Post by: huntnnw on December 01, 2014, 06:15:03 AM
I only knew of the 1 bull posted here, a archer took one on private and 2 cows.
Post by: boneaddict on December 01, 2014, 06:33:48 AM
Post by: MooseZ25 on December 01, 2014, 06:35:33 AM
Post by: bearpaw on December 01, 2014, 06:42:13 AM
Post by: huntnnw on December 01, 2014, 06:43:40 AM
Post by: boneaddict on December 01, 2014, 07:01:14 AM
Post by: Dhoey07 on December 01, 2014, 07:17:33 AM
Post by: huntnnw on December 01, 2014, 07:26:45 AM
Post by: BULLBLASTER on December 01, 2014, 10:31:46 AM
Post by: whacker1 on December 01, 2014, 11:44:54 AM
Post by: Sitka_Blacktail on December 01, 2014, 12:21:07 PM
I had the same experience in North Spokane, fewer and smaller moose this year than I've ever seen in that unit. My hunter hunted 7 days and he hunted with me for 6 days, so 13 days of hunting, the largest bull we saw was about 36ish inches. Killed a meat bull yesterday so he had meat for the freezer. Wolf tracks were seen in the snow when it snowed!
Guess you'd better change your ad then. "Northeast Washington has produced some record book heads and there are plenty of big bulls to be found so there's no reason for anyone to shoot a small bull."
For the record, I saw three nice bulls together the first day of late deer season in Aladdin, one appeared to be over 50". Also saw lots of sign in other areas. Seemed to be about the same amount of fresh sign as I've seen the last 4 years there.
Post by: kentrek on December 01, 2014, 12:37:06 PM
Post by: Bob33 on December 01, 2014, 12:41:32 PM
Not exactly the news I'd like to see, points option next year :dunno:What do you expect to gain by waiting?
Post by: bobcat on December 01, 2014, 12:46:01 PM
There just aren't enough moose to justify applying for a tag and potentially losing all your points. :o
Post by: kentrek on December 01, 2014, 12:48:43 PM
I think that's a great idea- everyone should only apply for a point next year. :tup:
There just aren't enough moose to justify applying for a tag and potentially losing all your points. :o
:chuckle: :chuckle: :tup:
Post by: idahohuntr on December 01, 2014, 12:53:55 PM
:chuckle:I had the same experience in North Spokane, fewer and smaller moose this year than I've ever seen in that unit. My hunter hunted 7 days and he hunted with me for 6 days, so 13 days of hunting, the largest bull we saw was about 36ish inches. Killed a meat bull yesterday so he had meat for the freezer. Wolf tracks were seen in the snow when it snowed!
Guess you'd better change your ad then. "Northeast Washington has produced some record book heads and there are plenty of big bulls to be found so there's no reason for anyone to shoot a small bull."
Post by: JimmyHoffa on December 01, 2014, 01:02:02 PM
Maybe the other units made up for it. More in NE corner than just North Spokane. :dunno:I had the same experience in North Spokane, fewer and smaller moose this year than I've ever seen in that unit. My hunter hunted 7 days and he hunted with me for 6 days, so 13 days of hunting, the largest bull we saw was about 36ish inches. Killed a meat bull yesterday so he had meat for the freezer. Wolf tracks were seen in the snow when it snowed!
Guess you'd better change your ad then. "Northeast Washington has produced some record book heads and there are plenty of big bulls to be found so there's no reason for anyone to shoot a small bull."
Post by: emskou on December 01, 2014, 01:03:31 PM
Post by: Ridgerunner on December 01, 2014, 04:27:48 PM
Post by: NWBREW on December 01, 2014, 04:36:45 PM
Post by: huntnnw on December 01, 2014, 07:46:22 PM
When did you hunt it? I think the first week of the season was key with the rut. Saw and heard plenty of bulls grunting. My dad got his opening morning and the only other camp up there had there bull by noon on opening day... Sounds like you missed out :dunno:
Was this a question towards me? No offense, but myself and most tag holders would of not shot that bull your dad shot on the first day... Last day yup. He saw lots of bulls like that and so did the other hunter. Problem is the quality isn't there. Usually you see the dink bulls that are easy to pass and then there are the Bulls that are on the fence that u think about and then there are the no brainers . He saw one bull in 40+ days that was on the fence and that was it! Usually see lots of decent bulls that was not the case this year. This guy also had access to the mt that nobody could gain he was in the best area of the mt in min from the rig. I live 10 min from the star road gate I spend a ton of time up there and it really sucked! I personally haven't seen a bull over 36" this year!
Post by: bearpaw on December 01, 2014, 08:04:35 PM
:chuckle:I had the same experience in North Spokane, fewer and smaller moose this year than I've ever seen in that unit. My hunter hunted 7 days and he hunted with me for 6 days, so 13 days of hunting, the largest bull we saw was about 36ish inches. Killed a meat bull yesterday so he had meat for the freezer. Wolf tracks were seen in the snow when it snowed!
Guess you'd better change your ad then. "Northeast Washington has produced some record book heads and there are plenty of big bulls to be found so there's no reason for anyone to shoot a small bull."
It's always easy to spot the wolf supporters. :chuckle:
Those who keep up on WA moose know the differences in the units and that hunting varies by area and can change from year to year given many different variables. There are moose areas which appear to be impacted by wolf packs since there are increasing numbers of wolves in almost all the areas that seem to be impacted the most. :twocents:
I'm pretty convinced that several units in Idaho are bouncing back due to wolf removal. It's simply too much of a coincidence that game numbers dropped when wolves were increasing and kills were being found on a regular basis, now that wolves are decreasing their kills are not being seen as often and other game numbers are increasing. :twocents:
Post by: idahohuntr on December 01, 2014, 09:18:30 PM
Just because someone points out your contradictory statements does not make them pro-wolf. Lets look at some similar quotes from your outfitter webpage on deer hunting::chuckle:I had the same experience in North Spokane, fewer and smaller moose this year than I've ever seen in that unit. My hunter hunted 7 days and he hunted with me for 6 days, so 13 days of hunting, the largest bull we saw was about 36ish inches. Killed a meat bull yesterday so he had meat for the freezer. Wolf tracks were seen in the snow when it snowed!
Guess you'd better change your ad then. "Northeast Washington has produced some record book heads and there are plenty of big bulls to be found so there's no reason for anyone to shoot a small bull."
It's always easy to spot the wolf supporters. :chuckle:
Those who keep up on WA moose know the differences in the units and that hunting varies by area and can change from year to year given many different variables. There are moose areas which appear to be impacted by wolf packs since there are increasing numbers of wolves in almost all the areas that seem to be impacted the most. :twocents:
I'm pretty convinced that several units in Idaho are bouncing back due to wolf removal. It's simply too much of a coincidence that game numbers dropped when wolves were increasing and kills were being found on a regular basis, now that wolves are decreasing their kills are not being seen as often and other game numbers are increasing. :twocents:
Washington is a relatively unknown whitetail deer hunting destination and NE Washington is the most productive whitetail deer hunting area in Washington.
Much of Washington's best deer hunting occurs in northeastern corner of the state.
Bearpaw outfitters is located in NE Washington near Colville, which is close to Idaho and British Columbia. The game management units in this area offer Washington’s most productive deer hunting.
You still have the best deer hunting in the entire state of Washington and there are several chunks of washington with no significant wolf activity. A few guys complain about hunting deer up in NE Wa and blame the wolves...I take it based on quotes from your outfitter page that you would say they are wrong then? I mean we have a ton of deer where I hunt in Washington...but its not NE Wa...so you guys must be loaded with deer! But then I get confused because in this thread:
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,164342.msg2168537.html#msg2168537 (http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,164342.msg2168537.html#msg2168537) you "challenge" WDFW's assertion that they have not seen a decline in deer and elk in NE Wa due to wolves. ??
Which is it...are you in the most productive/best deer hunting in the state even though you have the greatest concentration of wolves...or do you need to spend a bunch of time revising your outfitter page to describe NE Wa deer hunting as being in decline and not at all what it used to be? Maybe update the moose section as well :dunno:
None of this is pro-wolf btw...just curious what you actually believe the situation in NE Wa is...I don't hunt up there so I really have no idea if some of the stuff I read by folks on here about how horrible it may be has any truth to it.
Post by: Sitka_Blacktail on December 01, 2014, 09:52:13 PM
:chuckle:I had the same experience in North Spokane, fewer and smaller moose this year than I've ever seen in that unit. My hunter hunted 7 days and he hunted with me for 6 days, so 13 days of hunting, the largest bull we saw was about 36ish inches. Killed a meat bull yesterday so he had meat for the freezer. Wolf tracks were seen in the snow when it snowed!
Guess you'd better change your ad then. "Northeast Washington has produced some record book heads and there are plenty of big bulls to be found so there's no reason for anyone to shoot a small bull."
It's always easy to spot the wolf supporters. :chuckle:
Those who keep up on WA moose know the differences in the units and that hunting varies by area and can change from year to year given many different variables. There are moose areas which appear to be impacted by wolf packs since there are increasing numbers of wolves in almost all the areas that seem to be impacted the most. :twocents:
I'm pretty convinced that several units in Idaho are bouncing back due to wolf removal. It's simply too much of a coincidence that game numbers dropped when wolves were increasing and kills were being found on a regular basis, now that wolves are decreasing their kills are not being seen as often and other game numbers are increasing. :twocents:
I wasn't posting about wolves, but about truth in advertising.
But since you brought up wolves, that's an interesting observation you made. In Idaho, which has at least 10 times the wolves Washington does, areas are bouncing back after a few wolves have been taken. But in Washington, with less than 10% of the wolves that Idaho has, areas are getting wiped out of game. The Washington strain must be super wolves.
Post by: grundy53 on December 01, 2014, 10:02:33 PM
Post by: Bango skank on December 01, 2014, 10:05:12 PM
Post by: kentrek on December 01, 2014, 10:25:57 PM
Really guys? Go start a new thread. Don't jack this one.
:yeah:
Post by: bearpaw on December 01, 2014, 10:41:41 PM
:chuckle:I had the same experience in North Spokane, fewer and smaller moose this year than I've ever seen in that unit. My hunter hunted 7 days and he hunted with me for 6 days, so 13 days of hunting, the largest bull we saw was about 36ish inches. Killed a meat bull yesterday so he had meat for the freezer. Wolf tracks were seen in the snow when it snowed!
Guess you'd better change your ad then. "Northeast Washington has produced some record book heads and there are plenty of big bulls to be found so there's no reason for anyone to shoot a small bull."
It's always easy to spot the wolf supporters. :chuckle:
Those who keep up on WA moose know the differences in the units and that hunting varies by area and can change from year to year given many different variables. There are moose areas which appear to be impacted by wolf packs since there are increasing numbers of wolves in almost all the areas that seem to be impacted the most. :twocents:
I'm pretty convinced that several units in Idaho are bouncing back due to wolf removal. It's simply too much of a coincidence that game numbers dropped when wolves were increasing and kills were being found on a regular basis, now that wolves are decreasing their kills are not being seen as often and other game numbers are increasing. :twocents:
I wasn't posting about wolves, but about truth in advertising.
But since you brought up wolves, that's an interesting observation you made. In Idaho, which has at least 10 times the wolves Washington does, areas are bouncing back after a few wolves have been taken. But in Washington, with less than 10% of the wolves that Idaho has, areas are getting wiped out of game. The Washington strain must be super wolves.
FYI - My advertising is spot on, in recent years WA has produced more record bulls than any other state. It's the wolf supporters trick to speak in generalities to hide the localized impacts of wolves. Since you obviously have not spent time in the areas to know this, several areas in Idaho do appear to have fewer wolves now than many areas in NE WA. Perhaps you will understand this if you consider the number of recent wolf depredations on livestock and recent wolf confrontations and attacks involving people in NE WA.
Post by: bearpaw on December 01, 2014, 11:17:45 PM
Just because someone points out your contradictory statements does not make them pro-wolf. Lets look at some similar quotes from your outfitter webpage on deer hunting::chuckle:I had the same experience in North Spokane, fewer and smaller moose this year than I've ever seen in that unit. My hunter hunted 7 days and he hunted with me for 6 days, so 13 days of hunting, the largest bull we saw was about 36ish inches. Killed a meat bull yesterday so he had meat for the freezer. Wolf tracks were seen in the snow when it snowed!
Guess you'd better change your ad then. "Northeast Washington has produced some record book heads and there are plenty of big bulls to be found so there's no reason for anyone to shoot a small bull."
It's always easy to spot the wolf supporters. :chuckle:
Those who keep up on WA moose know the differences in the units and that hunting varies by area and can change from year to year given many different variables. There are moose areas which appear to be impacted by wolf packs since there are increasing numbers of wolves in almost all the areas that seem to be impacted the most. :twocents:
I'm pretty convinced that several units in Idaho are bouncing back due to wolf removal. It's simply too much of a coincidence that game numbers dropped when wolves were increasing and kills were being found on a regular basis, now that wolves are decreasing their kills are not being seen as often and other game numbers are increasing. :twocents:
Washington is a relatively unknown whitetail deer hunting destination and NE Washington is the most productive whitetail deer hunting area in Washington.
Much of Washington's best deer hunting occurs in northeastern corner of the state.
Bearpaw outfitters is located in NE Washington near Colville, which is close to Idaho and British Columbia. The game management units in this area offer Washington’s most productive deer hunting.
You still have the best deer hunting in the entire state of Washington and there are several chunks of washington with no significant wolf activity. A few guys complain about hunting deer up in NE Wa and blame the wolves...I take it based on quotes from your outfitter page that you would say they are wrong then? I mean we have a ton of deer where I hunt in Washington...but its not NE Wa...so you guys must be loaded with deer! But then I get confused because in this thread:
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,164342.msg2168537.html#msg2168537 (http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,164342.msg2168537.html#msg2168537) you "challenge" WDFW's assertion that they have not seen a decline in deer and elk in NE Wa due to wolves. ??
Which is it...are you in the most productive/best deer hunting in the state even though you have the greatest concentration of wolves...or do you need to spend a bunch of time revising your outfitter page to describe NE Wa deer hunting as being in decline and not at all what it used to be? Maybe update the moose section as well :dunno:
None of this is pro-wolf btw...just curious what you actually believe the situation in NE Wa is...I don't hunt up there so I really have no idea if some of the stuff I read by folks on here about how horrible it may be has any truth to it.
Nice try.... :chuckle:
Another wolf supporter trying to twist the facts.
My comments on my website are absolutely accurate. Please show me any other region in WA that produces near the number of deer as NE WA? On top of that we know what we are doing and we hunt the best ranches so our guided hunters regularly experience 90% to 100% shot opportunity. Does that mean there are not impacts from the high numbers of wolves, cougars, bear, and coyotes? Of course not! We used to have many more deer (especially in the mountains) as there are now but predators have really slowed the recovery after the harsh winters a few years ago. We have seen 10 cougars while hunting this year, the most we've ever seen. Certain areas near Smackout, the northwest part of the wedge, have been really hit hard by wolves as are some areas in Huckleberry and Selkirk. The overall predator footprint is way out of whack, this state needs to harvest more predators and there would be far more hunter opportunities, especially in the mountains where most guys have to hunt.
4000 cougar in WA eating 25 to 50 deer per year is 100,000 to 200,000 deer per year. Those predation ratios are from government studies on cougar. Wolves have a similar impact if not worse when surplus killing occurs. Add 50 to 150 wolves in NE WA that is a very tough additional impact on the herds in certain areas of NE WA. (625 to 7500 additional deer being eaten by wolves in certain areas of NE WA on top of the cougar predation)
I talk with hundreds of hunters monthly, I regularly tell hunters to avoid certain areas due to wolf impacts.
Post by: idahohuntr on December 02, 2014, 07:18:58 AM
Post by: bearpaw on December 02, 2014, 06:08:43 PM
Good to hear...despite the highest concentration of wolves in Washington State you still have the best hunting. :tup: Kind of ruins the "doom and gloom" crowd who say wolves will be the end of hunting :chuckle:
The point is that the hunting could be much better if the predators were better managed and weren't so over populated.
Unless this state starts managing wolves before they get too overpopulated, the wolf impact combined with impacts by other predators could cause ungulate numbers to decline to the point that the overall hunter harvest drops significantly in the NE corner like it has in numerous units in Idaho/Montana/Wyoming. That is my main concern.
The other side of this is that we are finding out that wolves don't fit in very well in NE WA. Wolves are being eaten by cougars, bred by dogs, killed for eating livestock, shot at for attacking people, going back to Idaho and Canada and getting shot, and some are being poached but nobody is offering information to catch the wolf poachers. So it is certainly unknown what the future will be for wolves in the human populated areas of NE WA.
Post by: hirshey on December 02, 2014, 06:28:08 PM
Good to hear...despite the highest concentration of wolves in Washington State you still have the best hunting. :tup: Kind of ruins the "doom and gloom" crowd who say wolves will be the end of hunting :chuckle:
I was going to ask you if you post in any topics unrelated to wolves, but then just figured I'd check your posting statistics.. 45% of your total posts in the wolf forum... and even off the wolf forum you still manage to talk about wolves.
:dunno:
I'm getting a little bored of it, truthfully. Perhaps we should hear about your hunting season instead.
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on December 02, 2014, 06:34:25 PM
Post by: actionshooter on December 02, 2014, 06:38:38 PM
Idahohuntr ....Do you have any friends in Idaho ? :dunno: :chuckle:
That's why he is here. :chuckle:
back to moose issues now.
Post by: Bob33 on December 02, 2014, 06:44:54 PM
Post by: Jasmin on December 02, 2014, 07:33:54 PM
Post by: jackelope on December 02, 2014, 07:35:27 PM
Good to hear...despite the highest concentration of wolves in Washington State you still have the best hunting. :tup: Kind of ruins the "doom and gloom" crowd who say wolves will be the end of hunting :chuckle:
I was going to ask you if you post in any topics unrelated to wolves, but then just figured I'd check your posting statistics.. 45% of your total posts in the wolf forum... and even off the wolf forum you still manage to talk about wolves.
:dunno:
I'm getting a little bored of it, truthfully. Perhaps we should hear about your hunting season instead.
I agree with Hirshey.
Post by: idahohuntr on December 02, 2014, 08:56:05 PM
Maybe so...things could always be better, but its a positive thing imo that even with the highest concentration of wolves in the state we still have respectable hunting up there. I see this weekends GMAC meeting has moose permit levels as an agenda item...wonder if WDFW is seeing something similar to what folks are suggesting in this thread? Last year one of their bio's indicated Washington was bucking the nationwide trend of declining moose numbers so maybe they are looking to increase permit numbers?Good to hear...despite the highest concentration of wolves in Washington State you still have the best hunting. :tup: Kind of ruins the "doom and gloom" crowd who say wolves will be the end of hunting :chuckle:
The point is that the hunting could be much better if the predators were better managed and weren't so over populated.
Post by: Dhoey07 on December 02, 2014, 09:07:02 PM
Maybe so...things could always be better, but its a positive thing imo that even with the highest concentration of wolves in the state we still have respectable hunting up there. I see this weekends GMAC meeting has moose permit levels as an agenda item...wonder if WDFW is seeing something similar to what folks are suggesting in this thread? Last year one of their bio's indicated Washington was bucking the nationwide trend of declining moose numbers so maybe they are looking to increase permit numbers?Good to hear...despite the highest concentration of wolves in Washington State you still have the best hunting. :tup: Kind of ruins the "doom and gloom" crowd who say wolves will be the end of hunting :chuckle:
The point is that the hunting could be much better if the predators were better managed and weren't so over populated.
Being permit application money is supposed to stay within the species, the state should have enough money to be able to count every single moose in this state :twocents:
Post by: idahohuntr on December 02, 2014, 09:09:07 PM
Jackelope, Hirshey, perhaps you could use the ignore function to reduce your boredom :dunno:Good to hear...despite the highest concentration of wolves in Washington State you still have the best hunting. :tup: Kind of ruins the "doom and gloom" crowd who say wolves will be the end of hunting :chuckle:
I was going to ask you if you post in any topics unrelated to wolves, but then just figured I'd check your posting statistics.. 45% of your total posts in the wolf forum... and even off the wolf forum you still manage to talk about wolves.
:dunno:
I'm getting a little bored of it, truthfully. Perhaps we should hear about your hunting season instead.
I agree with Hirshey.
Post by: BAR C3 on December 02, 2014, 09:51:07 PM
As far as North Spokane, I can say since I hunted it, I agree. I had one 50 inch bull I had scouted and he busted us opening morning and I was not taking a chance on maybe seeing him again. He didn't get that big for no reason. Everything else we saw, way small. Thus the reason I shoot the first 40 inch bull I saw.
In regard to the wolves, we are just seeing the beginning of what's to come...
I hunt the Big Hole in Montana. They have wiped the Moose out. First Moose I ever saw was there twenty years ago. I rarely see them there anymore. I ran into a guy a couple years ago and he had two days to hunt and had yet to find a moose. They will hammer the calves and cows. If there are no cows, no bulls to come. It will get worse every year here.
If you read the Spokesman Review and read the article I also referenced in an earlier moose thread about the college intern from Montana studying the moose here, I met him in the field. He admitted Idaho is getting hammered by wolves but denied we were. Also said Montana wasn't seeing affects. I disagreed with him and left it at that. I was trying to pump him for info, so wasn't trying to piss him off. :tup:
Anyway he denied there were wolves in North Spokane unit. Again, I call BS! What he did say though is the success rate is going down in all units and the game department is considering dropping the permits to go down. They don't have an explanation why the success rates went down. I think we all know why. I believe that statement and I can only say I'm glad I drew the tag because we will see a drastic decline if we can't start making a big dent with the predators in NE Washington.
Lastly one thing I learned from the youngster with the game department was a misconception many guys I know and how they do there reporting. Some will report twice the amount of days they actually hunted and some will even say they did not harvest an animal with the thought they will increase the tags. Based on what I was told, total opposite. I've educated several to quit the BS and report it right! :bash: :bdid:
Post by: grundy53 on December 02, 2014, 10:20:39 PM
Or perhaps you can refrain from derailing threads.Jackelope, Hirshey, perhaps you could use the ignore function to reduce your boredom :dunno:Good to hear...despite the highest concentration of wolves in Washington State you still have the best hunting. :tup: Kind of ruins the "doom and gloom" crowd who say wolves will be the end of hunting :chuckle:
I was going to ask you if you post in any topics unrelated to wolves, but then just figured I'd check your posting statistics.. 45% of your total posts in the wolf forum... and even off the wolf forum you still manage to talk about wolves.
:dunno:
I'm getting a little bored of it, truthfully. Perhaps we should hear about your hunting season instead.
I agree with Hirshey.
Post by: jackelope on December 02, 2014, 10:26:44 PM
Jackelope, Hirshey, perhaps you could use the ignore function to reduce your boredom :dunno:Good to hear...despite the highest concentration of wolves in Washington State you still have the best hunting. :tup: Kind of ruins the "doom and gloom" crowd who say wolves will be the end of hunting :chuckle:
I was going to ask you if you post in any topics unrelated to wolves, but then just figured I'd check your posting statistics.. 45% of your total posts in the wolf forum... and even off the wolf forum you still manage to talk about wolves.
:dunno:
I'm getting a little bored of it, truthfully. Perhaps we should hear about your hunting season instead.
I agree with Hirshey.
Can't.
:sry:
Post by: emskou on December 03, 2014, 06:15:12 AM
When did you hunt it? I think the first week of the season was key with the rut. Saw and heard plenty of bulls grunting. My dad got his opening morning and the only other camp up there had there bull by noon on opening day... Sounds like you missed out :dunno:
Was this a question towards me? No offense, but myself and most tag holders would of not shot that bull your dad shot on the first day... Last day yup. He saw lots of bulls like that and so did the other hunter. Problem is the quality isn't there. Usually you see the dink bulls that are easy to pass and then there are the Bulls that are on the fence that u think about and then there are the no brainers . He saw one bull in 40+ days that was on the fence and that was it! Usually see lots of decent bulls that was not the case this year. This guy also had access to the mt that nobody could gain he was in the best area of the mt in min from the rig. I live 10 min from the star road gate I spend a ton of time up there and it really sucked! I personally haven't seen a bull over 36" this year!
My dads Bull was 41", its not a monster by any means but its a decent bull. We saw another bull that was bigger a couple weeks before opening day. Considering we were only 1 mile from the truck with and pretty easy pack out, it was a no hesitation decision to take it. I just cant believe we only saw one other moose hunt up there. We were on the idaho side and the other guy was on starr rd.
Post by: EyeTooth on December 03, 2014, 06:28:25 AM
19 days with no bull sightings. Sounds like a nightmare of a hunt this year. I hope he ended up getting his moose.
Post by: huntnnw on December 03, 2014, 06:42:44 AM
He ate the tag he was going to shoot a cow or a whatever from the 27th on , but couldnt bring himself to shoot a cow. He spotted a good bull the 29th right before dark..went back the final day to hunt it to no avail
Post by: boneaddict on December 03, 2014, 06:50:11 AM
Post by: idahohuntr on December 03, 2014, 07:27:05 AM
Unit one is declining terribly. Wolves, too many permits, bad winters, cut back on logging, take your pic. Its not all sunflowers and Daisys. The other spot in Idaho I go, huge decline. Might have been weather, happenstance, wolves, too many permits..... Hangman is connected with them, not good to be seeing the same thing there. I hope its not a trend. I like moose.As I mentioned earlier it is indeed a trend...across North America...Washington seems to have been lagging behind the trend, but maybe times are catching up :dunno:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/15/science/earth/something-is-killing-off-the-moose.html?_r=0 (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/15/science/earth/something-is-killing-off-the-moose.html?_r=0)
Post by: bearpaw on December 03, 2014, 07:52:04 AM
Wolves, too many permits, bad winters, cut back on logging, take your pic. Its not all sunflowers and Daisys. The other spot in Idaho I go, huge decline. Might have been weather, happenstance, wolves, too many permits.....
Other possible factors are herbicide spraying, parasites, and disease. There are many possible factors. For example, in southern Idaho much of the moose decline is thought to be due to parasites/disease, there are not many wolves in some of those areas and there has never been much logging, but it seems in the last two years that the moose numbers are beginning to increase again.
Moose have declined throughout the west for several reasons. It has not been wolves that have caused all the declines, there are other factors impacting moose. But wolves do seem to impact moose heavily in the areas where wolves have over populated and it's very likely the additional impact of wolves is simply more than a depressed moose population with lower calf production can overcome, so it appears the moose population stays depressed longer in wolf impacted areas.
For the last several years WA has been a leader in quality moose hunting, two of our units are leading in B&C entries. There is certainly reason for concern though, it's obvious that moose numbers are declining in some areas and I hope that we can curb the decline before it spreads and impacts all our moose areas. On a positive note I have noticed that both ID and WA are requiring hunters to collect more samples from hunters. In ID we had to collect blood, hair, and tissue samples. WA is also collecting samples, so it seems the agencies are looking for potential causes of moose declines.
Factors affecting moose likely vary from area to area. Logging is important for making better moose habitat and the lack of logging in some moose units comprised mostly of USFS lands is likely a problem but a lack of logging certainly isn't a factor in Spokane or Hangman, those units are mostly owned by timber companies and much of the landscape is in various stages of regrowth which is what moose normally thrive in. So it's obvious there are other factors impacting the moose in those units that did not impact them only a few years ago when the herds were still increasing.
We saw numerous young bulls and we noticed calves with most of the cows in Spokane, I do not think reproduction is the problem. It is no secret that WDFW wanted to reduce moose numbers around the city of Spokane due to all the moose coming into the city. It's possible that we are simply seeing the results of increased hunting pressure in Spokane and Hangman units. That doesn't explain declines across the border in Idaho or declines in certain other areas in WA.
Post by: bobcat on December 03, 2014, 08:01:14 AM
Post by: Tbar on December 03, 2014, 08:25:11 AM
P.s. emskou please tell the rest of the story of you hunt and "easy" pack out. :chuckle: I believe there is a story there.
Post by: Sitka_Blacktail on December 03, 2014, 08:34:59 AM
Dale, its interesting that you mention collecting blood. It looks like they are testing for toxic stuff. They did the same thing in SW Washington with the elk in the hoof rot affected areas. If you were drawn for a cow tag, you were required to turn in all sorts of things from liver samples to female reproductive organs. My guess is that WDF&G is on to something, probably about herbicides, but isn't making that public.
Post by: bearpaw on December 03, 2014, 08:57:58 AM
While logging is good for moose (and deer and elk for that matter) It's not just that things are opened up that matters, it's what grows up after the opening up. Willow is a big one for moose. And in the area Of Aladdin that I hunt deer in, it appears that chaparral is an important winter food. They sure love the stuff. This is where herbicides come in. Not a factor on NFS land, but if private companies are using herbicides to prevent broadleaf plants from growing, then it is. Not to mention the effects on animal immune systems.
Dale, its interesting that you mention collecting blood. It looks like they are testing for toxic stuff. They did the same thing in SW Washington with the elk in the hoof rot affected areas. If you were drawn for a cow tag, you were required to turn in all sorts of things from liver samples to female reproductive organs. My guess is that WDF&G is on to something, probably about herbicides, but isn't making that public.
It was in Idaho that we had to collect blood, hair, and a generous liver sample. I too wonder about the impacts of herbicides, I can't say one way or another, but it could be a factor in moose units where lots of spraying is occurring.
I live in the Aladdin unit and spend a ton of time throughout most of the unit. There is increased spraying and there are some areas where wolves are eating moose, people are finding wolf killed moose, in some areas of Aladdin it seems the moose are definitely declining. I would not say the decline is affecting all areas of Aladdin but that may be happening and we can't see it everywhere yet.
Post by: BULLBLASTER on December 03, 2014, 09:22:25 AM
Where i hunted in idaho moose had been on the downturn 3-5 years ago. But in this area they are rebounding well.
Post by: Ridgeratt on December 07, 2014, 06:41:08 PM
Post by: boneaddict on December 07, 2014, 07:15:28 PM
Post by: Ridgeratt on December 07, 2014, 07:18:30 PM
Pretty small hill actually
For some folks others it could be huge!!!
The first mile stroll to get out of the private, Then another mile to the first spur road,then another to the second spur, Then depending on how far they want to range out on them. Granted there are connectors between the spurs but without the offroaders running them keeping them open. All those tag alders will take over in a few years thats not even considering the rest of the stroll to get to the "Golf Ball"
Then that doesn't even take into the lake creek side which will also be growing over as well.
Post by: boneaddict on December 07, 2014, 07:25:10 PM
Post by: trophyhunt on December 07, 2014, 07:49:28 PM
Post by: Ridgeratt on December 07, 2014, 07:58:53 PM
On a side note" I never saw a Moose on Kelly Hill either this year.
Post by: bearpaw on December 08, 2014, 01:16:22 AM
Post by: huntnnw on December 08, 2014, 01:26:26 AM
Post by: quadrafire on December 11, 2014, 10:56:34 PM