Harvest reports what's the point?

[trophyhunt]

I report mostly so I'm put in for the incentive hunts, I would anyway but that incentive tag is worth the 2 minutes it takes. 

[bobcat]

Right bobcat , I'll call the unlicenced hunters HARVESTERS the problem is they harvest more than we do . If you want to be sickined take a drive over to the spot I showed your buddy a couple years back and see whats going on ( you know the area ) my whole oppionion and the scale of the problem really has changed in the last few weeks .

I see what you're getting at now. That went right over my head.

[colockumelk]

Right bobcat , I'll call the unlicenced hunters HARVESTERS the problem is they harvest more than we do . If you want to be sickined take a drive over to the spot I showed your buddy a couple years back and see whats going on ( you know the area ) my whole oppionion and the scale of the problem really has changed in the last few weeks .

Welcome to the club.  It only takes one time doesn't it.  Then you think oh its just an isolated incident.  Then you go out again and see the same thing and the same EXACT vehicles and think man does this happen every day for a month or two?   
 
I used to be pissed at the people.  But not anymore.  Because if licensed hunters were allowed to do this they would.  Well most anyways.  So its not the people I blame anymore its the system.  In fact I blame the WDFW more than anyone.  I blame them more than the Yakama Tribal Council.  Because of course the Yakama Tribal Council isn't going to actively search for things that will make their people look bad.  But its the job of the WDFW to conserve our resources and to provide for hunting opportunity for licensed hunters.  Instead they just take away from us.  And the reason they do this is because in order to conserve our resources they must do so.  The reason they must do so is because the WDFW shirks away from reporting what happens and instead of doing the right thing and standing up for hunters rights (the ones who pay their paycheck) they take the easy out and take from us. 

It would be nice if the WDFW would actively patrol the known hot spots for a month and document what goes on and then write a report about it complete with pictures, shed light on the subject and do something about it.  Yes legally the WDFW can't force the Yakamas to comply with modern types of hunting regulations but they can politically coerce them with a Public Relations fight.  One that the WDFW would most certainly win.  If only the WDFW stood up for hunters rights.   

[Elkaholic daWg]

 I'm sure you've already read of these that won't be reported Colockumelk.... thanks to idahoelkhunter300wby
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Just got an update on Phills poaching activities. The good news is that the elk in the Colockum were safe yesterday. The bad news, 5 "large" mulie bucks lost their lives. They were taken in the Entiat, Crum canyon.  That makes 15 bucks for the week. Not sure where they all came from.
I did get a couple of vehicle desriptions to be on the look out for.  Phill drives a blue 2wd nissan with a black canopy. One of his partners drives a black mid 90's blazer with tinted windows and bigger tires. Another partner drives a beat up red toyota pickup. If any of you are up entiat or colockum, keep your eyes open for these rigs.

[Sitka_Blacktail]

Bingo! when you start doing statistac anaylis you have the potential to magnify the effect of false data. That is why  a "clean" smaller sample is more useful than a compleate survey that has 100% partisipation with unknown ammounts of misinformation. You always get it, but the more you can do to eliminate it the better.

The smaller the sample, the more magnified false information will be.  In other words, if you have 10 reports and one lies or misleads, it is far worse than if you have 100 samples and three lie or mislead. The first example you have 10% bad info, the second you have 3%.

But why lie or mislead on harvest report? I can understand not wanting to give your honey hole up.  If someone wants to peruse the reports to find a better place to hunt, more power to them. But I don't like to see the game department post bulletins pointing people to my sweet spot. (That can be addressed to the game department) Heck tho, the reason a lot of people visit sites like this are to glean info on where to hunt. And I see lots of people bragging here about the area or at least the unit they are hunting and posting pics of their success. You won't see that from me. This is the spot I'll be very vague as far as my success goes.

 I want the game biologists to have the best information. (I just don't want them to blatantly share it). Otherwise they can't do their best work. They don't have the time and there aren't enough of them to check every hunter every day to get an exact count on animals taken and hunter success. But it's easy enough for hunters to report that info.  The bios need this info whether you believe it or not to make informed decisions on season length, whether antlerless hunts are needed or need to be scaled back, if there is a healthy recruitment into the herd, if there is a problem in a certain area.  Hunter success rates are important, not just for the season but how many days are spent for each animal harvested.

Just because other harvesters aren't reporting doesn't mean we shouldn't.  We should be working towards getting all hunting groups to report responsibly because that is the only way to good management.  You can't take the moral high road when you say "well they aren't doing it so I'm not going to."  Do the right thing and make them look bad is the only way to win in the court of public opinion.

Go ahead, don't report, or, lie when you do, but I don't want to hear you complain when your area gets limited because the game department got bum info out of you and others.

[Special T]

I think many of us want good info, since the percent of reporters are the same i think if those concerned could opt out then the numbers would be cleaner. 

[Sitka_Blacktail]

I think many of us want good info, since the percent of reporters are the same i think if those concerned could opt out then the numbers would be cleaner. 

Not necessarily.  What if those concerned were mostly successful hunters who didn't want to share where they scored? That would affect the success rate and make it look way worse than it was.  That could lead to reduced opportunity in the future as it would look like the population was down.

In fact most of those concerned would probably be successful. If you don't get anything, what would be your objection to reporting?

[colockumelk]

Yep I saw that it sickens me that scum like this are allowed to do this and their treaty rights allow this.