King 5 weighing in on legality ofsnowgoose hunting

[high_hunter]

I don't see the harm in the question or the answer.  Not every question about hunting is an attack on hunting.

That's the way I see it. There are likely a majority of state residents who don't know when and where hunting is legal, especially in January. Educating them seems like a good thing.

Agreed no harm in educating the general public and overall, the spin was neutral if not hunter positive.  That said it's frustrating that people won't go find anything out for themselves, but instead send it into a news agency like they are the expert.

[high_hunter]

I saw this tonight as well. Didn't care for the story but I also don't care for ditch crawlers. 

I feel there was more harm in the intent of the question than the actual question itself.  Could tell there was an agenda.

I've never heard snow geese called ditch crawlers before lol.   

[WWA]

Good sportsmanship and out reach to the general public is the best answer. Sportsmen should spend  time in the off-season exposing non hunters to our passion. The sharing of food is one the easiest ways to start a conversation on a positive note.

[full choke]

I saw this tonight as well. Didn't care for the story but I also don't care for ditch crawlers. 

I feel there was more harm in the intent of the question than the actual question itself.  Could tell there was an agenda.

I've never heard snow geese called ditch crawlers before lol.   

I don’t think he was calling snow geese “ditch crawlers”. I think he was referring to the masses of “hunters” that try jump shooting them at every field they light in.

[h2ofowlr]

It's just difficult in Skagit count as they have so many roads crisscrossing all the fields that you can be watched by the bird watchers at every angle.  When you get a big feed, you get dwellers that stop on the roads to take pictures.  Later in the season, the birds due to so much pressure, get really smart to decoys.  Many individuals will pass shoot them or walk down the ditches to jump shoot them.  Some snow goose hunters only jump shoot and some only decoy shoot.  One takes little skill or financial investment while some have $15k-$30k tied up into decoys and more into leases.  If you don't have the deep pockets or leased land, you take the opportunities provided.  I can see both sides.
Then you have the anti-hunters that hate the hunters, but love bird watching and will take objection to anyone hunting them.

[high_hunter]

I saw this tonight as well. Didn't care for the story but I also don't care for ditch crawlers. 

I feel there was more harm in the intent of the question than the actual question itself.  Could tell there was an agenda.

I've never heard snow geese called ditch crawlers before lol.   

I don’t think he was calling snow geese “ditch crawlers”. I think he was referring to the masses of “hunters” that try jump shooting them at every field they light in.

Not sure so won't judge.    Also don't know what everyone else experiences are on snows & snow hunters as I don't typically target them until the depredation hunt, but certainly will take them whenever there is an opportunity during general season.  Maybe there are more conflicts/issues during the regular season or certain areas??     My thought is if it's legal and being done in a safe manor than have at it!   

Article also didn't specify if they were hunting from a blind or walking.  If they are sky-busting or too close to the road then that's one thing and call them out, otherwise let them hunt how they want.  Not everyone's into boats, big water or big spreads (but decoying birds are hard to beat).   

We need to be careful alienating & targeting various hunters based on how they choose to participate and be mindful of attitudes and comments towards fellow hunters.  Many youth & first-time hunters get their start jump shooting and others choose to hunt this way for a variety of reasons.   

I'd be bummed after putting in a significant effort setting up a huge spread just to have some guys shoot them in the field next to me but sometimes that's just how it goes.  If the birds aren't into you then hopefully someone is getting a crack at these "ditch crawlers"    Can't fault anyone for taking the best advantage of their own situation.  Not trying to be snarky, but making sure we don't bring negative attention to ourselves as there are plenty of non or anti-hunters out there happy to do that.  Even if they are only 20% per Pianoman's stat they can be loud and only getting louder.

-hh

[metlhead]

Washington Department of Fish and Wildfire😅 That's funny

[KP-Skagit]

Snow geese are always a hot spot of non-hunter/hunter interaction. I have no problem with someone sneaking up on them and shooting. In fact I know some farmers that want me to do that to get them out of their fields. However, chances are you are doing it with an audience and that needs to be taken into consideration.

Plenty of times over the years I have seen guys sneak up on and sluice the main flock and kill a pile of them but cripple just as many which then go running across the field, dragging wings, bleeding all over, right in front of a ton of bird watchers. Sometimes guys will chase down the cripples, sometimes they are limited and other times they get nervous and leave. Either way its horrible optics. My guess is the "ditch crawler" comment points to this behavior.

[huntnfmly]

It’s sad that almost every topic there are hunters calling other hunters names just because they don’t like the way that they legally hunt
High-hunter said it well there are enough anti hunters that are against all forms of legal hunting we don’t need hunter vs hunter
We are our own worse enemy

[Stein]

The problem with snows is you need a metric s*ton of decoys or you will get zero chances at them.  For the average hunter, there is a max of three hunters on the private sites.  So, unless you have access to private or have buddies with tons of decoys and get incredibly lucky, it's a pass/sneaky show.  Why they limit it to three hunters is a big head scratcher, the snow spots have plenty of parking and the more dudes, the more decoys and the "better" the harvest any way you want to measure it.

Up in Skagit county you have bird watchers all the time as mentioned, including when the eagles are there which happens to coincide with hunting season.

The message from the state should be that there are too many snows, 6-7x more than the goal and they need to be thinned out to prevent a huge die-off and damage to crops.  From our side, we can certainly do our part to limit wounding.