Colockum 5pt MIN???

[Lowedog]

Another vote for permit only elk!  

I think having to count to 5 or 6 would be too tough for a lot of people.  

[bankwalker]

Another vote for permit only elk!  

I think having to count to 5 or 6 would be too tough for a lot of people.  

its hard enough for people to count what comes after spike.....lol

[runamuk]

I see another positive to this in the colockum herd specifically....you go to say 5point minimum you just leveled the playing field the tribe no longer holds all the keys to the bulls.  Spike only management will never work in a herd where there are still branch bulls being taken in large numbers so go the other way preserve more spikes to increase the bull population.
And gate the roads ..... make it harder on hunters and easier on elk 

[Boss .300 winmag]

OK.  How about only allowing those with an eastern wa. physical address purchase east side elk tags.  Let the west siders hunt the west side and let the east siders hunt the east side.     This would cut way back on the amount of hunters in the east side elk areas, alleviate the hunting pressure on the elk and make more elk hunters successful while increasing east side herds.  Then, make a few of the units on the east side 6 pt or greater.  I think I will run for Game commissioner!!!   

Then we can keep our tag monies and then the east keeps there!

[sparkey579]

Spike only doesn't make sense to me when the big bulls are getting shot by the tribes anyway.

[Thenewguy]

OK.  How about only allowing those with an eastern wa. physical address purchase east side elk tags.  Let the west siders hunt the west side and let the east siders hunt the east side.     This would cut way back on the amount of hunters in the east side elk areas, alleviate the hunting pressure on the elk and make more elk hunters successful while increasing east side herds.  Then, make a few of the units on the east side 6 pt or greater.  I think I will run for Game commissioner!!!   

what an argument...

[GoldTip]

I have written virtually these exact words on this forum/site several times and NO ONE has been able to answer my question.  To those who think that going to a 5pt restriction on elk is a bad idea, please answer me this question.  If going to 5pt minimum on bull elk would be so bad, why is it good to have a 3 pt restriction on Mule deer and everyone seems to think this creates bigger bucks.  Mule deer and Bull elk breed in much the same way.  The biggest/strongest/most mature buck/bull gathers a harem of does/cows and then he breeds them all, while fighting off several satellite bucks/bulls.  So someone, anyone please explain to me why it is better to have us kill off as many young bulls as possible, yet we only are allowed to kill the more mature mulie bucks?  One or the other approach is wrong, just isn't any two ways around it.    

[bobcat]

They have the 3 point minimum on mule deer because hunters want it. They wanted to do away with it a few years ago but their polls showed the public wanted to keep it so they did. Spike only for mule deer would probably work just the same as it does for elk. Not that I'm a fan of it. If deer or elk harvest needs to be brought down I think permit only hunting is the way to do it. For the Colockum, with the indian problem, the only solution I see there is to make it permit only, for any bull, and then put up lots of gates to make it harder for the indians to slaughter everything before our hunts start. I think the whole state should be permit only for both deer and elk, but I'd like to see generous numbers of permits in the majority of GMU's so that the trophy potential doesn't get to be so good that the indians end up going in there and killing all the bucks and bulls, like they always do.

[EDT]

OK.  How about only allowing those with an eastern wa. physical address purchase east side elk tags.  Let the west siders hunt the west side and let the east siders hunt the east side.     This would cut way back on the amount of hunters in the east side elk areas, alleviate the hunting pressure on the elk and make more elk hunters successful while increasing east side herds.  Then, make a few of the units on the east side 6 pt or greater.  I think I will run for Game commissioner!!!   

Well, if you do that, we might as well go one further...only Yakima county residents hunt in Yakima County...and so on.  

[GoldTip]

They have the 3 point minimum on mule deer because hunters want it. They wanted to do away with it a few years ago but their polls showed the public wanted to keep it so they did. Spike only for mule deer would probably work just the same as it does for elk. Not that I'm a fan of it. If deer or elk harvest needs to be brought down I think permit only hunting is the way to do it. For the Colockum, with the indian problem, the only solution I see there is to make it permit only, for any bull, and then put up lots of gates to make it harder for the indians to slaughter everything before our hunts start. I think the whole state should be permit only for both deer and elk, but I'd like to see generous numbers of permits in the majority of GMU's so that the trophy potential doesn't get to be so good that the indians end up going in there and killing all the bucks and bulls, like they always do.

That explains why it is the way it is, 3pt minimum for Mule deer, but it still makes no sense from a management/scientific perspective. 

[bobcat]

If I remember correctly, that's pretty much what they said- a 3 point minimum "makes no sense." I wish the DFW would, just for once, manage deer and elk by the science, rather than by public opinion. However, I admit it must be tough, knowing that whatever they do, anytime we get a unit with good numbers of mature deer and elk, the indians will come in and kill them off when they are most vulnerable (rut and when on winter range.)

[bigpaw 77]

OK.  How about only allowing those with an eastern wa. physical address purchase east side elk tags.  Let the west siders hunt the west side and let the east siders hunt the east side.     This would cut way back on the amount of hunters in the east side elk areas, alleviate the hunting pressure on the elk and make more elk hunters successful while increasing east side herds.  Then, make a few of the units on the east side 6 pt or greater.  I think I will run for Game commissioner!!!   

You got my vote commish.

[shedcrazy]

I agree with a statewide 3 point minumum..

[huntnnw]

thats the problem with this state, waaay too many people and they try to micro manage 1 tiny little area and it gets hammered, not enough terrrain and habitat to support most ideas

[EDT]

thats the problem with this state, waaay too many people and they try to micro manage 1 tiny little area and it gets hammered, not enough terrrain and habitat to support most ideas

Well said huntnnw