Commission to Vote on Spring Bear Changes, Including Pelt Sealing Within 5 Days

[bigtex]

On November 1st the Fish and Wildlife Commission is set to approve the following which will take effect for the 2020 spring bear season:

• Added language to adjust the numbers of permits offered in:
o Blue Creek, GMU 154 increased permits from 15 to 18
o Dayton, GMU 162 increased permits from 15 to 18
o Wenaha, GMU 169 increased permits 45 to 60
o Mt. View, GMU 172 increased permits 15 to 24
o Lick Creek, GMU 175 increased permits 15 to 18

• Added a new hunt area: Peola, GMU 178 with 5 permits.
• Remove Kapowsin hunt area.
• Technical edit to list GMU 648 prior to GMU 638 under the Copalis Hunt Area to clarify that GMU 638 is where the U.S. Forest Service lands are excluded.
• Added language to include a mandatory reporting of harvest within 72 hours of kill and mandatory pelt check, with evidence of sex, for sealing within five days of notification of kill. This is in addition to the submission of the first premolar. 

[BeerBugler]

A decrease in westside bear opportunity is the last things we need. Glad there’s more tags in the blues. The pelt sealing requirement is a horrible idea unless wdfw is going to meet you in the field like they do with cougar and even then, what a waste of resources. In order to get my bobcat sealed I have to take a day off work (they only do it on Wednesday) and drive 3 hours. Huge deterrent to people harvesting bear!

[X-Force]

A decrease in westside bear opportunity is the last things we need. Glad there’s more tags in the blues. The pelt sealing requirement is a horrible idea unless wdfw is going to meet you in the field like they do with cougar and even then, what a waste of resources. In order to get my bobcat sealed I have to take a day off work (they only do it on Wednesday) and drive 3 hours. Huge deterrent to people harvesting bear!

That’s interesting. An officer gave me a call back and we scheduled a meet up within a day and I didn’t have to travel 20 min each way.

I don’t see the purpose of a mandatory report for bear when they have a healthy population state wide.

[Buckhunter24]

Next it will be coyotes. I dont see the purpose of that hoop at all

[Ghost Hunter]

Are you required to keep the pelt?

[KFhunter]

I don't plan on giving them much more than a 1 gallon ziplock baggy with a pair of bears dangly parts (or vulvla and small surrounding patch) and the correct tooth. 



anyone know if we're required to do much more than that ? 

[Whitpirate]

To what purpose other than to deter legal harvest are they looking to require sealing of the hide?  Black bear are far too plentiful to state it as a conservation enhancement.

[bigtex]

To what purpose other than to deter legal harvest are they looking to require sealing of the hide?  Black bear are far too plentiful to state it as a conservation enhancement.

The reason given to the commission at the last meeting was: "allow the department to monitor the number and reproductive status of female bears harvested; which will improve the decision-making for future spring bear permit seasons"

[Special T]

A decrease in westside bear opportunity is the last things we need. Glad there’s more tags in the blues. The pelt sealing requirement is a horrible idea unless wdfw is going to meet you in the field like they do with cougar and even then, what a waste of resources. In order to get my bobcat sealed I have to take a day off work (they only do it on Wednesday) and drive 3 hours. Huge deterrent to people harvesting bear!

That’s interesting. An officer gave me a call back and we scheduled a meet up within a day and I didn’t have to travel 20 min each way.

I don’t see the purpose of a mandatory report for bear when they have a healthy population state wide.

The stated purpose is because we dont have a 30% report rate with teeth. AND they want to take DNA Samples

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[Special T]

To what purpose other than to deter legal harvest are they looking to require sealing of the hide?  Black bear are far too plentiful to state it as a conservation enhancement.

The reason given to the commission at the last meeting was: "allow the department to monitor the number and reproductive status of female bears harvested; which will improve the decision-making for future spring bear permit seasons"

The statically difference in the known sample size is a margin of error of 1.5%

If you look at the bear management areas all are under long term female harvest. The worst one fully encompasses the Puget sound where all the folks live.

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[Bango skank]

One concern i have is that boars kill cubs in the spring, so if a guy kills a sow whose cubs had recently been killed by a boar, it will look like the hunter killed a sow with cubs, and that could start the antis screaming about the need to shut down spring bear hunting.

[nwwanderer]

Thanks for the post, it is a start.  With complications

[buckfvr]

Are you required to keep the pelt?

Ya.....what the heck......so now you have to keep the hide even if youre a meat hunter ??   SHould just send coordinates and let wdfw recover the hide if they want it.

[KFhunter]

like I said above, I only plan on cutting off the sex and a small patch of fur nothing that wouldn't fit in a gallon ziplock.   Unless someone can show me why I gotta bring out the whole hide?

[Jpmiller]

So if it's an either/or thing, salvage hide or meat in warm weather which should get priority? I'm interested in how this gets clarified.