Picking a side of the state for deer hunting

[greenhead_killer]

You guys are all giving the state more ideas on ways to charge more. I like it the way it is. You want to hunt both sides, great. You want to target just one species, great. Having choices is great

[ljsommer]

Another thing to keep in mind is that wdfw could give much longer seasons for blacktail if in fact less people started hunting them. Same with whitetail.

I am probably an outlier here but I'd much rather have a higher quality hunt than a much longer season that has much lower odds of success. A 14 day season with quality hunting seems far more valuable to me than 30 day spent hiking in the woods without another beating heart in a 50 mile radius.

In another post you are talking about getting a sense that mule deer numbers are wrecked right now.  Do you expect to have a quality 14 day hunt when mule deer are wrecked?

Well the entire thread here seems to have a tone of "Let's all tighten our belts a belts a bit to help deer numbers".
I'd like to see:
1. Less hunting pressure on these species
2. Maintained or increased hunting pressure on predators
3. Herd health recovered (please note: I am taking my opinion on herd health from you folks, I've only ever "hunted" blacktail)
4. Once herd health recovers, tighter hunting restrictions to maintain a higher quality hunt

I've heard it said that Washington is an "Opportunity" state in that our seasons are long. Frankly if the animal herd population isn't there then we aren't talking about a long and robust hunting season, you're talking about a pay-to-hike opportunity in which you're required to wear orange.

[BULLBLASTER]

You guys are all giving the state more ideas on ways to charge more. I like it the way it is. You want to hunt both sides, great. You want to target just one species, great. Having choices is great

How would picking a side or species make them charge more? It would just alleviate pressure on every species or both sides of the state. 

[JimmyHoffa]

Another thing to keep in mind is that wdfw could give much longer seasons for blacktail if in fact less people started hunting them. Same with whitetail.

I am probably an outlier here but I'd much rather have a higher quality hunt than a much longer season that has much lower odds of success. A 14 day season with quality hunting seems far more valuable to me than 30 day spent hiking in the woods without another beating heart in a 50 mile radius.

If blacktail season was the first two weeks in November, you'd probably have higher quality hunting.  You kind of get a taste for it around Halloween.  Kind of a reason that the blacktail general seasons aren't open in a certain timeframe and the quality buck permits become active.

[Rainier10]

Another thing to keep in mind is that wdfw could give much longer seasons for blacktail if in fact less people started hunting them. Same with whitetail.

I am probably an outlier here but I'd much rather have a higher quality hunt than a much longer season that has much lower odds of success. A 14 day season with quality hunting seems far more valuable to me than 30 day spent hiking in the woods without another beating heart in a 50 mile radius.

In another post you are talking about getting a sense that mule deer numbers are wrecked right now.  Do you expect to have a quality 14 day hunt when mule deer are wrecked?

Well the entire thread here seems to have a tone of "Let's all tighten our belts a belts a bit to help deer numbers".
I'd like to see:
1. Less hunting pressure on these species
2. Maintained or increased hunting pressure on predators
3. Herd health recovered (please note: I am taking my opinion on herd health from you folks, I've only ever "hunted" blacktail)
4. Once herd health recovers, tighter hunting restrictions to maintain a higher quality hunt

I've heard it said that Washington is an "Opportunity" state in that our seasons are long. Frankly if the animal herd population isn't there then we aren't talking about a long and robust hunting season, you're talking about a pay-to-hike opportunity in which you're required to wear orange.

Yes Washington is an opportunity state that also has the opportunity to have a quality hunt with less people on certain quality hunts.  It's a great mix of both worlds in my opinion.

If you want higher quality of animals there are hunts available out of state.  If you want less people there are more options out of state.  If you want less people and more animals but not high quality animals there are options out of state.

In my mind I prefer that we have all options right here in this state.

[Skyvalhunter]

Sounds like a lot of good things out of state

[grundy53]

With me being a greedy and living in mule deer country, I would love to see west siders pay non resident fees to come across the mountains and hunt mule deer. You guys have all the money over there and we have the goods that you want. It would help keep more west siders at home hunting blacktail and increase the revenue for the state. This post might ruffle some feathers! LOL 

That's ridiculous. We are all residents of Washington. Those deer are mine the same as yours. There is no way they are going to charge westsiders non resident prices for a tag.

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[grundy53]

Hopefully this has illustrated that picking sides won't solve any crowding issues in Eastern WA. it will only force folks who might currently only make a trip or two east a year to exclusively hunt Eastern WA if they want to hunt at all. The west side is VASTLY more populated and yet more than half of folks on here have voted that they would hunt ONLY the east side thus far.

I think picking is a bad idea, side, species, the odds aren't great as it is...Popular hunting areas do not suddenly become unpopular when faced with a choice...they become the only option to get outdoors! 

Rifle season is only 11 days long for mule deer. How many trips can a westsider make in 11days?

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[grundy53]

Cant imagine how many benchlegs would get mis-identified if tags where species specific.  East/West would be much easier to create rules for.

Easy. Same as it is now. West of the Crest its a blacktail. East of the Crest its a mulie.

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[D-Rock425]

I didn't read all 5 pages of this thread but I think picking west or east for deer would suck.  I understand and agree with why it's it for elk but I dont see a purpose for deer.

[ljsommer]

I didn't read all 5 pages of this thread but I think picking west or east for deer would suck.  I understand and agree with why it's it for elk but I dont see a purpose for deer.

I believe the purpose is that blacktails are horrifically difficult to hunt, and the terrain east of the mountains allows for glassing. It's my (very very junior) understanding that people head east for a better hunt experience. My understanding is that mule numbers are down, white tail numbers are down, but blacktail numbers are doing great.
IMO: Keep blacktail season wide open, restrict muley and whitetail.

Let's put it this way: How many people east of the mountains are driving West to hunt blacktails?

[grundy53]

I didn't read all 5 pages of this thread but I think picking west or east for deer would suck.  I understand and agree with why it's it for elk but I dont see a purpose for deer.

I believe the purpose is that blacktails are horrifically difficult to hunt, and the terrain east of the mountains allows for glassing. It's my (very very junior) understanding that people head east for a better hunt experience. My understanding is that mule numbers are down, white tail numbers are down, but blacktail numbers are doing great.
IMO: Keep blacktail season wide open, restrict muley and whitetail.

Let's put it this way: How many people east of the mountains are driving West to hunt blacktails?

Blacktail numbers are way down. They aren't doing great. Most people choose to hunt mulies not because blacktails are so hard to hunt. It's because mulies have bigger antlers and it doesn't rain nearly as much in eastern Washington as it does in western Washington.

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[ljsommer]

I didn't read all 5 pages of this thread but I think picking west or east for deer would suck.  I understand and agree with why it's it for elk but I dont see a purpose for deer.

I believe the purpose is that blacktails are horrifically difficult to hunt, and the terrain east of the mountains allows for glassing. It's my (very very junior) understanding that people head east for a better hunt experience. My understanding is that mule numbers are down, white tail numbers are down, but blacktail numbers are doing great.
IMO: Keep blacktail season wide open, restrict muley and whitetail.

Let's put it this way: How many people east of the mountains are driving West to hunt blacktails?

Blacktail numbers are way down. They aren't doing great. Most people choose to hunt mulies not because blacktails are so hard to hunt. It's because mulies have bigger antlers and it doesn't rain nearly as much in eastern Washington as it does in western Washington.

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This is the first I am hearing that blacktail numbers are down. Housing development on the west side has been like a wildfire for how many years now? These neighborhoods tucked into the woods present endless amounts of edge habitat, and if they're inside of city limits then hunting is prohibited. Even if they aren't, half the state is ultra-left voters who would never let you harvest a deer on their property. I know this is anecdotal but I've literally got deer walking down the sidewalk in full daylight where I live, inside city limits.

Edit: If that's actually true, that BT numbers are down, that means that all species numbers are down? Man I gotta say, I should take some Xanax before I read these forums, they bum me out to no end.

[Stein]

I think it's pretty safe to say that big game animals in WA are under a tremendous amount of pressure from several areas, hunting included.  What really should happen is have hunters pick elk, deer or OILs.  For elk and deer, you could either hunt the general or put in for a permit.

That is what is needed to address the pressure issues as well as the draw nonsense.  Or, WDFW could properly manage the general and permit seasons, but that doesn't look too likely.

I'm guessing that wouldn't be too popular with the vast majority of hunters though.

[BULLBLASTER]

I didn't read all 5 pages of this thread but I think picking west or east for deer would suck.  I understand and agree with why it's it for elk but I dont see a purpose for deer.

I believe the purpose is that blacktails are horrifically difficult to hunt, and the terrain east of the mountains allows for glassing. It's my (very very junior) understanding that people head east for a better hunt experience. My understanding is that mule numbers are down, white tail numbers are down, but blacktail numbers are doing great.
IMO: Keep blacktail season wide open, restrict muley and whitetail.

Let's put it this way: How many people east of the mountains are driving West to hunt blacktails?

Blacktail numbers are way down. They aren't doing great. Most people choose to hunt mulies not because blacktails are so hard to hunt. It's because mulies have bigger antlers and it doesn't rain nearly as much in eastern Washington as it does in western Washington.

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This is the first I am hearing that blacktail numbers are down. Housing development on the west side has been like a wildfire for how many years now? These neighborhoods tucked into the woods present endless amounts of edge habitat, and if they're inside of city limits then hunting is prohibited. Even if they aren't, half the state is ultra-left voters who would never let you harvest a deer on their property. I know this is anecdotal but I've literally got deer walking down the sidewalk in full daylight where I live, inside city limits.

Edit: If that's actually true, that BT numbers are down, that means that all species numbers are down? Man I gotta say, I should take some Xanax before I read these forums, they bum me out to no end.

I also see 4-7+ whitetail in my neighborhood every day... that is of no indication to how the whitetail are doing anywhere else. Where I hunt deer (Gmu127) doe numbers are in the tank and fawn recruitment is terrible the last 3 years. I really can’t speak to anywhere else but where I frequent and hunt though