Unrecovered Colville Spike

[pickardjw]

Within view of the road too...

[jrebel]

That sucks.....

[pickardjw]

Hate to think someone hopped out of the truck, shot it and didn't even look but that's where my mind goes...

[Rutnbuxnbulls]

Hate to think someone hopped out of the truck, shot it and didn't even look but that's where my mind goes...

I’ve seen this happen. The guy shot and thought he missed. I went out for an evening hunt later that day and found the deer after he’d left for home with the second deer he shot that day.
4 point restrictions were great I’d like to see either 3 or 4 point restrictions in NE. Really increased the number of good deer running around and makes for more sportsmanship.

[10thmountainarcher]

Hate to think someone hopped out of the truck, shot it and didn't even look but that's where my mind goes...

I’ve seen this happen. The guy shot and thought he missed. I went out for an evening hunt later that day and found the deer after he’d left for home with the second deer he shot that day.
4 point restrictions were great I’d like to see either 3 or 4 point restrictions in NE. Really increased the number of good deer running around and makes for more sportsmanship.

I’m with you on the restrictions! I think it would really help the herds too. Spikes and forkies are stupid. Let’s protect them and give them some time to grow more wise and make the hunt more enjoyable.

[hunter399]

I'm not surprised at all.
Found a doe last year that looked exactly the same.

[ghosthunter]

Sorry, not looking to start a fight, but point restrictions are not working as far as I can see

I had a game officer stop by our camp few years ago. And he had no less than four illegal heads in his truck from that day. Guys were simply shooting and counting points as they lay.
Not enough points walk away.
The four heads he had were guys who got caught for one reason or another. If he caught four how many you think there really are?

I don’t believe point restrictions help in any way in this state.  Yeah don’t quote what other states are doing this is Washington and a lot more hunters doing what they want out there.

 

[10thmountainarcher]

Sorry, not looking to start a fight, but point restrictions are not working as far as I can see

I had a game officer stop by our camp few years ago. And he had no less than four illegal heads in his truck from that day. Guys were simply shooting and counting points as they lay.
Not enough points walk away.
The four heads he had were guys who got caught for one reason or another. If he caught four how many you think there really are?

I don’t believe point restrictions help in any way in this state.  Yeah don’t quote what other states are doing this is Washington and a lot more hunters doing what they want out there.

 

There would undoubtedly be illegal harvests occurring, but you would still see far less immature deer falling. Ramp up some enforcement action in these units for a while and it would help. I’ve hunted 111/117/113 for 29 years now. I have NEVER seen a game warden while in the field.

[GWP]

They can be pretty far off and still watching what folks are doing.

[hunter399]

I've been checked by a warden this year.
With that said ,there is always some shady stuff that goes on around here.
You'll never see any elk road kill, usually picked up by the person who hits it . whether they hit it on purpose or accidentally is debatable.

[baldopepper]

My problem with the apr in the NE is the difference berween mule deer and whitetail.  Muledeer at 3pt. Whitetail any buck.  Haven't found any this year,but in previous years have found several small Muledeer bucks shot and left.  Warden I've talked to in the area says he knows it's a problem, but he didn't make the law only enforces it.  I think the best option is to raise the whitetail to 3pt minimum also.

[pickardjw]

I doubt that violations of APR's has a population level effect.

Any discussion on APR's should be predicated by the intent of the restriction. Is it to increase overall population, buck-to-doe ratio, increase average buck age class, allow for more/less hunter opportunity or increase trophy class buck numbers? Depending on the species and where you're at in the country, any of those could be the goal and they're all interconnected. For instance, Utah is looking to increase mule deer populations in some units by increasing permit numbers to decrease buck-to-doe ratio. Sounds counterintuitive, right? Complicated subject...

My understanding is that there's some pretty good data out there on how APR's can impact those facets, whether it be whitetail, muley or elk. If the goal is to increase higher age class / trophy buck numbers they only work in the short term.

[addicted1]

No biologist, but I’ve shot 3x3 bucks that were 1.5 YO. How do I know? For one they looked like it, and I submitted tooth for aging to verify. Might be rare, but it’s happened more than once for me.