Hunting Washington Forum

Big Game Hunting => Other Big Game => Topic started by: GOcougsHunter on March 31, 2007, 01:36:19 PM

Title: Mountain Goats
Post by: GOcougsHunter on March 31, 2007, 01:36:19 PM: Anybody out there know why the WDFW stopped the Olympic Mountains Archery Mountain Goat hunt? I drew a tag 12 years ago, got in to some, but, didn't notch my tag. Soon after the WDFW stopped permiting the area. I was under the assumption that they were trying to get rid of the non-native goats to protect some of the fragile Olympic subalpine areas...

Anybody pull a goat tag in other units? Love to get any information on how you did. I've got 12 years of preference points built up waiting for my next chance.
Title: Re: Mountain Goats
Post by: Ray on March 31, 2007, 02:44:45 PM: Quote
I was under the assumption that they were trying to get rid of the non-native goats to protect some of the fragile Olympic subalpine areas...

I meant to bring this up too. It doesn't make any sense to me if they want to have the population in check. :dunno:
Title: Re: Mountain Goats
Post by: WDFW-SUX on March 31, 2007, 03:27:10 PM: my uncle was one of the rangers for onp back in the day and he cant figure it out either??? he keeps asking me if they have a hunt for the goats up there yet.
Title: Re: Mountain Goats
Post by: pacyew on April 01, 2007, 09:22:44 AM: WDFW always followed a different agenda than their Federal bretheren regarding Olympic goats. Goats, when they are inside the Park, are the Park's. Goats, when they are outside the Park, fall under under the stewardship of the citizens of WA and their agents the WDFW.

WDFW is required to treat the Olympic goats just as they do every other goat population in WA. It's their task to manage the goats living outside the Park and the WA goat Bios don't currently consider the Olympic goat populations viable enough to allow a season.

To my knowledge the WDFW was never directly involved with or endorsed the Park Service's former irradication program, although they did have some involvement in past capture and relocation of goats to other sites in WA and other states, sometimes in trade for other species.

This was WDFW's speech on this topic a few years back and I'm assuming ??? that this is still current.

Good question.
Title: Re: Mountain Goats
Post by: Ray on April 01, 2007, 09:37:00 AM: That makes a lot of sense. I keep forgetting about ONP being a national park. Any time two government bureaucracies have to deal with each other and you want a decision made or progress you might as well just give up.
Title: Re: Mountain Goats
Post by: GOcougsHunter on April 05, 2007, 06:01:06 PM: pacyew...
Thank you for a very plausible explanation... I've been confounded for years on this. I'm a mountain climber, too. Every time I get up in the Olympics, I keep seeing lots of goats, and this explanation does make sense.