Hunting Washington Forum
Big Game Hunting => Other Big Game => Topic started by: sagerat on February 19, 2009, 07:57:20 PM
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There's plenty of both in the upper valley, why don't we have permits there? Also, I've been told there is a good population of goats near Metaline Falls? Again, no tags. What's the deal?
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Goats??? i havent seen thta many goats up there........from what the bio says he has been seeing their decline too.....
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I believe there has to be over 80 goats in a givin are for them to open a tag, for sheep I am not sure Videoman would be one to ask.
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I don't know. I see sheep near Palmer lake and goats on Mt. Chopaka.
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Some discussions have been held to net gun some sheep and later do a thorough count to determine if numbers meet requirements for a hunt.
The new minimum count for goats is 100 in order for a hunt to be considered.
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The new minimum count for goats is 100 in order for a hunt to be considered.
Yup
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That makes sense but what about the areas with 100 plus goats and still no tags? I suppose that's a stupid question, wildlife management is rarely perfect. Still frustrating, sure would be nice to pull a goat permit sometime in my life. Doesn't seem likely though, even with max points.
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Why not do everything possible to maintain herds to level that allows hunting? Do they(wdfw) need volunteers to help with surveys, etc.? I'm in.
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DOnt be tellin the Yakamas about goats, they go up there and shoot the piss out of em. Thats what theyve done to all the other populations, not just habitat loss like the WDFW likes to tell everyone :twocents:
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There isn't 100 goats or anywhere close to that up at Chopaka. As for the sheep, that herd has been plagued with problems for a while...
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Last time I was up with the bio in chopaka we saw one goat :ACRY: and he said that the most he had counted that year was 8 goats..........that was last spring!! its not good......need a good fire :dunno: :'(
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The Chopaka goat herd is almost non existent now (although I did see a nice billy last year), but I am going to have to disagree about the Sinlahekin sheep. Most people don't have a good grasp of this herd's size, the local bio definitely doesn't. It is widespread, with high populations on Aeneas, Grandview, and Palmer Mtns...other smaller populations are scattered up and down the rest of the Sinlahekin. I have seen plenty of mature rams to justify a permit. They do have some problems, such as cougars and poaching, but so does every other sheep herd. There is one ram in particular that I have been watching the last two years that would easily go 170+....he is just awesome. I have a pic of him somewhere.
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I'd have to agree with Spotandstalk 100% Whats going to happen is they are going to get that damn bug from domestic sheep as they spread out and we will lose them all.
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I've hunted the Sinlahekin along time. Every year during General rifle season i run into (literally) some nice sheep with full curls in downtown Loomis. The bartender at Sully's hates them and wishes they would open a season for them because they infest the town severely every year. My grandfather used to tell me the WDFW raised them in the SWA in hopes of transplanting and starting a permit season but, when money ran out they shut the program down and opened the gates and let them all loose.
If they ever do a special permit for that area, you can bet I'll be submitting immediately.
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There have been sheep on Anea's Mtn behind Loomis for years. I've seen them down in the orchards and such. If you go south of Loomis about 2-3 miles and take a road off to the left Then park at the end of the road. Climb up for ever in really steep terain then start scouting you will probably be in them. Damn rugged country. By the way ignore all those mule deer up there.
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Seen lots watering at Palmer. Good country!
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It's awesome country, let's have a permit! What could one ram hurt?
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Palmer Mtn is pretty much owned by a cattle co now. It is hard to get permission to hunt. They use the threat of spreding noxious weeds as their justification for limiting access to the area. Another facet of Palmer Mtn is Their are open mine shafts all over up in that area. In case u somehow get permission from the cattle co. Oh one other thing to consider is they run rodeo long horns up there and they are honestly mean. Good luck now :bash:
It is a great area for all kinds of things :dunno:
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I am going to have to disagree with you Da Stump, Palmer Mtn has plenty of public land access and only the lower perimeter is primarily privately owned, but access from the top is mostly public. Take a look at a good public ownership map that shows federal land as well as state, since a lot of Palmer is BLM owned. Grandview (on the west side of Palmer Lake), on the other hand, is somewhat locked in since most of its access from Chopaka Lake Rd is privately owned, and always has been, but until recently (last 3 years) was it well posted.
In every way, this herd's statistics justify a permit. It's overall herd size, distribution, number of both mature and young rams, and areas to hunt that are accessible to the public. I would definitely put in for this permit, and if I could find that ram that I saw a few times in 2007, it would be my #1 choice.
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I'll have to look at it again. Last time I tried to get in it was blocked all around but if there is a way in I'm all for it. It really is great hunting up there. :dunno:
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There is some nice animals up there for sure, but it does get hit fairly hard close to the roads. If you have incentive to get off the beaten path, definitely some good potential (I am talking deer right now). Now the sheep do have a tendency to stay down low on some of the private, as somebody already indicated, you could get a 140 class ram from Sully's in Loomis. The big boys tend to hang elsewhere.
