulls have a price on their head.  Then they turn the rest into jerky and pepperoni to sell they now have a business.  He tried to change the numbers with the higher ups not having it.  So be ready.  Unless something changes it’s going to be like this for the foreseeable future.

exactly why the WDFW should go to any bull in that area, sacrifice the elk to force a few to actually manage! Hard to sell bull heads when there are none!

[fishngamereaper]

So allowing potential harvest of roughly 10 percent of the (under)"estimated" branched bull population in any given unit with odds that average 8-12 percent...so wdfw thinks harvest of 1-2 percent of branched bulls is reasonable....

For reference 110 bulls where killed in district 8 last year on special permits.... that's all the quality 300 gmus...

Gets me all giddy just thinking about the opportunity....

[Limhangerslayer]

So they're now saying the Yakima elk herd is at or slightly above objective 

They increased cow tags in the Yakima units but decreased the bull permits. What could possibly be responsible for bull numbers to decrease while cows increase 

Shooting bulls is “trophy hunting”!   Duh! 

But to be serious, it makes no sense.  The 25% reduction in quality archery elk tags was not addressed at the meetings.  Not sure what WDFW is driving at other than perhaps knowing a lot of bulls are being taken by other user groups so hoping to get bull to cow ratio back inline?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Has to be.  I can't think of any reason to do this other than the bull/cow ratio is incredibly bad.

Without knowing more than I witnessed at the feed lots, I see zero representation for this move.    This is a reduction coming off of a 90+% reduction!  It screams naive or a lack of due diligence.  With it being above objective ( ) there was probably some flexibility to have a considerable bump in bull hunt but without clarity it leaves users guessing.  The entirety does not sit well.

I don’t think it was justified.  I have zero rationale for why they did it…. My guess was low bull to cow ratio.  Why else would they slash bull permits when herd is approaching objective again?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Your guess is as good as any I think, maybe better since you have quite a bit of knowledge of the central herd.  I just don't know why you always throw little jabs without representation.  I have heard nothing to justify anything but a return to normal at objective type of management.  Personally I'm always in favor of a more conservative approach in regards to the factory. I'd rather they increased bull harvest not cows.  There's usually more moving parts like ag concerns or  . There are a bunch of red flags here that do not make the department look competent.  I hope I'm missing something like a crazy low spike escapement or lack of bulls overall but one would think this type of information is easy shared and understood.

they have a standard of around 12-16 bulls per 100 cows in the Yakima herd, and supposedly with their count that’s what they are hovering at.  I had a lengthy conversation the other day about this with the biologist.  Predators and native harvest were 2 big factors.  And because the latter of the 2 can make $4-500 dollars on a set of antlers connected to the skull the branch bulls have a price on their head.  Then they turn the rest into jerky and pepperoni to sell they now have a business.  He tried to change the numbers with the higher ups not having it.  So be ready.  Unless something changes it’s going to be like this for the foreseeable future.

exactly why the WDFW should go to any bull in that area, sacrifice the elk to force a few to actually manage! Hard to sell bull heads when there are none!

he suggested that and was shot down at the last 3 year rule setting.

[trophyhunt]

Well good for him!!!! It’s too bad others didn’t agree w him. I’d like his opponents to come up w a better solution!

[Stein]

Looks like they did.  Unfortunately.

If WDFW is given the choice between having to confront an issue or reducing the available tags, nobody is going to lose money on a bet which they will take.

[Tbar]

Looks like they did.  Unfortunately.

If WDFW is given the choice between having to confront an issue or reducing the available tags, nobody is going to lose money on a bet which they will take.

Define issue to confront. Is there a set allocation?  Also if you'd like to wager I'll take the state harvest is several fold the tribal. And if there is a concern is there a disconnect between Bernie and Kyle.  Also did Bernie make that proposal  or did Brock read it as a public comment that they responded to?

[bobcat]

The Yakama tribe kills bulls year around, so it's very likely they take more mature bulls than anyone or anything else. And, the state wants that and supports that. Nothing will ever change as long as politics in this state remain the same.

[fishngamereaper]

Honest question.
Is there any publicly available information on tribal harvest. Is it accurately tracked.

According to wdfw licensed hunter's average 5000 elk statewide per year and 3000 bulls. Give or take a couple hundred on both numbers.