WDFW commission meeting Dec 12-14th Cle Elum

[Rainier10]

So you can sign up for public comment Friday morning via zoom or in person or you can sign up for comment Saturday morning again via zoom or in person.  My guess is they will take in person comments first. It would be best to pack the room both days.

My GMU of concerns is 328. You may remember my cougar hunt story from last year of taking a cougar and still having multiple cougars in a small three square mile area. I was looking forward to hunting again this year but the season closed in November as they had already reached their quota with the addition of nuisance cat removal.

If you have that many nuisance cats you have too many cats!

Link to agenda again
https://wdfw.wa.gov/about/commission/meetings/2024/11-14dec2024-agenda

[hunter399]

So you can sign up for public comment Friday morning via zoom or in person or you can sign up for comment Saturday morning again via zoom or in person.  My guess is they will take in person comments first. It would be best to pack the room both days.

My GMU of concerns is 328. You may remember my cougar hunt story from last year of taking a cougar and still having multiple cougars in a small three square mile area. I was looking forward to hunting again this year but the season closed in November as they had already reached their quota with the addition of nuisance cat removal.

If you have that many nuisance cats you have too many cats!

Link to agenda again
https://wdfw.wa.gov/about/commission/meetings/2024/11-14dec2024-agenda

I pitched that to the commission regarding all of Stevens county before they changed rules.
A lot of depredation ,would mean more cats. Common sense 🤔
It didn't seem to make much difference,they do what they want and changed the rules anyway. At least you had till November.
We didn't make it to that.

[Rainier10]

So my cabin is in GMU 328. Lots of cats if you remember my thread from last winter.

The cougar quota is 7 cats but that is for GMU 328,329&335 combined.

I asked how many cats were taken by hunters and human conflict harvest in each GMU to get to the 7 cats taken already.

Of the 7 mortalities in that PMU:
4 were killed in GMU 335 (57%) (3 hunter-killed, 1 conflict)
2 were killed in GMU 328 (29%) (hunter-killed)
1 was killed in GMU 329 (14%) (hunter-killed)

So on my property which is a very small area in a very large GMU has 5 cats on it and only two cats were harvested in the entire GMU before the season was closed.

[hunter399]

So my cabin is in GMU 328. Lots of cats if you remember my thread from last winter.

The cougar quota is 7 cats but that is for GMU 328,329&335 combined.

I asked how many cats were taken by hunters and human conflict harvest in each GMU to get to the 7 cats taken already.

Of the 7 mortalities in that PMU:
4 were killed in GMU 335 (57%) (3 hunter-killed, 1 conflict)
2 were killed in GMU 328 (29%) (hunter-killed)
1 was killed in GMU 329 (14%) (hunter-killed)

So on my property which is a very small area in a very large GMU has 5 cats on it and only two cats were harvested in the entire GMU before the season was closed.

How did you get your info?
I agree with ya ,I'm sure Stevens county is the same.
50 percent of the whole county is public land/timber land.
Alot more cats then they say. Got tons of camera.
It's a sick joke .

[Rainier10]

I sent a request for the information via email to wildthing@dfw.wa.gov and had an answer back the same day.sometimes it takes a couple days to get a reply they email back with questions to make sure they are understanding the request.

It helps to be very clear and specific with your question.

To get my answer I asked “Can you tell me how many cats were harvested in gmu’s 328,329&335 and how many were harvested by licensed hunters and how many were human conflict removals?”

The reason I asked about those gmu’s is because they make up the PMU that had a quota of 7 cats.

[actionshooter]

 We (those who spend time outdoors) all know that there are way more cats than what their claims are, but as long as the commission continues to pick and choose what "data" they accept, they will continue to try and whittle the harvest down.

 

[HillHound]

So my cabin is in GMU 328. Lots of cats if you remember my thread from last winter.

The cougar quota is 7 cats but that is for GMU 328,329&335 combined.

I asked how many cats were taken by hunters and human conflict harvest in each GMU to get to the 7 cats taken already.

Of the 7 mortalities in that PMU:
4 were killed in GMU 335 (57%) (3 hunter-killed, 1 conflict)
2 were killed in GMU 328 (29%) (hunter-killed)
1 was killed in GMU 329 (14%) (hunter-killed)

So on my property which is a very small area in a very large GMU has 5 cats on it and only two cats were harvested in the entire GMU before the season was closed.

This is too big of an area to limit it to only 7 cats.  Each one of these units should have a quota of at least seven cats. I wonder if they will continue to update if you ask what the total conflict take is by the end of this coming March? I imagine we will see that number go higher and higher each year as they take the opportunity away from hunters

[Rainier10]

So my cabin is in GMU 328. Lots of cats if you remember my thread from last winter.

The cougar quota is 7 cats but that is for GMU 328,329&335 combined.

I asked how many cats were taken by hunters and human conflict harvest in each GMU to get to the 7 cats taken already.

Of the 7 mortalities in that PMU:
4 were killed in GMU 335 (57%) (3 hunter-killed, 1 conflict)
2 were killed in GMU 328 (29%) (hunter-killed)
1 was killed in GMU 329 (14%) (hunter-killed)

So on my property which is a very small area in a very large GMU has 5 cats on it and only two cats were harvested in the entire GMU before the season was closed.

This is too big of an area to limit it to only 7 cats.  Each one of these units should have a quota of at least seven cats. I wonder if they will continue to update if you ask what the total conflict take is by the end of this coming March? I imagine we will see that number go higher and higher each year as they take the opportunity away from hunters

I agree there should be a higher quota. The area I was hunting in Idaho with Bearpaw outfitters was the size of one of those gmu’s if not a little smaller. Between Bearpaw and public hunters they take more than 7 cats a year out of the area every year.

I will ask for an updated count in March and see what the numbers are.

[hunter399]

So my cabin is in GMU 328. Lots of cats if you remember my thread from last winter.

The cougar quota is 7 cats but that is for GMU 328,329&335 combined.

I asked how many cats were taken by hunters and human conflict harvest in each GMU to get to the 7 cats taken already.

Of the 7 mortalities in that PMU:
4 were killed in GMU 335 (57%) (3 hunter-killed, 1 conflict)
2 were killed in GMU 328 (29%) (hunter-killed)
1 was killed in GMU 329 (14%) (hunter-killed)

So on my property which is a very small area in a very large GMU has 5 cats on it and only two cats were harvested in the entire GMU before the season was closed.

This is too big of an area to limit it to only 7 cats.  Each one of these units should have a quota of at least seven cats. I wonder if they will continue to update if you ask what the total conflict take is by the end of this coming March? I imagine we will see that number go higher and higher each year as they take the opportunity away from hunters

I agree there should be a higher quota. The area I was hunting in Idaho with Bearpaw outfitters was the size of one of those gmu’s if not a little smaller. Between Bearpaw and public hunters they take more than 7 cats a year out of the area every year.

I will ask for an updated count in March and see what the numbers are.

Didn't Idaho do away with there quota? 2021 I thought.

[Rainier10]

So here is the kicker.

Harvest quota of 7 cats in that PMU/GMU’s 328,329&335 is 13% of the cats in those units. The max quota of 10 cats is 20% of the total cats. Translation they estimate there are only 50 cats across all three of those GMU’s. My guess is there are 50 just in 328

[hunter399]

So here is the kicker.

Harvest quota of 7 cats in that PMU/GMU’s 328,329&335 is 13% of the cats in those units. The max quota of 10 cats is 20% of the total cats. Translation they estimate there are only 50 cats across all three of those GMU’s. My guess is there are 50 just in 328

I will try and send a support email soon. To allow more cougar hunting opportunities. It won't be long winded,I don't have high hopes. I'm gonna focus on coyote, take my kid bobcat hunting.
Enjoy opportunity we still have.

[RC]

Anybody been to the meetings? If so, how’s it been going?

[Scruffy]

I went to the meeting, my first one.  I spoke, probably made more of a fool of myself but wanted to give support instead of the anti's talking.  On Friday there were only 6 in person speakers, Saturday only 2 of us.  There were probably less than a dozen people that weren't part of the WDFW on Friday and half that on Saturday.  I feel if more people don't attend in person they will just have all the meetings in Olympia for cost savings.

The commission were real proud of themselves listening and agreeing with the "science" the department recommended on the bear and cougar seasons.  I would like to know how they figure how many cougars are in a given area to set the cap.  I suggested opening the cougar season April 1st since that is when the conflict kills start counting against our quota.  They said there are 50,000 tag holders and only 200 cougars killed, most of which occur during deer and elk seasons.  So if they opened the season earlier the few kills hunters have could reduce the conflict cats and provide opportunity instead of a closed season.

Talking bears, Lorna Smith mentioned she heard from quite a few nonhunters they are afraid to recreate during the month of Aug since bear hunters are out.  She didn't get any traction from the other commissioners but she said it at least twice.  I thought for sure she would suggest to change the opener from Aug 1 to Sept 1

Here is a good link someone else posted which sums the meeting pretty well
https://nwsportsmanmag.com/wdfw-commission-approves-bear-cougar-hunting-frameworks-for-public-comment/

They looked at next years schedule of meetings and are planning to change the location of the either June or July meeting (can't remember which month it was now) or the Nov meeting from Olympia to a location on the I-5 corridor. (Seattle to Marysville area)  To make it more accessible for people to attend.  During the online comments Saturday morning the Anti's were all over this.  I suggest we flood the room for that meeting.

[haus]

Can anyone tell me where the meeting is held?  I looked on the WDFW page and it doesn't say where except for Cle Elum.

The Suncadia Lodge

This tracks, can’t be out mingling with the commoners in town…

[haus]

I went to the meeting, my first one.  I spoke, probably made more of a fool of myself but wanted to give support instead of the anti's talking.  On Friday there were only 6 in person speakers, Saturday only 2 of us.  There were probably less than a dozen people that weren't part of the WDFW on Friday and half that on Saturday.  I feel if more people don't attend in person they will just have all the meetings in Olympia for cost savings.

The commission were real proud of themselves listening and agreeing with the "science" the department recommended on the bear and cougar seasons.  I would like to know how they figure how many cougars are in a given area to set the cap.  I suggested opening the cougar season April 1st since that is when the conflict kills start counting against our quota.  They said there are 50,000 tag holders and only 200 cougars killed, most of which occur during deer and elk seasons.  So if they opened the season earlier the few kills hunters have could reduce the conflict cats and provide opportunity instead of a closed season.

Talking bears, Lorna Smith mentioned she heard from quite a few nonhunters they are afraid to recreate during the month of Aug since bear hunters are out.  She didn't get any traction from the other commissioners but she said it at least twice.  I thought for sure she would suggest to change the opener from Aug 1 to Sept 1

Here is a good link someone else posted which sums the meeting pretty well
https://nwsportsmanmag.com/wdfw-commission-approves-bear-cougar-hunting-frameworks-for-public-comment/

They looked at next years schedule of meetings and are planning to change the location of the either June or July meeting (can't remember which month it was now) or the Nov meeting from Olympia to a location on the I-5 corridor. (Seattle to Marysville area)  To make it more accessible for people to attend.  During the online comments Saturday morning the Anti's were all over this.  I suggest we flood the room for that meeting.

Of the few people that showed up, how many were hunters? And thank you for speaking! At least someone’s willing to show up, most just complain online.