Blue Tongue

[andersonjk4]

Luckily the department got rid of all antlerless harvest in 127-142 except for a few days of the youth season.

[PA BEN]

I'm only seeing 3 small bucks and a handful of does, like everyone else I always see way more deer in our fields. I haven't even hunted for deer yet this year, I might not. I have 10 trail cams around our land and not one buck and just a few does and 3 different cougars. The cougars could be why I'm not seeing any bucks, I've noticed over the years when I'm seeing cougars in the area the bucks tend to leave. My buddy and I went jump shooting ducks yesterday on the Colville river, we saw 6 dead deer with in a 1/4 mile. 4 were floating in the river. 2 were bucks the floaters had their heads under the water. BTW, the coyotes are not eating them.

[PA BEN]

121 didn’t get hit as hard

What do you mean??? CWD is different then Blue tongue. BTW, 121 has gotten hit very hard with Blue Tongue.

[PA BEN]

Luckily the department got rid of all antlerless harvest in 127-142 except for a few days of the youth season.

I'm sorry, but the game dept. should have shut down all doe harvests this year and offered up refunds and restored points. But they have a reputation of not doing the right thing.

[hunter399]

121 didn’t get hit as hard

What do you mean??? CWD is different then Blue tongue. BTW, 121 has gotten hit very hard with Blue Tongue.

I Agree.
Not sure why WDFW is not concerned about 121 ,but it was hit just as hard as all the other GMU.

[Rutnbuxnbulls]

121 didn’t get hit as hard

What do you mean??? CWD is different then Blue tongue. BTW, 121 has gotten hit very hard with Blue Tongue.

I Agree.
Not sure why WDFW is not concerned about 121 ,but it was hit just as hard as all the other GMU.

So, since we can all communicate with each other, my opinion is that we agree to bypass the state and make our own “ethical rules” based on what we have seen this year due to the diseases.

1- don’t shoot a wt doe. Period. Not even youth or seniors.
2- hunt for wt in areas not effected by outbreaks. ie-above ~3000k elevation
3- hunt for mule deer if they’re doing fine in that unit

It’s traumatic to see what has happened but they will repopulate. We need a few good wetter years so let’s hope the weather pattern wettens up for all of us. And right away we need a good cold snap to kill the bugs. My 

[baldopepper]

I can't quite understand why they haven't implemented an emergency closure on the late hunt. I'm seeing a few whitetail around, certainly not as many as past year's, but I'm also seeing a lot of does with no fawns. I think 121 is gonna get pounded harder on the late hunt with the emailed warnings and that hunt during the rut is not a good thing for this year.

[Ridgeratt]

I'm only seeing 3 small bucks and a handful of does, like everyone else I always see way more deer in our fields. I haven't even hunted for deer yet this year, I might not. I have 10 trail cams around our land and not one buck and just a few does and 3 different cougars. The cougars could be why I'm not seeing any bucks, I've noticed over the years when I'm seeing cougars in the area the bucks tend to leave. My buddy and I went jump shooting ducks yesterday on the Colville river, we saw 6 dead deer with in a 1/4 mile. 4 were floating in the river. 2 were bucks the floaters had their heads under the water. BTW, the coyotes are not eating them.

I am seeing the same thing up here in the wedge. I went and pulled sd cards day before yesterday. I have perhaps 5 does and fawns on the cameras. They have been out all summer. I did see one small 2 point and that was the total deer. Had a cougar on the camera on the 29th. After that The dawg wanted some work so we went for a drive to see what was out there. Drove past a favorite spot for the folks who make a long distance drive to come hunt. I thought it was Alderwood mall with the amount of rigs setting in the clearing. We did a little more exploring and drove past at dark. it was lite up like a Parking lot. But during our drive we never past another vehicle. 2 days ago I had the first deer in the pasture in over a month.

[Ghost Hunter]

I'm only seeing 3 small bucks and a handful of does, like everyone else I always see way more deer in our fields. I haven't even hunted for deer yet this year, I might not. I have 10 trail cams around our land and not one buck and just a few does and 3 different cougars. The cougars could be why I'm not seeing any bucks, I've noticed over the years when I'm seeing cougars in the area the bucks tend to leave. My buddy and I went jump shooting ducks yesterday on the Colville river, we saw 6 dead deer with in a 1/4 mile. 4 were floating in the river. 2 were bucks the floaters had their heads under the water. BTW, the coyotes are not eating them.

What coyotes?  Haven't seen a coyote on camera or heard one in weeks.  Used to seeing them hunt pocket gophers, and on camera.  And most of the deer dropped off before season started.  This is above 3000'.  Just chuckled at the hunter parked outside my gate.

[elkboy]

So, since we can all communicate with each other, my opinion is that we agree to bypass the state and make our own “ethical rules” based on what we have seen this year due to the diseases.

1- don’t shoot a wt doe. Period. Not even youth or seniors.
2- hunt for wt in areas not effected by outbreaks. ie-above ~3000k elevation
3- hunt for mule deer if they’re doing fine in that unit

It’s traumatic to see what has happened but they will repopulate. We need a few good wetter years so let’s hope the weather pattern wettens up for all of us. And right away we need a good cold snap to kill the bugs. My 

Makes a lot of sense! 

[TVHunts]

So, since we can all communicate with each other, my opinion is that we agree to bypass the state and make our own “ethical rules” based on what we have seen this year due to the diseases.

1- don’t shoot a wt doe. Period. Not even youth or seniors.
2- hunt for wt in areas not effected by outbreaks. ie-above ~3000k elevation
3- hunt for mule deer if they’re doing fine in that unit

It’s traumatic to see what has happened but they will repopulate. We need a few good wetter years so let’s hope the weather pattern wettens up for all of us. And right away we need a good cold snap to kill the bugs. My 

Makes a lot of sense!

Great post and ethics.  I have passed the last 2 seasons on shooting “a buck”.  Would I pass up a wall hanger, likely not.  But, last seasons numbers were down and this year were down even further.  It’s sad, praying for weather conducive to growing the herds.

[highcountry_hunter]

121 didn’t get hit as hard

What do you mean??? CWD is different then Blue tongue. BTW, 121 has gotten hit very hard with Blue Tongue.

I Agree.
Not sure why WDFW is not concerned about 121 ,but it was hit just as hard as all the other GMU.

So, since we can all communicate with each other, my opinion is that we agree to bypass the state and make our own “ethical rules” based on what we have seen this year due to the diseases.

1- don’t shoot a wt doe. Period. Not even youth or seniors.
2- hunt for wt in areas not effected by outbreaks. ie-above ~3000k elevation
3- hunt for mule deer if they’re doing fine in that unit

It’s traumatic to see what has happened but they will repopulate. We need a few good wetter years so let’s hope the weather pattern wettens up for all of us. And right away we need a good cold snap to kill the bugs. My 

I honestly think rule number one should be enforced yearly with one minor exception. On normal years, youth under 14 should be allowed to take does. Other than that, no antlerless draws, no seniors shooting does.

[Jingles]

121 didn’t get hit as hard

What do you mean??? CWD is different then Blue tongue. BTW, 121 has gotten hit very hard with Blue Tongue.

I Agree.
Not sure why WDFW is not concerned about 121 ,but it was hit just as hard as all the other GMU.

So, since we can all communicate with each other, my opinion is that we agree to bypass the state and make our own “ethical rules” based on what we have seen this year due to the diseases.

1- don’t shoot a wt doe. Period. Not even youth or seniors.
2- hunt for wt in areas not effected by outbreaks. ie-above ~3000k elevation
3- hunt for mule deer if they’re doing fine in that unit

It’s traumatic to see what has happened but they will repopulate. We need a few good wetter years so let’s hope the weather pattern wettens up for all of us. And right away we need a good cold snap to kill the bugs. My 

I honestly think rule number one should be enforced yearly with one minor exception. On normal years, youth under 14 should be allowed to take does. Other than that, no antlerless draws, no seniors shooting does.

I think that is an exceptional idea and totally agree that the youth should go by the same restrictions after all at what age do we stop giving the youth participation trophies and they learn you don't always win? Besides there are more times than folks will admit the youth didn't shoot the deer it was a parent, seen it several times personally.
Would also eliminate 2nd deer draws in specific areas.

[buckfvr]

Ya what ever happened to being cut, not even making the team, huh ? 

[highcountry_hunter]

Just my thoughts. By age 14 a kid has the physical and mental ability to perform what it takes to be a hunter, whether they are just starting out or not. Because when a buck gets killed you take 1 deer out of the herd. When a doe gets killed your losing 10+ years of breeding stock depending on her age.