Tribes kill elk article posted earlier by others.

[kingsalmonkllr77]

I just got my hands on the tribes kill elk artical that was posted earlier and if that is a true story I am in disbelief that nothing has been done about this.  If you haven't read it I will try to get a copy and type it.  It involves the killing of a large amount of colokum elk from the wenatchee side.  And the killing of elk up top in the wildlife reserve.  Anybody that has any ideas on how to make a big enough scene to the state legislature I think it is time we all get together and do so.  We all end up bowing down to these tribes and being is that there is way more of us than there is of them I think we could make something happen.  With the amount of snow this year and the threat of winter kill on the horizon we are going to see major changes in the upcoming season and this needs to stop now.

[canyoncrosser]

I have been coming to this site for about a year looking at pics and reading comments and really never thought about becoming a member til now. I live in wenatchee and have hunted the colockum all my life (37 yrs old). I have talked with several people and it sounds like this is a federal issue and the state has there hands tide I guess. Too many people are afraid of offending someone else in my opinion. I think its going to have to take people letting other organizations know about whats going on. Maybe contacting SCI, Rocky Mountain Elk, and SFW. I thought even about some of the anti hunter organizations, we could even use there pull, they seem to be a little extreme. I share your pain in this issue.

[bowhuntin]

Are you talking about the article in the reel news? If so there is another thread over in hunting politics where it was being discussed. Here is the link.

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,16717.0.html

[kingsalmonkllr77]

I was looking for the original tread but couldn't find it.  I had just read the artical and couldn't figure out where I had seen it before.  And yes that is the one I was looking for and the reason I read the artical. 

[300rum]

It isn't politically correct to play Cowboys and indians anymore.

[muleyguy]

the issue is not as simple as most here make it out to be;  the legal right of indians to take big game animals in "usual and accustomed" areas has been affirmed.  So, you in effect have to come up with other means to try and stop it.  The WDFW cannot make laws forcing indians to comply with its rules and prosecutors are not going to spend limited resources fighting endless legal battles with tribal members who have deeper resources to fight with.

So, in effect, you have to attack it from a PR standpoint (which is probably not going to be that effective) and/or trying to use existing laws to throw up roadblocks to the them (gates, etc).  The first order of business is to FORCE the WDFW to admit in their population surveys, and rule making, the effects of tribal hunting.  This should be achievable because they are a state agency, legally mandated to explain their rule making.  This will probably not achieve much, but, it will at least get some light on the issue.  A coordinated PR campaign with pictures, along with WDFW, MIGHT slow them down, although I doubt it.  The WDFW essentially "covers up" what is going on at this point with tribal hunting.  They do this because they do not want to anger the tribe.  In their eyes, the only way to deal with the tribe is to try and work with them.  In the long run, this strategy will not work because the tribe is interested in expressing their rights to the fullest, not in limiting their members ability to hunt where they want, or in good game management.

The reason the yakama tribal members hunt off of the reservation is that they have essentially ruined big game hunting on the reservation through excess harvesting.  The tribes record with big game management speaks for itself.  The individual tribal members hunting are interested in the same thing as all hunters;  shooting the largest horned animal they can;  to accomplish this goal, they need to go off of the reservation.

Tribal leadership is not interested in proper game management, especially off the reservation, it is only interested in expressing their rights as a tribe to the fullest, to hunt and fish in usual and accustomed places.  In their mind, the tribe should get as many elk as they want first, and then, the non-natives should take what is left.  They believe they come first, and we get the leftovers.

The second way to attack this is through something like gating ,etc.  These are good ideas, and, I believe there are other potential solutions like this that could work.  At the end of the day, these guys are just native slob hunters, no different than non-native slob hunters;  interested in taking the largest antlered animal they can with the least amount of work.  A small amount of "roadblocks" will go a long ways towards stopping some of this. 

To achieve this goal though, the WDFW has to be the leader.  They can get the gating done with all the different agencies;  task forces can be put together to look at other potential ideas, like gating, that could slow this down.

Unfortunately, though, at the end of the day, I see little from the WDFW that would suggest that they are willing to look at any of this in a serious way though.  Maybe, with enough pressure from legislators, you could force the WDFW to do something.  But, stop wasting time with WDFW and start sending your letters to the state legistlators in these hunting areas. 

At the end of the day, Washington state has the largest population base and is the smallest of any western state;  it also has a relatively large amount of indian tribes.  You put all of this together, and, going forward, to keep deer and elk herds healthy in this state is going to require increasingly restrictive regulations, that is just the truth of it.

[heavy hauler]

it seems strange that alot of the natives in wa have emptied there reservations of big game. i dont know many details , but i do know the natives in arizona have managed the elk herds there extremley well.(white pines, san carlos)

[muleyguy]

"it seems strange that alot of the natives in wa have emptied there reservations of big game"

this is especially true of the yakama tribe;  they have some of the best deer and elk habitat in the state;  they have some of the most productive farm lands in the state;  they have some of the most productive forests in the state.  Most of the problems with slob tribal hunting comes from the yakama's.  This is not surprising because if you live in the area, you realize it is one of the most corrupt, poorly managed tribes in the West.  Many tribes were given reservations in areas with poor resources (land, water, timber,agriculture) and thus are truly in a tough position to make their reservations financially stable.

not the case with the Yakama's;  they have been handed a silver platter, and they still manage to screw it up.   The Yakama tribe should be one of the wealthiest tribes in the United States.  They only thing that seems to actually give them some drive is to stick it to the white man, and, that is a sad thing, because at the end of the day they are missing the bigger picture and only hurting themselves.

[heavy hauler]

it kinda reminds me of a person who is born with money.they never learn to work or see no need for a education or learn the value of a dollar.no need to hunt hard, just wait for the feed center in oak creek to open .

[woodswalker]

My own experiences with the Yakima tribes bears much of this out, I see unfettered, irresponsible tribal hunting using methods proscribed for non-tribal hunters.  the Tribal police have NO interest in actually policing their own, as evidenced by the telling me to mind my own business after trying to report a large taking just south of the Satus pass area on the edge of the Res..

I don't have ALL the answers, but i have SEEN Yakimas take only racks from trophy bulls shot in the Manastash unit, leaving the rest of the carcass to rot but for the backstraps and tenderloins.  In fact that is why I bought a digital camera that i carry with me all the time I'm IN the woods.  I shoot photos and file...and do NOT see anything happen.

[boneaddict]

COlville has done well.   I still don't like some of their practices and think it should be the same for all, but they are pretty good managers of their game.  The Yakimas are PITIFUL.  Pheasants are abouthte only thing they have done well by.

[WAcoyotehunter]

COlville has done well.   I still don't like some of their practices and think it should be the same for all, but they are pretty good managers of their game.  The Yakimas are PITIFUL.  Pheasants are abouthte only thing they have done well by.

Except for the TWO elk reintroductions -they killed all the animals in the first, so the WDFW in their gentle kindness gave them another chance.    

[yelp]

And the pathetic North half agreement....That thing is a joke. 

[Gobble Gobble]

The Yakama tribe should be one of the wealthiest tribes in the United States. 

I probably will not hunt the Yakima Res any more as I'm tire paying the $31 a year for the Res permit to hunt upland game and get the Res map for all the "Feel Free to Hunt" land only to go to the fields and find there posted "NO Hunting." There getting the money from the state to make their land FFtH only to turn around pocket the handout and then post No Hunting.

Where is all the money going from the Casino? Isn't it supposed to go back to the Tribe members? You get out of town (Granger, Toppenish, White Swan) and all you see is run down single wides with blankets in the windows.

[huntnphool]

  Welcome to the site Canyoncrosser, its a shame it took a thread like this to get you post but at least your a member now

 Its going to come down to someone confronting one of them over a dead animal and I fear someone getting killed. I think at that point something may be done but intil then its just not that big a deal.