Post by: Backstraps on January 31, 2008, 03:28:15 PM
By SCOTT SANDSBERRY
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
If all it really took was a couple of rotten apples to spoil a barrel, a recent rash of incidents in Central Washington would make the state's Advanced Hunter Education (AHE) program smell pretty rancid.
It does not.
The program has always been about creating a corps of elite hunters whose ethical standards and technical proficiency were above reproach, and the vast majority live up to that.
But not all do.
A few hunters have clearly aspired to the AHE certification — and the Master Hunter card that came with it — not for the responsibility of living up to its standards, but to abuse its privileges. And without having to face a particularly difficult qualification process and a serious background check, those few have slipped in — as the last couple of weeks have made painfully evident.
So the AHE process is being refined and, ultimately, replaced by the state's more-stringent, harder-to-get-into Master Hunter program.
"This thing," says one of the men overseeing the transformation, "needs a tune-up."
* * * *
Master Hunters under either the old and new standards have the opportunity to take a second, non-trophy (antlerless or spike) elk; non-advanced hunters may harvest only one in any given year.
But the idea is for them to use that opportunity to take elk that are getting into agricultural areas or other locations where they might do damage. The hunters themselves become a management tool, "to keep the bad elk out of good places," says state Fish and Wildlife Department enforcement Capt. Rich Mann.
Master Hunters have a longer season in which to harvest that second elk, lasting from August through the end of January.
But as that period is coming to an end, Mann says, "We've got some people who are getting kind of greedy."
Over just five days last week, Yakima-based wildlife enforcement officers dealt with four questionable incidents involving seven AHE-qualified hunters. The possible infractions, some of which will bring charges included:
1) Hunting in a state park (Ginkgo Petrified Forest, near Vantage in Kittitas County), which is illegal.
2) Firing a gun from, along or across a public roadway — in this case, shooting across two lanes of Old Vantage Highway to take an elk, possibly before the legal shooting hour, and then failing to tag it possibly as long as a half-hour after the animal was killed.
3) Harassing or herding elk across a state park (also Ginkgo, though this was a separate incident) to an armed hunting partner waiting just outside the park boundary.
4) Shooting a second elk when you've got a permit for just one.
State wildlife enforcement officer Steve Rogers is a Master Hunter and it's a status that, he says, "I take very seriously." So he was extremely disappointed to find two of his peers going after elk nine days ago within Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park.
The two men, from Gig Harbor and Port Townsend, told Rogers they didn't know they were on a state park and asked if he could show them on a map where they were. His response: If you're a Master Hunter, you should be able to show me on a map where you are.
"I believe mistakes happen," Rogers says. "People can get confused. Maybe they read a map wrong. But I expect (experienced hunters) to be able to sort it out or find somebody who can help them out beforehand. They should have known better."
The final damning evidence? The hunters' truck was parked between two state park signs.
Last Saturday, enforcement Sgt. Mike Sprecher and a co-worker responded to both the failure-to-tag incident, which involved 40- and 57-year-old hunters from Selah, and the Ginkgo herding incident involving two 50-something hunters from the greater Seattle area.
The two Selah hunters, Sprecher says, would likely be charged only for failure to tag the two elk they killed, because the officers couldn't prove what they believed — that at least one hunter had shot from the road, possibly before the time at which they could legally begin shooting.
"From where they said they shot from," Sprecher says, "it just wasn't possible." And a pair of casings from a .270 hunting rifle — the caliber of gun one of the hunters was using — were found on the far side of Vantage Highway.
The fact that there were so questionable issues around an incident involving two Master Hunters was disappointing to Sprecher.
"We're wanting to use the best quality hunters we can get (in the AHE program)," he says. "If this is the best we can get, we're in trouble."
* * * *
But enforcement officials have mixed emotions when it comes to the last incident, the 39-year-old Yakima man who took two elk on the same day.
He was hunting northwest of Tieton, when he shot at a cow elk up French Canyon. The group bolted, and the hunter thought he had missed, then fired again.
That quick second, as it turned out, was his only mistake — and it turned out to be an honest one. His first shot had connected, and so had his second. And as soon as he realized he had killed a second elk, even before field-dressing the first he called wildlife enforcement officials to report his gaffe. And then waited the 90 minutes until Mann arrived to take his statement.
Charges may yet be filed in this case pending a review of the case, but Mann says the "mitigating circumstances" might — and should — have a bearing on how things turn out.
"That's a situation he could have walked away from, and probably no one would have been the wiser," Mann says. "Those are the ones that make it hard on our end: It appears the guy's doing everything he should do, he has no real reason to turn himself in except for his own integrity.
"It's tough on us as officers. You can't just let the guy walk away scot-free, but here's a guy with some honesty and integrity, and the circumstances were just bad to begin with. There's an ethic to saying, 'I messed up.'"
Where the hunter messed up was in his haste to take a second shot when he not yet ascertained whether the first shot hit his intended target. And if he is ultimately cited, Mann says, the hunter — ethical standards and all — will lose his Master Hunter privileges.
"Regardless," Mann says, "you're still responsible for your shot."
Post by: WDFW-SUX on January 31, 2008, 03:34:36 PM
Sounds like a motto for the WDFW :chuckle:
Post by: dbllunger on January 31, 2008, 04:17:44 PM
Post by: mkcj on January 31, 2008, 05:11:08 PM
Post by: SuperDave on January 31, 2008, 06:23:37 PM
Post by: chukarchaser on January 31, 2008, 10:21:14 PM
Post by: Crunchy on February 01, 2008, 07:13:35 AM
Post by: boneaddict on February 01, 2008, 08:24:33 AM
Post by: boneaddict on February 01, 2008, 08:32:52 AM
Post by: WDFW-SUX on February 01, 2008, 08:33:59 AM
I know a "MASTER HUNTER" that ran out of bullets (2 Boxes) on a damage field hunt..............he came home empty handed.
Post by: WAcoyotehunter on February 01, 2008, 08:35:53 AM
Bone- the new certification will remove those that have had a fish/game violoation in the last ten years. When the worthless AHE you mentioned goes to recert he'll get the boot.
Post by: Skyvalhunter on February 01, 2008, 09:06:06 AM
Post by: boneaddict on February 01, 2008, 10:05:27 AM
Post by: Slider on February 01, 2008, 10:14:53 AM
Post by: Backstraps on February 01, 2008, 10:34:08 AM
I AGREE! DAMAGE CONTROL HUNTS ONLY!LEAVE THE ELK ALONE THIS TIME OF YEAR! THEY'RE STRESSED OUT ENOUGH AND WILL BE CALVING SOON! :bash:
Post by: Skyvalhunter on February 01, 2008, 10:35:26 AM
Post by: WAcoyotehunter on February 01, 2008, 10:42:11 AM
Post by: tmike on February 01, 2008, 11:30:27 AM
For me personally I could of shot a cow in the last month. I knew of the several hundred head on Cle Elum ridge. I knew of the elk along Vantage highway several weeks ago. I even knew of a herd in Cook canyon last week, but I laid off because it doesn't feel right this late, especially on a winter like this year. With that being said I took one this September and I'll take another one next year early if it's open.
Post by: steeleywhopper on February 01, 2008, 02:28:22 PM
I would like to see 3911 go to a Huntmaster special permit. This would take alot of pressure off of landowners and Steve as well. There are too many guys trying to find elk in a small area. I don't know about other Master Hunters, but this kind of article really pisses me off. Hunting on a State park, WTF.
Post by: mkcj on February 01, 2008, 02:49:51 PM
Post by: Drop Tine on February 01, 2008, 04:22:22 PM
Post by: bearhunter59 on February 04, 2008, 10:29:21 AM
The other bozos should loose not only loose their MH certification FOREVER, they should also loose their hunting license for a minimum of 5 years, and be required to complete 200-300 hours of conservation work for the WDFW before they could get their hunting licenses back. What they did was a blatant, trying to get away with it, violation of the law.
How many of us would have had the ethics to call the gammie on ourselves and wait for him to show up, knowing you were going to get cited for a violation and possibly loose your licenses...that's some integrity there, boys...doing the right thing, even though you know it's going to cost you big time...the dude definitely messed up shooting at that second elk, but gotta give him props for doing the right thing and calling the gammie on himself....