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https://www.heraldnet.com/news/almost-all-mountain-goats-died-after-airlift-from-olympics-to-cascades/
DARRINGTON — About five years ago, wildlife biologists with the Tulalip Tribes used GPS collars to start tracking 115 mountain goats translocated from the Olympic Peninsula to the North Cascades.Only three are still alive today.Wildlife biologists with the Stillaguamish Tribe found similar results. Out of 36 translocated goats they tracked, only one is still alive. Usually, mountain goats live between 10 to 13 years in the wild.
Researchers believe hunters initially introduced a handful of mountain goats to the Olympic mountains in the 1920s, before Olympic National Park was established.The population on the peninsula skyrocketed about a century later to almost 700 goats.
Over 10,000 goats lived in Washington as recently as 1961, according to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. Now, an estimated 2,400 to 3,200 remain.
The population near Mount St. Helens has soared over the past decade. In 2014, biologists counted 65 goats and now estimate some 400 goats live there.
QuoteOver 10,000 goats lived in Washington as recently as 1961, according to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. Now, an estimated 2,400 to 3,200 remain.
Another reason to front tag fees or pick 1 oil tag to apply for to eliminate the people who really don’t care. A huge amount of the apps are “ well I’ll just throw my name in the hat “
I guess I view OIL hunts as a dream hunts and not a dream kill. I just finished the Baker Avalanche Gorge hunt and was lucky enough to harvest a Billy. I can't say enough about how stressed I was making sure it was a Billy. I took the non mandatory test and watched all the video information that WDFW sent on how to identify a Billy. I spoke with some of you who had hunted goats and the area I was hunting and you all gave me good advice. The main thing I took to heart is be patient, be as certain as you can. Many of you said watch it pee to make sure. While the wait can be long for the opportunity, I went into the hunt prepared to eat my tag versus shooting a nanny on purpose. I enjoyed the hunt preparation, meeting new hunters and spending time in a place I never get to hunt with my hunting friends. For me, that is what the hunt is all about. I know every hunter is different and that it isn't illegal to shoot a nanny. I think most of us can agree that now that these hunts are highly regulated, hunters are not the limiting factor on the populations viability. As hunters, we understand that killing males, as with most of our hunted species, does not have the impact on productivity as killing females. It makes it harder for our wildlife managers to make a case the anti hunting WDFW commissioners, to keep a population open, when the population is barely meeting the minimum population threshold, if nannies continue to be harvested. I do think that due to the number of nannies killed last year and this year to date, that 2024 is the last year for goat hunting on Baker. We will see.
Everyone can blame predators but environmental conditions impact way more than X percent more cats. And guess what. We can’t change the number of cats really. But we sure can change how many Nannie’s get killed. As hunters let’s take responsibility instead of whining about the department or something. We have a role. Let’s do it the best we can. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk