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March 31, 2011Contact: Wildlife Program, (360) 902-2515 Commission to Hold Meeting to Discuss no Over-the-Counter Tags OLYMPIA – An emergency conference call meeting will be held Saturday April, 2nd among WDFW commissioners to discuss an emergency proposal to restrict modern firearm deer and elk hunters to hunting by permit in all of eastern Washington this fall. Hunters will have until May 20th to enter their name in a drawing for a 2011 deer and elk permits. In early June, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) will randomly draw names for deer and elk permits. Only winners of the drawing will be eligible to hunt for deer and elk in eastern Washington. “This is a great opportunity for hunters to be able to have an enjoyable hunting experience with less crowding by other hunters.” said Dave Ware, game manager for WDFW. “But more importantly, it allows our game biologists to more accurately manage the herds.” Ware noted that there will likely be a lack of support by hunters, but he stressed that hunters will likely come around to the idea after it has been implemented for a few years. He also acknowledged that a proposal to restrict archers and muzzleloaders to permit only hunting will likely occur in the near future. Jeff Nelson, WDFW deer and elk section manager, says “We realize this will be a controversial issue, but this way we can manage game management units more effectively.” He says elk hunters won’t have to hunt for spike only. In the current system a hunter may only draw a permit for branched bull once in his lifetime; with the proposed system, WDFW hopes to have applicants draw permits every four years on average.The permit application is $6.50 for residents and $60.50 for nonresidents. A meeting summary will be posted on the WDFW website early next week.
April fools right?!
