WA court: Farmer had right to shoot cherry-picking elk

[Ray]

In my opinion it should be up to the farmer/orchardist/landowner to put up his own fences to protect his property. It should not be the responsibility of the state.

I agree that he or she should be able to put up fences but when he is calling in for help year after year that they should send a gang of muzzleloaders in there to kick those *censored*s out of there. It sounds like the guy had his angles covered and that he was documenting this and if so that is why he was able to carry out justice on his own terms. I say Amen to that. The line of thought you are taking makes it sound like if you don't agree with your statement that we might see the government as nanny that will fix it with one of the agencies (in this case the WDFW). I would not agree with that.

[bobcat]

It seems the WDFW should have got some hunters in there to kill some elk (if the landowner would have allowed that.) But really, I feel that he should have put up a decent fence and if he had done that, he would never have needed to call the WDFW, ever. If landowners would put up fences or do whatever is necessary to protect their property from the wildlife that was here long before we were, then they wouldn't have to depend on the state and OUR money to solve their problems.

[Slider]

The sad part is most landowners that have the Wildlife problems don't allow hunting on their property!!!

[dbllunger]

This is not only in Wa..  Hunted a ranch in Mt., and they shot elk every year to keep them out of the hay barns.  The ranchers (notice not "farmers" they get pissed if you call them a farmer) had full dimension lumber 2x8's spiked into timbers to keep the elk out.  The bulls would just rip the boards loose.  The ranchers would intentionally drop the bulls right next to the hay sheds to keep the others away.  They told me one dead elk the coyotes would keep the others away for a week or so from one side of the shed.  These guys have no choice and they don't call the game department either.  Pretty much an understood agreement.  I also come from the farmer side of it and there is way more to it then what you read in the paper or this websight.

[dbllunger]

If the land owner will not allow hunting then they can suck some un-wiped ass.  Sound like the Methow aye bone.  Changed since you grew up there...(majority of people and their thought process)...!!!!???  It would be interesting to see what he wanted....I would guess based on what happened the elk were late, no season, and the state would not adjust for that area.

[mossback91]

I think he should have a tall tight all welded steel fence, but in away he had to shoot them if the game department wasnt going to do anything to help out a bit. I cant really say I dont have the fulls tory and dont know the complete truth to make my decision complete.

[Ray]

It's true we don't have the whole story. To me if he was telling the WDFW to get people over there and help him take care of it (a damage hunt) then it sounds like the state dropped the ball and that they also knew that this was not something which erupted overnight. Given that he went out there shooting himself I would suggest that he was willing to allow hunters on his property to take care of it but you never know..

The biggest factor why I would agree with the ruling is that I would find it hard to believe he killed 20 elk - but might have 2 which he was originally convicted of. Is that what 20 counts of waste and poaching means? It sounds like someone was trying to trump up false charges to me or that there was a vendetta against the guy.

[Bofire]

In 1972 I worked at Lake Terrel Game Area. I got sent out on a complaint response to Elk eating and trashing a large corn field, down near Concrete.
I went down there on different occassions; with 2 inch fire crackers on a timer string, a giant air cannon, an automatic siren, a shotgun with these "cracker" shells that flew out then popped, shot gun with bird shot, dogs, and other than pissing off the farmer and destroying the corn accomplished nothing. There was a strict protocall on what I could do.
Finally they told me to shoot some of the offenders. I headed out with with my 7mm. but got called back and "issued" a Remington 721 in .222. and ammo.
Went on out, killed 7 elk, and they went away for a while.
the end.
I quit the dept. about 6 months later, couldn't take it.
Dont sound like they improved much!
Carl
 

[ICEMAN]

Been gone all weekend. Many have touched on the angle I need help understanding:

Don't farmers plan on drought, fire, locust, poor crop output, poor soil conditions, poor this, poor that? Ever have bugs and mice eating someones crop? Do cherry farmers put netting up to keep bird damage down? Ever install anything to light up or turn on in the case of frost? Spray for insects? Ever use satelite GPS tracking to determine how much weed killer to apply in your fields? Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes.

You know what....*censored* happens! Plan on it! If your damn cherry trees are so valuable, put a fence around them. The taxpayers have already paid for the roads to your farm, the dam for your water, tax breaks on your land, subsidized this and subsidized that. We have turned a blind eye on illegal labor working your fields, all so you can make a profit.

Very easy to take your vengence out on a group of elk that need to eat.

Farmers already plan on dealing with every conceivable problem encountered in nature, but deer and elk are "waaaaaayyyyy" different. Nope, they never saw this coming! They never thought that elk could actually eat their profits up!!!???  Nope! "It is the states fault that the states deer and elk are eating my trees!!!" 

Go get a loan and fence your own property on your dime and quit crying about it!  You do not see the state fencing off private land in the suburbs to keep the deer out of anyones yard cause they are eating the tomatoes and flowers! What in the hell are we doing in this state anyway? Why is it my problem that some farmers never planned to deal with elk with their own fence?

 Are you pumping water this year? Spreading fertilizer this year? Spraying for bugs this year? Spending money on labor this year?

For gods sake, sell a sliver of your land and finance your own damn fence! Leave my Fing elk alone!

If we are going to pay for the damn fence, we may as well pay for the fertilizer, herbicide, water and labor as well! Wheat farmers are going to start wanting fences to keep the mice out!

[Curly]

Well said, Iceman.

[KillBilly]

Pretty narrow point of view Iceman. You must have never been a farmer. In addition, we (taxpayers) pay to feed Elk too. Make the elk go where the food is, that should be more equittable

[ICEMAN]

Killbilly, I may very well have a narrow point of view on the topic, and you are correct that I have never been a farmer,but, my point is this: Where will it end?

OK, we build fences for every single farmer in the state to make sure that we are fair, and treat all farmers equally. They ask, we build. Fences to keep out any deer from any farm anywhere. All farms. Fences to keep elk out. Fences to keep coyotes out so they dont get my chicken or calves, or sheep. Birds take a huge toll on fruit growers, so netting for all of them. Mice eat millions of tons of grain each year. Mouse proof all the farms. All of them.

How in the hell are we going to decide who gets what? My pockets are only so deep! When will farmers take responsibility for themselves and make their own fences? This is a legitimate question? How do you decied who gets the fence? And what happens when someone else wants the fence, but didn't get one? Can any farmer kill and waste anything that eats off his land? Is this ok with you? So if I buy land in Lewis county, and the damned elk keep eating the salal and huckelberry bushes on my property can I shoot and keep them? How about bear eating my blackberries? This OK too? *censored*..., why hunt, just buy land, or a farm, and screw the season.

[bobcat]

Two great posts in a row Iceman! 

[billythekidrock]

Excess staff?  Apparently they don't have anyone available to send out my master hunter package.   Was told the one person that does that is out on extended family emergency.  A freind sent his in at same time and got his, guess I just missed the boat.   Patience is a virtue.

I fully understand. The last 4 days I have been in automated/answering machine hell. Half the listed numbers for AHE and Hunter Ed no longer work and the other half go to automated messages with no "zero out", just an automated thank you or good bye. What a pain in the butt. I ended up calling the Directors office and talked with a lady to really tried to help, but she kept coming up with numbers that have recently changed. I find it interesting that they changed the numbers to AHE right when they over haul the program.

Here are a couple of the numbers that I tried.
902-8111 auto message
902-8424 auto message
902-8410 "message box not set up" message
902-8113 No longer working, Miks old number?
902-8413 just rang, no answer
902-8408 Mik's new number, but out of the office and they did not connect me
902-8413 Mike Kuttle (sp?) message machine, did not leave a message as I was too angry to talk by this time.