8 different special apps pools!

[KDB]

The Frontiersman is right..  The odds of drawing a quality tag will be worse over time.

Under the new system will we have to apply for a general bull or buck tag?

[bobcat]

There is an advantage to having 4 choices. You can apply for a couple of the near impossible to draw permits for your first couple choices, and then for choice 3 and/or 4 put down the hunts you REALLY want/expect to draw. That's what I have always done.

And while I am in favor of decreasing the number of choices on an application, I don't feel it would increase odds of drawing across the board. Odds for hunts like the Desert and Entiat mule deer and the Blue Mountains bull elk permits would be likely to get better, as people wouldn't put them down as a hail mary.

But other hunts that aren't quite as popular wouldn't necessarily become easier to draw, and in fact they could become harder to draw. It would just all depend on how people change their permit choices in response to the decreased number of choices.

Now, they ARE only allowing 2 choices on the quality permits. So how that will affect odds, who knows. It would have been a good attempt and making things better if not for all the other variables now thrown into the mix, with all the sub-categories of deer/elk permits (Quality, Bull/Buck, Antlerless, 2nd tag Antlerless, Youth, Senior, Disabled, Master Hunter)    

Under the new system will we have to apply for a general bull or buck tag?

 


No, General tags will still be purchased as they have been in the past, with no limit. You will have to purchase a deer and elk tag before applying for the special permits, as always.

[bobcat]

I agree with that. It would have been very simple to both increase odds and increase revenue. All they had to is increase the cost of an application from $5 to $15, and only allow one choice on each application. Other than that leave it as is. Problem solved.

-Yep thats the best solution right there!

Hey Skookum,

You never said how the meeting went last Saturday, or maybe I just missed your post about it

[Bob33]

Snail mails here:

Wildlife Program Commission Meeting Public Comments
600 Capitol Way North
Olympia, WA 98501-1091

Email here: commission@dfw.wa.gov

My advice: be polite but ask the commission to defer implementation until further public input can be heard.  Rushing into this for the 2010 season is insane.

If everyone that posted here sent this message....

[bobcat]

This shows a different email address:

Submit written comments to:
Name: Wildlife Program Commission Meeting Public Comments
Address: 600 Capitol Way North, Olympia WA 98501-1091
e-mail Wildthing@dfw.wa.gov
fax (360) 902-2162
By: Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Not sure which one to send letters to, maybe both?

[SkookumHntr]

I agree with that. It would have been very simple to both increase odds and increase revenue. All they had to is increase the cost of an application from $5 to $15, and only allow one choice on each application. Other than that leave it as is. Problem solved.

-Yep thats the best solution right there!

Hey Skookum,

You never said how the meeting went last Saturday, or maybe I just missed your post about it

I ended up having to work saturday when I wanted to go but its the march meetings that are more relevent and im going to take work off and go on the friday morning, march 12

[Bob33]

This shows a different email address:

e-mail Wildthing@dfw.wa.gov

Not sure which one to send letters to, maybe both?

Email your comments to the Commission and cc Wildthing

[Curly]

I sent my comments to both email addresses listed.  The wildthing address I received an answer and the other one, they said they would get my comments to the commisioners.

I've got another letter started and when I finalize it I will send it snail mail.  Probably send it out tomorrow.

[Bob33]

The commissioners have the authority to nix or delay this at their April meeting.

[Elkaholic daWg]

   Anyone here remember the Early/late elk tags?   Brings in less money ( so it would NEVER happen) but it would greatly reduce the number of applicants for special permits.  Makes a person think a little different when they are giving up opening weekend.

[bobcat]

Yes, I remember. If you applied for a special elk permit, you couldn't hunt till Wednesday. Everybody else go to start on Saturday.

[huntndad]

Hi everyone.  I'm new to this site, in fact, I just found out about it.  I've only read through about 20 pages of this topic, so I might not have caught everything.  Any way, I went and checked out the WDFW website and downloaded their proposals for next year.  They have the specific hunts broken down by quality, buck/bull, cow/doe, etc.
The "quality deer" category offers 51 different hunt choices (about 600 total tags) for modern fire, 12 hunt choices (266 tags but 100 are for one hunt) for archery, and 13 hunt choices (233 tags and 100 from one hunt) for muzzle loader.
"Buck" hunts offer only 14 choices for modern (1124 tags total), only 5 (81 tags) for archery, and 11 (186) for muzzle loader. 
"Quality Elk" m.f. has 28 east side choices (about 150 tags) and 20 west side choices (192 tags with Toutle unit hunts making up 133 of those).  Archers on the east side have 19 hunt choices (527 tags) and on the west side only 7 hunts (124 tags with 79 from Toutle).
"Bulls" m.f. east 12 hunts 483 tags and west 7 choices with 82 tags.  Archers on east have only two choices (24 tags) and west has 4 choices (14 tags).  ML east have 2 (16 tags) and west 7 (29 tags).
I didn't go through all the other categories.  But this doesn't seem like a good thing.  Take the m.f. west side elk "bulls" hunts.  The WDFW is only offering 7 choices.  Every hunter that purchases this category will could have their name in 4 of the hunt choices.  I'm not going to add up all the hunters and calculate the total numbers, but their could easily be 20,000 names in any given hunt category.  Archers hunting elk will have no choices in the "Bull" category, because everyone of them will be in the drawing for the same 4 hunt choices.
Sorry if this came out confusing, but I have a lot going on around me as I type this.

[Bob33]

Snail mails here:

Wildlife Program Commission Meeting Public Comments
600 Capitol Way North
Olympia, WA 98501-1091

Email to: commission@dfw.wa.gov

cc: Wildthing@dfw.wa.gov


My advice: be polite but ask the commission to defer implementation until further public input can be heard.  Rushing into this for the 2010 season is insane.

If everyone that posted here sent this message....

[Curly]

Hi everyone.  I'm new to this site, in fact, I just found out about it.  I've only read through about 20 pages of this topic, so I might not have caught everything.  Any way, I went and checked out the WDFW website and downloaded their proposals for next year. 

Just to clarify......the proposal is for this year. 

Anyway, welcome to the site Huntndad.

[spikehunter]

$ $ $ Don't blame me I voted for Dino