Hunting Washington Forum
Community => Advocacy, Agencies, Access => Topic started by: washelkhntr on August 12, 2010, 05:02:32 PM
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WDFW NEWS RELEASE
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091
http://wdfw.wa.gov/ (http://wdfw.wa.gov/)
August 12, 2010
Contact: Dave Ware, (360) 902-2509 or Kevin Robinette, (509) 892-7859
White-tailed deer hunt proposals to be reviewed in August meetings
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) will host four public meetings in August to review proposals to modify Washington white-tailed deer hunting regulations in northeastern Washington game management units (GMU) 117 and 121.
The meetings, which will run 7 - 9 p.m., will take place:
Aug. 19, Pierce County Library, PAC Room A & B, 3005 112th St. E., in Tacoma.
Aug. 24, Colville Campus of Community College of Spokane, 985 S. Elm St., in Colville.
Aug. 25, Center Place Regional Event Center, Great Room, 2426 N. Discovery Place, in Spokane Valley.
Aug. 26, Yakima Convention Center, Room A, 10 N. 8th St., in Yakima. (Due to construction, visitors should access the convention center from the Yakima Avenue entrance or the North Parking Lot entrance.)
The proposed changes include restricting harvest of bucks to white-tailed deer with four antler points or more. Under current rules, any buck can be harvested in GMUs 117 and 121.
The antler-point restriction was requested last spring by the Stevens County Fish and Wildlife Advisory Committee in a petition to the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission. The nine-member citizen commission, which sets policy for WDFW, requested that the department seek additional public input prior to consideration for the 2011-12 hunting season.
WDFW staff, the county advisory committee and other stakeholders met last month to develop specific proposals for public review. WDFW staff will incorporate stakeholder and public input into a final proposal, which will be part of a recommended 2011-12 hunting season rules package.
The commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the 2011-12 hunting season rules package during its March meeting. The commission is expected to take final action on the rules package during its April meeting.
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Those units have the most deer in the state why do they need a 4 point minimum? I could see 2 point maybe so some yearling wouldnt get shot, but what do I know.
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Those units have the most deer in the state why do they need a 4 point minimum? I could see 2 point maybe so some yearling wouldnt get shot, but what do I know.
:yeah:
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Well, here is the petition the Stevens County commissioners presented to the Fish & Wildlife Commission at a meeting last March:
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Right idea, wrong GMU's
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I think it is the wrong management plan! how many areas in this state do they have point restrictsion? and how fast are the herds rebounding? I think they may want to try some diffrent ideas. Kansas encourages they hunting of does to keep the buck doe ratio in line and promote more breeding! another thing they do is on the public hunting land that is farmable they let the farmers farm it but they must leave 1/3 of the crop in the field, works out good for wildlife and the farmers (free land). not saying it is a perfect system but the whitetail where almost gone in Kansas now they are considered a nuisance by many farmers because there are so many. I really don't understand how not shooting young bucks helps they population, white fight for the right to breed and the big dominate bucks are the breeders not the young ones. the other way they managed the numbers was by having some GMU's being by lottery because there was only a set number of tags. now I am not talking like the special hunts it was a generous number but it still kept the hunter numbers down. just my opinion
Carl
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Well, here is the petition the Stevens County commissioners presented to the Fish & Wildlife Commission at a meeting last March:
Also in April in in the Bavarian tourist trap meetings. Was there, told them I had my own 4 point restriction most of the time, I don't need to force others to also. Wolves are coming also
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The current regulation that restricts the harvest of does in all early seasons will do more then this proposal. This seems like a push from the locals to keep out westside folk..It would make a trophy unit all for themselves. There is plenty of high country and private land that holds deer. Attend the meeting and speak out if you live near one of the meeting sites. They should call for better ways to study these populations neither the current ways of the department or the feeling of the locals are enough. Whitetails can bounce back despite a few hard winters..You think they would want to promote a more liberal season to increase tourism money..
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Right idea, wrong GMU's
Move it to 101 & 204!
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I am all for some sort of point restriction in some gmus. It is night and day from the quality of hunting south of the river as opposed to the north side of the river. Sorry but watching fields with 100 does and a coulple dink bucks running around is waaaay outta whack.
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I like the idea! Let those dumb young bucks live a couple years and buy the time there 4 point or better they will be smarter, so in the long run there will be more mature bucks running around :twocents:
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I am all for some sort of point restriction in some gmus. It is night and day from the quality of hunting south of the river as opposed to the north side of the river. Sorry but watching fields with 100 does and a coulple dink bucks running around is waaaay outta whack.
The big bucks are there, they just do not come out into the fields with 100 does. They are smarter than that.
The problem with hunting in NE Washington is poor relationships between private landowners and hunters. A point restriction would do little to solve the issues in this part of the state.
My experience hunting in this part of the state for most of my life has led me to believe that there are plenty of deer, and plenty of trophy-quality bucks, in this part of the state. My main observation has been poor buck to doe ratios. A buck can only breed so many does during the rut, a number that most agree on as 15 or less does bred per buck. If you have a buck to doe ratio of say, 1:25, ten of those does are not going to bred. Therefore, they will not reproduce. Therefore, they are not a productive member of the herd and will spend winter eating the available food source and the herd will see little for it. Then, a hard winter happens along, and look what happens. Deer numbers in the northeast have been adversely affected by the last winters due to the abundance of un-bred does which is caused by an out-of-whack buck to doe ratio.
The answer is to harvest more does. Less does will increase the strength of the herd by creating an environment with more fawn production, and therefore potentially more opportunity to grow bucks. Keeping doe numbers in check will provide the potential for a better overall herd.
But how do you keep does in check? My experience is that many of the public land/national forest areas in NE Washington don't experience the same "100 does in a field" problems as the lowland areas. There are plenty of deer, but not as many as you see driving through town. This is due to the fact that many private landowners don't allow hunters to hunt their fields, where the large numbers of deer live. This problem has been addressed by WDFW in the issuance of permits such as the Spokane North, South, and HWY 395 Cooridor tags, as well as by removing all general early season doe opportunity in 117 and 121. This will definitely help boost numbers, but will do little to address the true problem of out of whack ratios.
The institution of a point restriction would do little for the deer herd in the NE and would only accomplish less hunter turnout, which would result in less tourist dollars for an already depressed region. I feel for these reasons that a point restriction in the NE is not a suitable answer to existing problems.
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In the proposal by the Stevens County group they point out the departments lack of accurate counts.. The only counts they state are the opinions of the ranchers that live along side the deer!! This is very scientific! More bred does will increase the deer population if that is what is desired by the group not more mature trophy class bucks! What is the benefit of the herd if all the 4 points and larger are killed??.The bucks that make it to the 4 point level with todays seasons are the deer we want breeding and plenty of these exist just not road hunting..I guess who wouldn't promote something that will keep people out of their back yard all along creating a trophy unit right out the back door...These farmers and ranchers are going to be begging for money and permits do to crop damage if this goes...
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There were ten groups of people from both the NE corner and western Wa. that presented their feelings to the FW people. The group of ten called the white tail stakeholders had many diverse feelings about accomplishing what they want.
Any body that has concerns should attend one of the meetings coming or keep track of where this is going and let FW know what your feelings are.I understand that this is the brainchild of sports groups and county commissioners.They chose 4 point (3 point plus eye guard), because spikes, 2 points and even 3 point deer are mostly 1.5 year class deer. They also had other recommendations that they want.
I have yet to talk to a resident in northern Spokane or Stevens county that is in favor of this. That doe's not mean it will not pass. I know some land owners that are very opposed to this.
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In the proposal by the Stevens County group they point out the departments lack of accurate counts.. The only counts they state are the opinions of the ranchers that live along side the deer!! This is very scientific! More bred does will increase the deer population if that is what is desired by the group not more mature trophy class bucks! What is the benefit of the herd if all the 4 points and larger are killed??.The bucks that make it to the 4 point level with todays seasons are the deer we want breeding and plenty of these exist just not road hunting..I guess who wouldn't promote something that will keep people out of their back yard all along creating a trophy unit right out the back door...These farmers and ranchers are going to be begging for money and permits do to crop damage if this goes...
But the thing about it is, all 4 pnt and larger bucks wont be killed. SOME 4 pnt and larger bucks will be killed, BUT once the bucks have a couple years to mature and reach their 4 pnts, they will have a lesser chance of getting shot because they will have added years of wisdom :dunno:
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In the proposal by the Stevens County group they point out the departments lack of accurate counts.. The only counts they state are the opinions of the ranchers that live along side the deer!! This is very scientific! More bred does will increase the deer population if that is what is desired by the group not more mature trophy class bucks! What is the benefit of the herd if all the 4 points and larger are killed??.The bucks that make it to the 4 point level with todays seasons are the deer we want breeding and plenty of these exist just not road hunting..I guess who wouldn't promote something that will keep people out of their back yard all along creating a trophy unit right out the back door...These farmers and ranchers are going to be begging for money and permits do to crop damage if this goes...
But the thing about it is, all 4 pnt and larger bucks wont be killed. SOME 4 pnt and larger bucks will be killed, BUT once the bucks have a couple years to mature and reach their 4 pnts, they will have a lesser chance of getting shot because they will have added years of wisdom :dunno:
If by "added years of widsom" you mean standing there, looking at hunters, and not getting shot for the first couple years of thier life...I fail to see how this will all of a sudden be a survival advantage after they grow that 4th point.
Deer that arent getting shot at do still get smarter with age.
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In the proposal by the Stevens County group they point out the departments lack of accurate counts.. The only counts they state are the opinions of the ranchers that live along side the deer!! This is very scientific! More bred does will increase the deer population if that is what is desired by the group not more mature trophy class bucks! What is the benefit of the herd if all the 4 points and larger are killed??.The bucks that make it to the 4 point level with todays seasons are the deer we want breeding and plenty of these exist just not road hunting..I guess who wouldn't promote something that will keep people out of their back yard all along creating a trophy unit right out the back door...These farmers and ranchers are going to be begging for money and permits do to crop damage if this goes...
But the thing about it is, all 4 pnt and larger bucks wont be killed. SOME 4 pnt and larger bucks will be killed, BUT once the bucks have a couple years to mature and reach their 4 pnts, they will have a lesser chance of getting shot because they will have added years of wisdom :dunno:
If by "added years of widsom" you mean standing there, looking at hunters, and not getting shot for the first couple years of thier life...I fail to see how this will all of a sudden be a survival advantage after they grow that 4th point.
Deer that arent getting shot at do still get smarter with age.
Do they tell you this, or leave messages at your trail cams?
It depends, only a few of the bucks around will have regular convos with me. so part of it im guessing. ;)
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sneaky
"The big bucks are there, they just do not come out into the fields with 100 does. They are smarter than that." :bash: :bash:
I notice where you live, I have spent 1,000's of hours watching deer here, I lived on a alfalfa in the heart of some of the best whitetail country in NE WA, the big bucks do come out! spend some time scouting in the summer, the biggest of the bucks are out feeding. Yeah come fall they are gone.
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exactly matt, the 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 or the dumbest deer in the woods. Why dont some of these people on here go take a look at mica peak in the rut and take notes! not even compareable into quality of bucks running around.
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They do, 670 tags. and a boat load of archers, being next to a large city. what I am trying to say is they have a 3pt min here and there is a ton of branch antlered bucks.
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IT WAS OPEN FOR 4 YEARS WITH A GENERAL SEASON! I LIVED IN THE UNIT, IT IS ALMOST BORDERLINE COMICAL THAT U CANT SEE WHERE THERE WOULD NOT BE A INCREASE IN BRANCH ANTLERED BUCKS WITH A PT RESTRICTION. SIMPLE NO SPIKES OR FORKS GET SHOT!
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I WILL ATTRIBUTE A POINT RESTRICTION UP NORTH WOULD HELP A TON, I HAVE NO QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT.
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What I can't wait for is the firearm closure around deer park and chattaroy
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:chuckle:
The talkative ones are just trying to get on your good side so you will feel bad for them when the opener rolls around (don't fall in to their trap, they're very smart ;) ). :chuckle: :chuckle:
DANG IT! I knew I should have never let thaqt 200" inch buck walk! :chuckle:
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Some of the concerns with a 4 point minimum are: The total buck deer kill will decline, even after the population changes to more branched antlered bucks. What is a new, juvenile hunter going to get, and will they continue to hunt, when they have to hold out for the larger bucks. What is it going to be like when we get another hard winter and the mortality is all these branched antler bucks.
I want to find out what the advantage to the deer herd is with a 4 point minimum. Do they have better breeding like elk. Every thing I have heard and seen is that is not the case with whitetail. There is not a doe fertility problem now. I have been told and what I have observed is a barren or nonfertile doe almost doesn't exist. You see does with out fawns this time of year as they are hid out. I watch a lot of deer in the fall a white tail doe with out at least 1 fawn is very rare. You must remember the fawns suffer some loss from cars and predators. Not having a fawn with her doesn't mean she didn't have one.
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exactly matt, the 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 or the dumbest deer in the woods. Why dont some of these people on here go take a look at mica peak in the rut and take notes! not even compareable into quality of bucks running around.
I guess the heart burn I have with it is that in the proposal they are looking for more deer because they think the population has decreased.. They need to just come out and say they want trophy units.. Also different people have different feelings about what a quality deer or a trophy deer is.. Some people are happy to kill a doe every year and fill the freezer.. I know plenty of people that would consider any deer a trophy..Also if you lived on alfalfa you know how the deer can damage your crop when they come back in full force because only a few big bucks are getting shot... Then the whining will begin again...
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Looks like they're gone screw up my deer season. Figures :bash:
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If the numbers support it I would not mind taking does sometimes just depends on the day. I do like to shoot bucks also but yet to find a recipe that makes those racks taste good. I mean other than the ivory and the danglies they the same animal. btw before some says does are less alert or easier to kill, the older does tend to be the warning system for bucks which is why you sometimes see all does in a field, the bucks will push them out and see what happens (read this and have seen this). Most of the places where I have seen large numbers of does in a field was private land where they don't get the pressure or that rare perfect place and day combo. what kinda science do they use to come up with these ideas to make things "better". seams to me they should look at places where the herds are strong and take a cue from there!
carl
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In most of this string I see the word "they" used all the time, who is they. This is a proposal by county commissioners and hunting clubs, not Fish and Wildlife. F & W has to respond to this organized group. It is up to the rest to make there feelings known. Attend the meetings if possible or send in your feelings. The squeaky wheel gets the attention.
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sneaky
"The big bucks are there, they just do not come out into the fields with 100 does. They are smarter than that." :bash: :bash:
I notice where you live, I have spent 1,000's of hours watching deer here, I lived on a alfalfa in the heart of some of the best whitetail country in NE WA, the big bucks do come out! spend some time scouting in the summer, the biggest of the bucks are out feeding. Yeah come fall they are gone.
Once that velvet comes off they disappear. I have hunted all three weapon seasons in the northeast since I was very young and have seen this. Come the November rut, if you find a place with 100 does, you will find the mature bucks. If you live on NE alfalfa, you know this.
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Right idea, wrong GMU's
Move it to 101 & 204!
totally agree!!! ;)
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Why have point restrictions on whitetails anywhere? especially 101 and 204, the whitetails there are major competition for the mule deer. Being that they reproduce twice as efficiently and are already numerous in 101 and 204 (again, based on my personal experience) I don't see a reason to scale back hunting on whitetails there, or anywhere in this state.
If you have a problem with populations being too low, scale back the doe hunting. If you have a problem with the buck to doe ratio and trophy quality in a herd, up the doe hunting to correct the ratio and provide more subsistence winter and spring forage to foster healthy animal growth. Point restrictions do little but create genetic problems down the line and frustrate hunters. Look at the giant 2 point mule deer in the okanogan if you need proof of that. Point restrictions also lead to irresponsible people shooting before they count points and leaving deer to lay and waste. Bad idea for whitetails.
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but whitetails dont get the muley 2 pt issue, its 4 pt and most people are willing to shoot a 5 yr old 4pt
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Lets all be honest here. The main concern is that a whitetail buck over 2 years of age will be smarter than I am, forcing me to harvest deer by dumb luck only :chuckle:.
Other than my little joke I have no real info on this as it has been several years since I used to stomp around the NE corner of the state. I might call my great uncle and ask him if those "blankity blank deer" are still eating his alfalfa. :'(
Shootmoore
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huntnnw - How do you know whitetails wouldn't have such issues? A few years ago, my dad shot a spike WT during the late buck hunt in GMU 117. The spikes were around 8-10" tall. The deer was aged at 3 1/2 years old. These are not the type of deer you need breeding does and passing on their inferior antler genes. Antler restrictions only foster this type of breeding, which from a management perspective is undesirable. I agree that a repeat of the mule deer situation is less likely due to the fact that the gene pool is much larger in whitetails, but the fact remains that placing these limitations on hunters hinders any kind of trophy management objective and does little for populations.
A few seasons ago I shot a 5x5 whitetail that was probably 4-6 years old or so. It was 19 1/2" wide and scored in the high 120's. When I shot it, I could only actually see two points. It was enough for me to know it was a buck. I would have had to let that deer walk with a 4 point restriction in place. A lot of people would have assumed it to be a nice deer and shot it without knowing how many points it had.
Shootmoore - Whitetails older than two years old may be smarter than me and have outsmarted me hundreds of times :chuckle:, but that is part of what I enjoy in hunting them, and for that reason, I have a vested interest in the way they are managed. Point restrictions for NE whitetails are not a good idea.
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I attended the meetings representing QDMA and PO county sportsman's club. The group was developed because there is a marked decrease in WT deer populations due to difficult winters, predation, hunting, cars... The group discussed different options for management and decided by vote, that a point restriction was the best way to help the herd.
The prevailing science suggests that mature bucks are more effective breeders and that having a more robust mature buck population will lead to better coverage of does on the first estrous, which increases fawn survival the following year. Doe hunts will also be addressed, but not until the herd #'s have rebounded some. There will be more surveys conducted to determine the population and help guide future management.
IMO- this proposal will help the herd and will lead to better hunting in the future. Give it a couple years and I think we'll all agree that it was the proper course of action.
Trophy management was never mentioned. If bigger antlers are a by-product, all the better.
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The prevailing science suggests that mature bucks are more effective breeders and that having a more robust mature buck population will lead to better coverage of does on the first estrous, which increases fawn survival the following year.
How will allowing hunters to only kill 4 point bucks create a "more robust mature buck population?" I don't get it. :dunno: If you want to protect the mature bucks shouldn't the harvest be limited to only bucks that have less than 4 points? (kinda like they do now with the spike only elk hunting)
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It will increase escapement of young bucks and allow them to become old bucks...at least older bucks. Young deer are easier to hunt than old deer, so if we give the young deer a break it will help them mature, and reproduce.
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I guess I could see that being true. Especially with the heavy cover they've got to hide in. It will be interesting to see what the WDFW thinks about it.
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The possibility of younger bucks doing the breeding exists, but with more mature bucks around it seems likely that they'll be the ones reproducing.
There are other options for increasing the herd. Predator control, habitat enhancement, supplemental feeding...this is just one way that we can try to make a difference.
I am excited to see what kind of results we might get with a point restriction.
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There have been some states in the East that have had success with a point restriction. Some research (enclosure animals) showed little evidence of success. There was lots of discussion about predation, but really no other "directly" related deer regulations. If you're interested in seeing the exhaustive research sources provided to us I can email them to you. the WDFW was sort of luke warm about a restriction, probably because of the fear of revenue loss. With a couple exceptions, the group largely supported the idea.
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The September issue of Outdoor Life looks at the issue of managing whitetail for large bucks. A lot a negative results from this type of management.
I have talked to a number of land owners in the two units mentioned plus other hunters I know. Not one is in favor of the four point restriction.
I have not heard of any health or genetic benefit yet. It will definitely lower the total buck kill, even after implemented and the population stabilized.
A friend said: There is more to hunting than shooting a large buck, "I like to hunt with the grandkids". How many grandkids will stay with hunting, if there is little for them to shoot?
I can see a season where killing only spikes and four point or larger would change the genetics. Many whitetail in a normal food supply have two or three points the first year. The shooting of spikes would change the number of deer that have spikes the first year, if that is genetically controlled.
This is a proposal that was not brought forward by the average hunter. It was brought forward by guides, more money, County commissioners, more tourism, trophy hunters, easier bragging perception. If there is a place for this type of hunting in Washington, it is not in the two units where it is proposed.
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When I lived in Chewelah I went to a few meetings of these hunter groups. They would invite these two county commissioners. The group would bitch about the bow hunters killing all the big bucks before they would get into the woods. I talked as a bow hunter and received crap from the one running the meeting, they ran me off. The poor muzzleloader hunter had no voice at all. BTW, I knew most of the gun hunters there, and most were road hunters. There idea was 4 point restriction back in the mid. 90's. This would leave more big bucks for them. So, back then deer were eating the farmers out of house and home they wanted 4 point restriction, so now there using the low deer #'s to get there way. Back in the winter of 93, blue tong hit the deer real hard before the winter, a lot of deer were killed that winter. The next season I finely shot my buck the last day of season at 11:30 am in a snow storm. It didn't take long for the deer to come back. I believe this is all about gun hunters trying to get there way. :twocents:
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If it worked the way oregons 4 point regulations it;s going to put a lot of nice 3 points dead in the fields.
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The current proposal allows youth, senior, and disabled seasons to remain the same. IMO- the regulation is good for the deer, and (therefore) good for hunters and others that enjoy wildlife.
It's a 'pilot program' that would be in effect for ~5 years. We would have to defend the results at that time and if it's not helping the herd we would go back to the original season regs. There are lots of places to hunt up here that allow any buck hunting, let's give it a try and see what happens. There are likely going to be some benefits to the deer herd.
I read much of the OL article too... those seemed to be mostly related to social issues within hunt clubs. One article did mention that several years of trigger control had no effect on the herd...but they were on a small piece of land, possibly without neighbors acting the same way. This sort of landscape scale management would likely have some results.
I disagree about the 3 pt's getting poached...there are already laws about poaching, and there are lots of other units in the state with antler regulations. To my knowledge, there has not been any real evidence of that happening in the past in WA. Hopefully hunters are able to ID their targets before pulling the trigger.
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If this regulation passes with exceptions to the 4 point only for juvenile, disabled and seniors this will remove some objections by some. It will slow down the transformation of the herd to more 4 points.
It would appear that units 105, 108, 111or 113 would be better suited for a 5 year trial, although these units have a smaller population of whitetail.
What are some of the benefits to the deer herd by having a 4 point minimum? The biologists I have talked to in the past, when ask about this specific thing at a meeting in Colville, said, there was not any benefits to the herd. They also told me that the total buck kill will be reduced significantly, by going to a older buck population. Those bucks that would have been harvested as 1.5 year old will have to go a minimum of one more year with , one more winter to survive, one more year of predators and poachers, plus the deer killed and left because they were to small. A retired wildlife agent told me, when a unit in the Mason county area went to 3 point or better, he knew of 18 bulks shot and left in the woods in his area.
I would be in favor of limited hunting or none at the peak of the rut, all user groups, increased predator control, especially coyotes, protection of winter range and what ever else could be done along those lines. We have so much posted land that there are a lot of branched antlered bucks now. If you do not ant to shot a spike don't.
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The best way to increase deer populations, other than predator control, is to reduce the number of hunters. To do this, they would need to go to hunting by permit only (no general seasons.) IMO, that's what they really need to do if the deer numbers really are down significantly. Reduce the number of hunters by about half, yet still allow those hunters to harvest any buck.
A 4 point minimum rule may have somewhat of the same effect, in that it probably would reduce the number of hunters, just because many people would choose to hunt other units that don't have the restriction. Also, even 4 point bucks would be harder to kill, because people would need to take more time to be sure a deer had 4 points before shooting. Many times you only have a split second to shoot and when you have to count points first, the buck is much more likely to be gone before a hunter is able to get a shot off.
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Increasing the deer population is a separate issue from the 4 point minimum. To increase the deer herd the simplest, is to reduce or eliminate the taking of antlerless. This of course will get the lowland land owners up set. I would take a hard look at redrawing the units boundaries so the mountain areas with the low deer population would be separate from the lowland. I think also, some of the units are to large and should be split up so they could be better managed.
I would also like to see when a person does draw a anterless tag, when they are available. That antlerless tag is there only tag. They would not be allowed to shoot a antlered deer.
It would be most desireable to have land purchased in wintering areas and set aside as winter range, and managed as such. Under current budget restraints probably impossible.
Of course the presence of wolves in Washington and the anticipated population increase complicates everything. I would hate seeing bucks past up to be eaten later by wolves.
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The current issue of the "American Hunter" which I just received,has a couple of pages on point restrictions as tried in several states, mostly east and south. They have also in some states combined point restrictions with spread minimum.
The article said in Texas, the 1.5 and 2.5 year old bucks were not efficient breeders. I was told a few years ago, there was not a doe breeding problem in Washington. I was also told many years ago, by a very highly thought of biologist, that a doe that was not bred, almost never occurred. This fellow did a lot of checking of deer, including road kills in the winter, and said in his life time, he found very few unbred does.
Any one with a interest in this proposed change to the whitetail management, should attend one of the meetings if possible, or phone contact the DFW.
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I think one big thing the state really needs to look at after deer numbers have dropped in certain areas due to unfavorable weather conditions, is the taking of antlerless deer during archery seasons, and perhaps muzzleloader as well. Actually I think they may have made many units buck only this year, but I think they ought to do more of that, until deer numbers come back up. I think protecting the does would in some cases be much more effective than protecting the younger bucks.
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I think one big thing the state really needs to look at after deer numbers have dropped in certain areas due to unfavorable weather conditions, is the taking of antlerless deer during archery seasons, and perhaps muzzleloader as well. Actually I think they may have made many units buck only this year, but I think they ought to do more of that, until deer numbers come back up. I think protecting the does would in some cases be much more effective than protecting the younger bucks.
I agree...I have seen what you describe in this state with "seasons and timing" with Mule Deer due to the migratory issues of does being bred first estrous and then migrating through an area towards wintering areas only to be harvested in an open GMU. Shooting pregnant does is a problem. Defeats the purpose of establishing buck escapement in my opinion.
This same group complained a few years back about to many deer in the colville valley..this led to the creation of the " Colville River" permit.
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OK, just looked in the regulation pamphlet.... GMU's 117 and 121 are now buck only for early archery and muzzleloader seasons. BUT, they ARE open for "Any deer" for the late archery season from Nov. 25 to Dec. 15. Also, these two GMU's, along with ALL of the Northeast Game Managment Units, are open to the taking of whitetail does by Disabled, Youth, and Hunters 65 and over, from Oct. 21 to Oct. 24.
If the deer population in GMU's 117 and 121 is in trouble, I would rather see them eliminate ALL harvest of does, before they go to a 4 point minimum on bucks.
I think I will be writing a letter tonight to the Fish & Wildlife commission regarding this proposal.