Free: Contests & Raffles.
I was told recently that towards the end of the archery season this year in Wisconsin that they outlawed baiting for three years for deer. This was due to as CWD infection. I'm not sure if they're doing a study on it or what.
There is a huge push to stop feeding elk and deer and to have more predators, it seems to go hand in hand with these new biologists the liberal colleges are turning out. Here's what I have observed. In NE WA they used to feed deer when I was young, we had mule deer herds wintering out with hundreds of mule deer that could be counted every winter, they fed whitetails up at higher elevations to keep them off the valley floor where they get hit on the highway. The comment about the whitetail feeding is directly from the mouth of the WDFW employee who ran those whitetail feed stations! Today you will be lucky to see m0re than a couple dozen mule deer in the same areas even if you cover a lot more ground looking. Every time we lose whitetails to hard winter or blue tongue they never recover to their previous high most likely due to the high number of predators, dogs chasing them, and traffic losses.Last winter where I live in Idaho, IDFG paid the next door farmer to feed elk all winter, to keep them from raiding farmer haystacks, the elk literally laid in the field all winter in a herd, why would they leave when the snow is three feet deep? I did not see one single elk that died in that field from eating alfalfa. IDFG had 23 deer feeding stations in our area, and this fall when we hunted, the units with the most feeding stations had the best deer hunting. The unit that had the fewest feeding stations last winter had the fewest deer this fall.At least the deer and elk that got fed survived! I can't say that for a good portion of the herds that weren't fed! We had a lot better fall season than I ever expected and I feel 100% it's because IDFG has a feeding program!
I am currently looking at the webcams for the Elk Refuge at Jackson WY. There is no snow at the moment down on the valley floor, and I don't believe that they have started to feed the elk yet as there is no reason to. Even still there are elk on the refuge and they are hanging out together like elk do in herds.I don't see how not feeding would keep the elk from herding up? That is what elk do. At the family ranch in grant county the deer get together in groups during the winter even though they are not being fed by humans, more eyes are safer than one deer alone with all the predators around, probably why they hang out together.
I don’t see this as being a political issue but instead something that is real and needs to be addressed if we want healthy deer and elk herds. I also don’t believe we will be able to kill our way out of this by culling infected herds. If there are CWD prions on the feeding ground they are going to need to find different grounds to feed them right? Would it be wise here in Washington to spread the feed grounds out? Instead of feeding 4,000 elk in one location should we feed 400 elk in 10 locations?
Looks like the elk are starting to drop in feeding stations this winter in Wyoming due to CWD. Have any of you changed your opinions over the last year on this topic?https://www.gohunt.com/browse/news-and-updates/hunting-news/chronic-wasting-disease-spreads-among-elk-at-wyoming-feedground
Quote from: bearpaw on December 22, 2023, 11:01:23 AMThere is a huge push to stop feeding elk and deer and to have more predators, it seems to go hand in hand with these new biologists the liberal colleges are turning out. Here's what I have observed. In NE WA they used to feed deer when I was young, we had mule deer herds wintering out with hundreds of mule deer that could be counted every winter, they fed whitetails up at higher elevations to keep them off the valley floor where they get hit on the highway. The comment about the whitetail feeding is directly from the mouth of the WDFW employee who ran those whitetail feed stations! Today you will be lucky to see m0re than a couple dozen mule deer in the same areas even if you cover a lot more ground looking. Every time we lose whitetails to hard winter or blue tongue they never recover to their previous high most likely due to the high number of predators, dogs chasing them, and traffic losses.Last winter where I live in Idaho, IDFG paid the next door farmer to feed elk all winter, to keep them from raiding farmer haystacks, the elk literally laid in the field all winter in a herd, why would they leave when the snow is three feet deep? I did not see one single elk that died in that field from eating alfalfa. IDFG had 23 deer feeding stations in our area, and this fall when we hunted, the units with the most feeding stations had the best deer hunting. The unit that had the fewest feeding stations last winter had the fewest deer this fall.At least the deer and elk that got fed survived! I can't say that for a good portion of the herds that weren't fed! We had a lot better fall season than I ever expected and I feel 100% it's because IDFG has a feeding program!This has been brought to the table by anti hunters. Let that sink in
I’d bet an entire paycheck that most anti hunters don’t have a clue that feed stations exist throughout the west, and that CWD exists. I’m all for calling a spade a spade but I’m not sure the argument over feed lots and supplemental feeding comes from anti hunters.Maybe a push to stop baiting, sure. Honestly this is the only state I’ve ever hunted that it was legal to bait ungulates. I’ve always thought it was pretty silly and could care less if it disappeared from most states.Baiting bears is a different story.
