Eastern Washington Pheasant Opener is NEXT WEEK!!!

[509]

Ever since the department split pheasant and other upland birds opener I have found pheasants much more jumpy than previous to the change. 

I suspected the reason is pressure.  I keep finding people hunting pheasants prior to opener.  This morning another proud hunter with a pheasant tail in his hunter orange vest.  Just because pheasants are open in western Washington does not mean season is open eastern Washington!!

Yes, I know that everybody on this forum probably knows the rules.  So make it a point to remind your friends and family that pheasant season is still CLOSED in eastern Washington. 

I know the Yakima Rez opens a week early and I was not hunting there.  Alarm did not go off and got to the blind at 9:00 am.  Maybe that's why I am cranky.

[Ironhead]

I am a little jumpy myself, I saw a guy with 2 roosters last Saturday while quail hunting. I let him know East side Pheasant was not open,he argued with me and said he had just showed a gamey the weekend before at a west side release site the 2 birds he had killed. I told him that the East and West sides open on different dates, and got no where with the guy.
 Then I get on this site and mis read a totally innocent post and send the poster a PM saying that pheasant is not open on the East side.
 I then re read his post (carefully) and see that he states he is at a private shooting preserve. I had to re send a PM and eat some crow, hope he is not pissed at me (I wouldn't blame him if he was).

[509]

My incidents were all on state land. 

I carry a copy of the regs with me.  As soon as I told him that I had a copy of the regs.  He said "oh, I remember now".

One guy was so proud he showed me the pheasants!  Unfortunately, it was only the 2nd of October.  I had the hardest time convincing him that he shot his pheasants three weeks early!!  So I started carrying the regs with me.

We all make mistakes.  I have fished closed water twice.  You know when you think WOW am I a great fisherman.  Then you think, hey I might be good but there is something wrong here.  Ran into town to check the regs and sure enough that was the reason I was a great fisherman.  The current fishing regs are always in my vest now.  Make sure you vest has room in the back for them!!

I think we just need to remind people and not assume they know the regulatiions all the time.