Moose permit numbers

[huntnnw]

 So who is exactly in charge of determining these numbers? This state is all about the mighty dollar. There are units in this state that is an absoulute joke for issued tag numbers for moose. Huckelberry for instance, they give out like 8 tags I think off the top of my head, I have seen 5 bulls in just one hillside in this giant area to hunt, There are a ton of moose in this unit, they could easily give out 15 more tags, they could give out more in 49 too. The kettle tag also is bad, 2 tags I think, another huge area of remote mountains and terrain, I spent alot of time in this unit chasing deer and bears, sorry but 2 tags..should be 15 or more.. this goes for alot of the units.

[videoman]

I hear you.  I hunted over 50 days this year in the NE part of the state and saw over 350 different moose.  When I went to fill out my harvest report and it asked me how many moose I saw it would only let me put 99.  No more than that.  I agree on increasing the tag numbers but I feel that the reason why the number are consistently increasing is because it is not over hunted.

[huntnnw]

The kettle unit had 1 tag for years.. I never saw a moose in that unit up until a few years ago.. now there is a ton of them! So now theres 2 tags 

[jager]

So here's my take on it....

Idaho is reducing their moose tags in the panhandle this year due to the increase in wolves...They tried to appease hunters by giving more tags in the suburban areas where there are no wolves. Thus lessening the moose conflicts and making the hunters happy.

The areas that they are proposing to reduce tags here in Washington( in the NE), border the areas that have the wolves in Idaho....coincidence? I think not.
I agree with you about Huckleberry....There are a lot of moose...there are also wolves in the area AND the timber companies are spraying pretty vigorously in that unit as well.
We know what spraying and wolves do...right kids?    No food for the moose and ultimately a decline in the stellar moose population here in WA.....I would think those permit numbers will continue to go down....sadly..

Two success stories in this state....turkeys and moose. WDFW had nothing to do with the moose success......go figure. 
Gotta F- sumthin' up! Way to go WDFW!

This state sucks 

[huntnnw]

This state sure does suck!

[Elkaholic daWg]

 

[bearpaw]

We saw wolf tracks of two different wolf packs during cougar season in the snow this year in Alladin, and we saw tracks again of some of the wolves in Huckleberry. Probably not a good time to increase permits by too much in either of those units. There are also documented wolves in Selkirk so it would be a bad time to increase tags there too.

I would suggest increasing tags to 4 or 5 in the Kettle Range. The moose are more scattered in that unit, and of all the units, that will be the unit with low success if you put out too many tags. So the increase needs to made slowly.

FYI - Idaho was over hunting moose in many units and the average size of harvested moose was really dropping so a few years ago Idaho reduced the moose tags in many units, even in units with no wolves. Now the moose are coming back better in units with no wolves. We all know whats happening in the units with lots of wolves.

I do think it is wise to be conservative with our moose, but I agree permit numbers could be increased in a couple of the under hunted units.

[Ridgerunner]

State is very conservative, good news for those who draw, your odds of getting a big bull are much better than if the state were more generous with the tags, I'd like to see some more tags, another 10-15 spread out over all the units wouldn't hurt things in my opinion, there are a lot of moose in this state. 

[Bob33]

Not much change proposed in 2011:
[smg id=10271]

[bearpaw]

That's pretty much what I would have guessed. Good move to up the Kettle Range.

[Gutpile]

So here's my take on it....

Idaho is reducing their moose tags in the panhandle this year due to the increase in wolves...They tried to appease hunters by giving more tags in the suburban areas where there are no wolves. Thus lessening the moose conflicts and making the hunters happy.

The areas that they are proposing to reduce tags here in Washington( in the NE), border the areas that have the wolves in Idaho....coincidence? I think not.
I agree with you about Huckleberry....There are a lot of moose...there are also wolves in the area AND the timber companies are spraying pretty vigorously in that unit as well.
We know what spraying and wolves do...right kids?    No food for the moose and ultimately a decline in the stellar moose population here in WA.....I would think those permit numbers will continue to go down....sadly..

Two success stories in this state....turkeys and moose. WDFW had nothing to do with the moose success......go figure. 
Gotta F- sumthin' up! Way to go WDFW!

This state sucks 

Yeah. They are killing everything. No more moose food. 

[jager]

Yeah. They are killing everything. No more moose food.  

I'm not sure how to take your comment.....

I didn't mean that they are eliminating all the available browse for the moose. But I do know for a fact that they are spraying and I have seen the destruction.
If the food that they normally eat is dead they aren't going to eat it....It's dead.  
And ya it's a big unit and the timber companies don't own all the property....