A friend of mine alerted me to this has anything become of it ?
or has anybody heard any further discussions?
I’m surprised I haven’t really seen much discussion in regards to what I’m hearing today .
Supposedly discussed at the GMAC but didn’t go anywhere.
The pros and cons were presented by department staff but no concrete proposals were presented. DFW is definitely thinking about it.
Do you recall what they listed as pro and con?
looking at the minutes I guess not really much on the con side. From the minutes:
Permit only hunting Mule deer and Elk discussion: Kyle Garrison opened this discussion noting that we had covered some of this in the spike and true spike presentation. He noted that in the 10 western states harvest management systems vary widely based on context and goals and that all have tradeoffs between participation and harvest with Washington deer and elk hunting having a hybrid system with primarily over the counter unlimited entry general seasons augmented with limited entry special permit hunts.
Kyle said that what works in one state may not work elsewhere considering the following:
· Resource abundance and stressors.
· Management goals.
· Landscape productivity and vulnerability.
· Hunter numbers, distribution, and access.
Here’s a chart of the other western states and their mule deer hunting structure.
State Mule deer hunting structure
Arizona Limited entry with some OTC
California OTC with zone quotas
Colorado Primarily limited entry
Idaho Mostly OTC, some limited entry
Montana Mostly OTC, some limited entry
Nevada Limited entry only
Oregon Limited entry only
Utah Limited entry draw with quota OTC
Wyoming Mostly OTC with some limited entry
Why limit entry?
· Useful where:
o Demand exceeds supply.
o Habitat has limited escape terrain and/or cover.
o Population is vulnerable to excessive harvest, otherwise requiring restrictions on legal animals, etc.
· Other considerations:
o Social:
§ Crowding or poor success may diminish hunter satisfaction.
§ Manage for older aged animals without using APRs.
§ Often more preferred than shortening seasons, limiting weekends, or other restrictions.
o Biological:
§ Can have a tighter population management.
§ Have higher degree of control on take (age and sex).
§ Better opportunity to manage for a specific objective such as age structure.
Why limit entry in Washington?
· May increase hunter success and satisfaction.
· Reduce crowding.
· Manage for diverse buck/bull age structure.
· Alternative to APR’s.
· Offers diverse hunt options such as opportunity hunting vs quality hunts, methods, and groups.
· Might improve draw system satisfaction.
