WDFW are crooks

[Special T]

My buddy, who has known Rob McKenna for 20 years told me that if Rob is elected Governor that he plans on taking departments like the WDFW out of the general fund and back to being somewhat self sufficient.  Since the WDFW funds have been thrown into the abyss that is the general fund, it has gone straight down the crapper at a higher rate of speed.  That needs to be turned around!

That could be the best damn thing for the department IF they realize who their customers are. Unfortunately they seem to think that ESA Grants from the Feds are their new $$$ source. They treat us like badly but will fall back on us and our revenue EVERY time they have a financial hiccup. 

[blackdog]

All of your Hunting and fishing license money goes to the wildlife fund and not the General fund already. The General fund contribution is being reduced and has been replaced with tags and fees. Be careful what you ask for.

[Special T]

Well black dog If hunters pay the bills then it would stand to reason that they would be represented instead of bunny huggers...  I think that many people are upset at the VALUE the WDFW not really the price. My evidence is the number of people that say they will hunt out of state and spend way more..   I vaguely remember the WDFW trying to sell us on the hunting "experience" that did not really include notching a tag.  I think Dave Workman poked fun at them saying we aren't interested in taking nature walks with guns.  I'm willin got pay for representation, but many of these clowns have got to go. 

[Deep Forks]

Well black dog If hunters pay the bills then it would stand to reason that they would be represented instead of bunny huggers...  I think that many people are upset at the VALUE the WDFW not really the price. My evidence is the number of people that say they will hunt out of state and spend way more..   I vaguely remember the WDFW trying to sell us on the hunting "experience" that did not really include notching a tag.  I think Dave Workman poked fun at them saying we aren't interested in taking nature walks with guns.  I'm willin got pay for representation, but many of these clowns have got to go. 

                  

[blackdog]

I agree! I would fire the entire Commission and start over. I just can't support using disinformation here and seek to correct it when it is presented.

[Dave Workman]

So what is the dollar amount of a deer or elk to you guys? Do you think everyone should hunt for free? Do you think they owe you a deer or elk?

Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do.

[buckfvr]

 

At the very least, pay your due with your harvest report........DIdnt bag an animal ?,  Dont owe a thing.

[Nuc99]

As I do agree with special T about value for quality.  That is obvious.  But if you have fun and yourself and family score everyother year (some families are big , and yes...they do score alot). Me?  it is just me ... so, to me its all about the scouting, Hiking, camcording... mushroom picking, and just getting away.  130 bucks isnt too much too ask for that a year.  If your a family of 7, its a different story.  But dont expect everyone to fill there Elk and deer tags anymore.  That in my opinion IS Unrealistic.  Just my opinion... from a single guy hunter.

[Nuc99]

And...As posted before, and no disrespect.   Special apps are voluntary... simply dont play WDFW games.   General Season...  The times of huge advantages because ignorance is over.  Everyone puts in for Apps now.   Its over...

[windygorge]

If i knew that every last cent was put towards conservation and liberal protection, i would happily pay double.  its not.   to tell someone that if its too expensive, then don't hunt is ridiculous.  just listen to yourself bobcat.  sorry for restarting this thread, it was a burst of anger and i didn't care to find one that existed at the time.  i am ticked because we spend way more money than other states and have less opportunity.  for instance.  elk, man do i love to hunt elk.  can i hunt them all over the state during a year?  no, i have to chose between east or west.  do other states do that?  ummm....NO.  yea, special apps are a choice, but why did they double this year?  that tacks on about 40 more bucks a year.  and until last year, i would spread my costs out to duck season and buy the discounted small game and all the federal stamps right before duck season.  we can't do that anymore.  no more discounted unless you buy it the same time as the big game.  guys all im sayin is the small hen pecks we get on a yearly basis is taking its toll.  Im simple and i like things simple.  meaning of simple- to get it done as easy as possible, with less money as possible.  people.....washington is not simple!

[Curly]

One thing that really sucks is having our money fund the biologists and techs that are hired for wolf recovery.  We don't want the wolves, why should we be paying the WDFW to come up with a ridiculous wolf plan and now pay them to fund the bios?

They don't listen to us anyway, so I'd rather they did get more money from the general fund if that would allow them to lower the fees they are charging now.  I believe the whole category special permit deal was thought-up because they knew the general fund money was drying up and they had to find a way to get us to pay them more $.  They should have been cutting programs and staff instead of bilking us for more money.

[bobcat]

to tell someone that if its too expensive, then don't hunt is ridiculous.  just listen to yourself bobcat.

I'm not sure I said for someone to quit hunting altogether, but what makes sense is to cut back on how much you buy. Don't buy everything. I have 16 sheep points but this year I didn't buy a sheep application. I also did not buy a fishing license. That's how I'm cutting back. Of the once in a liftetime species I only applied for moose. I think it's kind of ridiculous to compare our prices to other less populated states. Of course our prices are going to be higher. We have more people and more demand for our limited resources. And to say that no other states limit people on where in the state they can hunt in a particular year, is wrong. What about Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Oregon, and Idaho?

I'm not familiar with every state but I know that at least in Arizona, Nevada, and Oregon, as a resident you can't even hunt mule deer or elk without first drawing a tag. Idaho has regional elk tags so you're limited to where you hunt according to the tag you bought.

If you like hunting deer and elk every year, this is a pretty good state to live in.

[Special T]

"One thing that really sucks is having our money fund the biologists and techs that are hired for wolf recovery.  We don't want the wolves, why should we be paying the WDFW to come up with a ridiculous wolf plan and now pay them to fund the bios?" Curly

I completely agree, but here is the how they justify it. Pick any ESA species wolf, griz, Wolverine etc... What they will tell you is that the WDFW benifits because they get a full time Bio at half price due to Fed grants and such. They will argue that they hire the best ____ Bio they can find and that thye can put that bio's other responsibility  that fit closely with the ESA project they are working on. It sounds link a great way to Maximize dollars for the department. In  a way it does, But like a lot of "great" Ideas it fails in execution.  Why?  Because the focus is on the ESA species when hiring not the $$$ for the sate via hunters... Lets take a Hypothetical

The state is mandated to come up with a wolf program so they hire a Bio that knows everything about wolves... Half the pay will be covered by the ESA fed grant, the other half picked up by the state. So since the job of studying/managing wolves is closely related to deer the other 1/2 responsibility is for the deer in a given area. This kind of relationship CAN be beneficial.  I think many of you can already see the problem with this and  can see how this kind of relationship can work out poorly.   Since the Fictional Bio is hired for thier "Wolf Knowledge" it is not hard to imagine that wolves are this Bio's main concern and devotion.... So it may not be anything nefarious just the outlook of which is more important by the Bio that is handling both side of the Predator prey relationship...       

This kind of arrangement may work for the WDFW in their budget issues short term, but long term it hurts hunters so likely hurts it. This kind of Bio arrangement is in many places, including the fishing side...

[Chesapeake]

I agree with "Special T". For me it isnt the price. Its the lack of representation I get for the money. I gladly pay much more to hunt Wyoming, Alaska, and Nevada. Gladly!!!!!

Washington just doesnt offer much in the way of a "quality" hunt. Yeah because its local I can get lots of "quantity", but the quality just isnt there.
The other issue for me is that I rarely if ever see WDFW folks out in the field. About the only place I see them is on the Columbia checking boats, on the Washougal watching snaggers, and at the office holding down a chair. The only Bio I've ever seen in the field was using radio equipment to track turtles. Pretty sure them folks were feds though. As much time as I spend in the woods, I would expect to see some bio's and game officers.

I think what kills Washington is that they have nothing to offer the out of state folks. Wyoming, Nevada, Montana, ect. can go cheap for the residents and charge the non-res for all the licence fees. Do non-res folks even apply in Washington???


 

[Special T]

Not really and even eastmans mag has downplayed the elk, and mule    deerhunting in this state!