Free: Contests & Raffles.
I think it is a mechanism to encourage more people to report so they can collect more data. It probably works to an extent but I don’t think all the data is going to be all that accurate. How many people go through and mark you didn’t hunt cause it saves you time of filling out a report for an animal you didn’t punch a tag on.
The majority of the WDFW commissioners would prefer to have more taxpayer dollars and less fishing and hunting dollars.
i dont think you can call it a scam, because you know going into buying your license that this is the case.i think you can call it BS.I think it would make more sense as an incentive if they gave you a 10$ discount the following year license purchase.
Quote from: blackpowderhunter on April 03, 2023, 11:45:57 AMi dont think you can call it a scam, because you know going into buying your license that this is the case.i think you can call it BS.I think it would make more sense as an incentive if they gave you a 10$ discount the following year license purchase.It’s a scam when they don’t want the info they just want your money. One year I was reporting and the WDFW web site crashed, their fault but my fault for not going back in and it slipped my mind. I missed the cut off by a couple days and called to at least offer my report cause of coarse they need the info right? Nope they told me it’s not needed and you’ll have to pay the money if you want a tag next year. I told the associate on the phone so what good is the info then if you don’t need it other than you just want us to forget so you can charge us? She didn’t have an answer and told me that’s what the bio’s told them to say. It reminds me of the 5$ they add to your tabs and hope you forget to subtract it, nothing but extortion and a money grab.
Can I submit my hunter report after the deadline?You cannot report after the deadline. The deadline is important in order to give WDFW time to collate the data, develop preliminary reports, and provide the information to department biologists across the state to set permit levels for the coming hunting season. Permit recommendations are presented to the public and a hearing is conducted in early March each year with adoption by the Fish and Wildlife Commission scheduled for early April. These timelines are tight.Following the reporting deadline, WDFW conducts a telephone survey of randomly selected individuals who failed to report their hunting activity by the deadline. It is the random nature of the survey that allows WDFW to accurately estimate hunter effort, harvest, and success rates compared to previous years. While reports provided by hunters before the deadline are critical, once the deadline passes, WDFW no longer accepts sporadic reports because they reduce the statistical strength of the harvest estimate.For this reason, you still may be contacted for information in a subsequent hunter survey. If so, WDFW would appreciate you taking the time to participate in this phone survey, even though it is not a substitute for the hunter reporting requirement and will not release you from the $10 administrative fee for big game, turkey, or migratory bird reports. WDFW strongly encourages you to submit your reports on time because it is important for management of wildlife in Washington and support for hunting opportunity.Why impose a fee for failure to report?The hunter report administrative fee encourages hunter reporting. Hunter reports are important for improving the accuracy of harvest statistics and providing information to WDFW biologists across the state so they can prepare for setting permit levels for the coming hunting season.
https://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/management/game-harvest
If it wasn't a scam they would give you a few days after the season closes to report. Reports are due on the last day of cougar season.At least the Trappers report of catch isn't due until 20 days after the close of season.
It looks to me like it is a way to raise the price of a license $10 on a significant percentage of users without raising the official price. Call it what you want. The section bobcat pasted in calls it an adminstrative fee buried in a pile of bureaucratic justification. I wish we could know how many hunters/fishermen reported on time, how many failed to report on time, and how many tried to report but were unable to. I have been able to report online some years and not able to two years, due to site failure. Usually I mail the cards.
Quote from: M_ray on April 03, 2023, 01:39:22 PMQuote from: blackpowderhunter on April 03, 2023, 11:45:57 AMi dont think you can call it a scam, because you know going into buying your license that this is the case.i think you can call it BS.I think it would make more sense as an incentive if they gave you a 10$ discount the following year license purchase.It’s a scam when they don’t want the info they just want your money. One year I was reporting and the WDFW web site crashed, their fault but my fault for not going back in and it slipped my mind. I missed the cut off by a couple days and called to at least offer my report cause of coarse they need the info right? Nope they told me it’s not needed and you’ll have to pay the money if you want a tag next year. I told the associate on the phone so what good is the info then if you don’t need it other than you just want us to forget so you can charge us? She didn’t have an answer and told me that’s what the bio’s told them to say. It reminds me of the 5$ they add to your tabs and hope you forget to subtract it, nothing but extortion and a money grab.playing devils advocate here, but you admitted you missed the deadline.When i give people a deadline at work and they're late, it then creates more work for ME to incorporate their data into the models im running.so the added benefit of adding your data vs the re work necessary to input your data late, may not be worth it to them...i'd argue the data is used for something...meaningful decisions being made? doubtful, but it's used for some sort of metric.
