Changes to small game season.

[beagledog]

Kain  I would personally see the rabbit season closed around the last weekend of February as I have noticed the cottontails are heavy with babies by the first week of march I have personally stopped hunting them after February for that reason I just can't see hunting any animal when they a pregnant 

[bobcat]

I agree with Kain that squirrels should be left for predators to eat. The squirrels we have that are numerous enough to be hunted are not really big enough to provide much meat anyway. Leave 'em for the hawks, owls, coyotes, and bobcats.

As for the grouse, I don't believe the change from a 3 bird limit to a 4 bird limit had any significant affect on the number of birds taken. I know for a fact grouse numbers were very high in 2009, and 2010 and 2011 they have been virtually non-existent, around here anyway. The higher harvest in 2009 was due to high numbers of grouse, not the 4 bird limit.

[Kain]

Kain  I would personally see the rabbit season closed around the last weekend of February as I have noticed the cottontails are heavy with babies by the first week of march I have personally stopped hunting them after February for that reason I just can't see hunting any animal when they a pregnant

Reproduction

The breeding season for rabbits begins in mid February and can continue through late summer. Famous for their reproductive abilities, rabbits have a 30-day gestation (pregnancy) period, and have several litters containing four to eight young each year.
For about two weeks, the mother rabbit stays away from the nest so as not to show predators the location of the young, returning only at dusk and dawn to nurse and lick her young clean.
At two weeks of age the young rabbits begin to eat vegetation; at four to five weeks old they are feeding alongside their mother.
The number of rabbits in a given area will increase and decrease in a cycle connected with predator populations and food availability.

According to the WDFW you are right about the timing.  That is a lot to ask of hunters though since we really dont get a lot of snow and cold weather until February/March.  I have no problem with that though.  Shave two weeks off the end of rabbits season?  How do the rest of you feel about it? 

[bobcat]

I would like them to change the wording on the no coyote hunting with dogs to allow incidental taking of a coyote while upland or waterfowl hunting while having a bird dog or retriever present.

AWS

That's a good idea I'd support. It doesn't make sense that you can't shoot a coyote just because you happen to have a dog with you at the time. I really don't think that was the intent of the law. Why the law was needed in the first place, well that's an entirely different question but it seems we must have some PETA members working for the WDFW.

[Kain]

As for the grouse, I don't believe the change from a 3 bird limit to a 4 bird limit had any significant affect on the number of birds taken. I know for a fact grouse numbers were very high in 2009, and 2010 and 2011 they have been virtually non-existent, around here anyway. The higher harvest in 2009 was due to high numbers of grouse, not the 4 bird limit.

That could be.  I really only have the harvest numbers to go off.  I assume that the grouse numbers must have been doing well for the WDFW to increase the numbers in the first place.  That is the hard thing about forming an opinion on this.  It could be a weather related event or just a natural cycle.  The 2009 numbers do seem to be abnormally high and then followed by a crash.  The few extra grouse that could have been saved might have made the die off less severe. 

Either way numbers are down now (whatever the reason) and I think it would be wise to lower harvest limits.    

[bobcat]

The last two years, it's apparent the cold/wet spring weather was the main factor in low grouse numbers. The reason for the high grouse population in 2009 was due to favorable spring weather. Just my opinion of course, but weather really is the main factor that affect grouse, and other upland bird populations.

[Kain]

That makes sense.  Do you think a lower the limit would have any noticeable effect on their recovery numbers?  I have my doubts that it would because I dont know many guys that are getting consistent limits anyways.  I just dont know which is best. 

[bobcat]

No, I don't believe going back to a three bird limit will have any effect whatsoever on the grouse population. To have higher grouse numbers we need a warmer, dryer spring, so the chicks can survive. How many people will actually kill four grouse per day? Very, very few (as you said). I didn't even bother to go grouse hunting last year, because I saw during my summer scouting for deer that there basically were not any grouse in the woods. The previous year (2009) grouse were just everywhere. So that's what happens during years when there are very few grouse- people don't hunt them. So how is reducing the limit by one bird going to accomplish anything, when most people aren't even bothering to hunt grouse? I like the four bird limit. It's great when grouse numbers are high and when numbers are low the limit doesn't matter because hunting pressure is self-limiting.

[predator guy]

Get rid of the law where it says you can't hunt Lions or "Cougers" ( as you call them up here) with the use of dogs!! WTF??

[Kain]

Get rid of the law where it says you can't hunt Lions or "Cougers" ( as you call them up here) with the use of dogs!! WTF??

We are working on it.  It has to be changed through the state legislature though and cant be changed by the WDFW.  The use of dogs for coyotes can be changed though because that was outlawed by WDFW. 

[Machias]

They need to allow dogs for decoying coyotes.  I understand (completely disagree with) their thought process on making it illegal to pursue coyotes with dogs, however it would be very easy for them to allow decoying dogs, and very easy for the officer in the field to see the difference.

[huntinguy]

Changes I would like to see are:

Longer crow season.  I see no reason that crow season cannot be more inline with other small game and other states seasons.  There are no shortage of crows and the season seems very short to me.  It also falls right into the busiest time in the woods-modern firearms season.  Crow hunting is also a great way to get kids into hunting and provides necessary management of a predatory bird species.

Pellet rifles.  With the advancement in pellet rifles I would like to see WDFW make pellets rifles that meet certain performance specs be legalized for some small game.  This is also great for getting kids into hunting and could open up opportunity in areas that would normally not be friendly to firearms.

 

Pellet gun for grouse while big game hunting. Always hated deciding... grouse or elk... grouse or elk....

Also, put the small game license back as part of the big game license. Or even better yet, Put the system back to hunting lincense and then appropriate tags.

Most of my small game hunting is done as part of my scouting trips and then I would like to decide my tag later... Like it used to be.

[Heredoggydoggy]

Changes I would like to see are:

Pellet rifles.  With the advancement in pellet rifles I would like to see WDFW make pellets rifles that meet certain performance specs be legalized for some small game.  This is also great for getting kids into hunting and could open up opportunity in areas that would normally not be friendly to firearms.

Agree wholeheartedly with this aspect.  Airguns are being made in larger calibers, and the .22 and .25 cal. guns are perfect for Coyote control in urban settings.  I even saw an article where a group went to Africa and used a .50 cal. airgun to shoot the small African deer for camp meat.  I personally have made some amazing kills on Starlings with my .177 airgun.  They really can be a viable alternative to conventional rifles as long as they are used within their capabilities.

[Kain]

I have started a poll under the Washington for Wildlife section on these changes.  Feel free to vote even if you are not a member.  Of course we would love for you to join and add your support.  There is strength in numbers and we hunters need to work together.

Take the poll here.  We will forward the results to the WDFW and then ask members and non members to support these changes be considered for the next three year season setting process.

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,82518.0.html

[nontypical176]

Allow the use of Cross Bows for small game species, coyotes would be first on the list.