snoqualmie ridge elk saved. barf

[pianoman9701]

I hate to be cynical, but if you read back through quite a few posts here you can understand why this hunt was cancelled.  For goodness sakes, we are hunters and yet there is quite a bit of opposition to this hunt.  Imagine how the anti hunters feel about killing a few elk for the sake of those damn rich landowners!

We've got to support hunting even when it may not be exactly the way we want it to be.

10-4

Bob, I agree with you, too. I still feel culling a few from the  herd is a good way to move the animals out immediately. Iceman's suggestion about getting the council to loosen up bow hunting around town is a long-term management idea that they may consider under the present conditions.

[BOWHUNTER45]

  THATS HOW THEY RUN ON THE EAST COAST ...In residential areas bows are the ultimate choice .... Not because I am a bowhunter  but something needs to be done ...Minus the apples  on a nice green lawn 

[JimmyHoffa]

Also on the east coast they bring in sharpshooters under a contract (like a pest control service) and those guys run around the neighborhoods shooting all the deer they can.  That gets pretty expensive, but for some reason certain towns would rather do it that way than to have hunters do it either for free or to make money.

[bobcat]

Imagine how the anti hunters feel about killing a few elk for the sake of those damn rich landowners!

I posted this one of the other threads on this subject, but this is how the anti's feel about it:

Gaillard Lee Johnson · Top Commenter · Works at Animal Rights Activisit and Humanitarian
I totally agree,,relocation is a great idea,but why bother when the hunters can get their hateful and murderous 'jollies' ( just in time for xmas) instead by killing innocent animals, who can't defend themlsves. What men they must be, to kill that which has no direct defense. I wonder how they wives think about this....just wow...

[ICEMAN]

I hate to be cynical, but if you read back through quite a few posts here you can understand why this hunt was cancelled.  For goodness sakes, we are hunters and yet there is quite a bit of opposition to this hunt.  Imagine how the anti hunters feel about killing a few elk for the sake of those damn rich landowners!

We've got to support hunting even when it may not be exactly the way we want it to be.

10-4

Wow do I sound arguementative lately....

OK, so I slept on this and have a bit different attitude than yesterday afternoon..

I do not support hunting in all situations. Not even really sure I would call this hunting. Using somebody's hot tub lid for support as I dump a cow which is sleeping near the 8th hole is not hunting IMHO. This is simply freezer filling.

If the goal is to annihilate the herd, maybe trap and slaughter them or something. ( I bet they would magically return even after the entire herd was slaughterd)  But it sounds to me that we have a continual problem here with elk, in a manmade situation where those complaining are not in full support of a planned hunt, which to date has not worked to reduce the problem. All this planning, all this continued exposure to bad press, all so 25 guys can shoot cows and not even keep up with the growing herd problem. This is a total failure.

IMHO, it appears that the goal in this case is to prove that hunting is the answer. "Hunting" will solve the problem for these high end home owners who have created the perfect environment for elk.

This problem is not going away. The elk can freely go to and fro without a problem. The food is there, the forest nearby. A hunt is only a temporary fix if that. It is just a constant risk that I would not want to have even on my property. As soon as one arrow or one deflected round strikes somebodies siding or parked Humvee, it is over. Then what?

A fence is the magic bullet for this specific problem, not hunting.


And for all you folks who do not think that a fence will work, go check out Northwest Trek or a Zoo....seems to work for them just fine. It will just cost the private property owners some cash.

[bobcat]

If there is more interest among both hunters and the bunny huggers to have the hunting take place out in the woods, it would be a good idea to improve habitat conditions out there.  Allow burns, rethink loading the woods with predators.

That's the solution right there! That's what I was talking about in one of the other threads on this topic. Give the elk someting to eat in areas away from civilization. Which means clearcutting and burning. And then don't replant it in fir so densely that nothing else can grow.

[WonkyWapiti]

The nearby Mt Si golfcourse spent the money to install a fence around the course to keep the elk out.   I assume the Snoqualmie Ridge golf course brings in way more money (basing this assumption on the high end tournaments held here) and could afford a fence however I'm sure the homeowners would think it to be an eyesore.

[jaymark6655]

The Mt Si course is only 100 acres, half the size and a lot more compact.  Fencing that course was easy compared to what Snoqualmie would face.

[Bob33]

This is not just about damage to a golf course.  Fencing may solve that one problem, but not the others.  If anything, it might intensify damage in other areas.

http://www.snoqualmievalleyelk.org/archive/docs/GuidingDocument.pdf

Problem Statement, Assumptions, Goals

The resident elk herd (Rocky Mountain subspecies, Cervus elaphus nelsoni) in the Upper Snoqualmie Valley is causing damage to private and commercial orchards, tree farms, landscape vegetation, and other commercial and recreational lands. Additionally, the presence of the elk near roads and highways poses a safety hazard. A group of stakeholders has convened to collaboratively address how to manage the elk herd to reduce property damage, establish safe elk viewing areas near roadways, provide educational opportunities, and identify and address any additional issues associated with the elk herd. The group is operating under these six assumptions:

1. Elk are present in the Upper Snoqualmie Valley, and their presence is valued by the community.

2. Evidence suggests the elk population in the valley is not native; however, there is no intent to
remove the entire population.

3. The size of the elk population in the valley is increasing.

4. Elk are associated with damage and loss of personal property and elk-vehicle collisions.

5. Management of the elk herd is necessary to reduce or minimize elk damage to personal property.

6. Management of the elk herd is best accomplished through a collaborative effort among all
stakeholders.

[bobcat]

I don't see how they can say the elk are not native there. That's ridiculous, and I just don't believe it. I'm sure there were elk in that area at one time or another in the last say, 2000 years.

(not that the numbers don't need to be controlled)

I just don't understand how they can say the elk aren't native.

[scudmaster]

That species (Rocky Mtn) is not native.  There were small populations of Rosies that were hunted out by the early 1900s.  The current herds were transplanted from Yellowstone 60 years ago.