I

[eye_zick]

Horse shit..

We've been grazing public lands for a 150 years + at much higher rates than we currently do, our population crashes have only been in the last 30 years.

I get that. Grazing has an accumulating effect. Grazing encourages grasslands to grow where the forbs and bushes used to grow. Over years and years and decades we see the loss of habitat and further degradation of mule deer habitat, thus lowering the carrying capacity of mule deer.

 

[WRO]

I get that. Grazing has an accumulating effect. Grazing encourages grasslands to grow where the forbs and bushes used to grow. Over years and years and decades we see the loss of habitat and further degradation of mule deer habitat, thus lowering the carrying capacity of mule deer.

The damage was done a 100 years ago with the tragedy of the commons. Juniper and cedar encroachment is a direct result of that.

I sat at a ranchers house and looked at historical pictures of his place in the 1800's no junipers and little sage or bitter brush. Its currently sage, bitter brush and a constant battle with Junipers.

 

[Jeffro]

If we went to a 5 to 7 day otc season, there wouldnt be a forkie alive because more people would feel like they have to shoot the first deer they see so “they could get their buck”. If anything, elimating doe tags, including youth and archery hunts, should be on the table.
I am probably in the minority but I would rather see longer seasons. If Idaho went to a five week season like Montana, how many more people would be willing to not shoot the first deer they saw because they had more time to hunt for a mature buck?
Another issue that whitetail deer are outcompeting mule deer. A change I would like to see is instead of having to select a whitetail only tag for residents, just allow residents to use a general deer tag to only hunt whitetails.

I hunt whitetail only every year with my general tag. The white tail only tag, just allows a few different units to run "white tail only" hunts where some populations overlap. I only buy the general tag, because it makes no difference in the units I hunt. But if I end up in mule deer country, I am ok to get out and try to hunt one.

 

[Customweld]

Another issue that whitetail deer are outcompeting mule deer. A change I would like to see is instead of having to select a whitetail only tag for residents, just allow residents to use a general deer tag to only hunt whitetails.

It was like that years ago. Folks would hold out on muleys and descend onto the units north of the Salmon River. I'm not exactly sure when that changed to the later season hunts needing a whitetail only tag. I know I used to hunt whitetails after muley general season in the early 90s

 

[Spoonbill]

It was like that years ago. Folks would hold out on muleys and descend onto the units north of the Salmon River. I'm not exactly sure when that changed to the later season hunts needing a whitetail only tag. I know I used to hunt whitetails after muley general season in the early 90s

Didn’t know that, I moved to Idaho after that had changed. I suspect the whitetail only tag was in response to people flooding the northern units but that is just speculation.
A happy medium could be to get rid of the whitetail only tag south of the Salmon and just have a whitetail only season after the general season ends.

 

[Customweld]

Didn’t know that, I moved to Idaho after that had changed. I suspect the whitetail only tag was in response to people flooding the northern units but that is just speculation.
A happy medium could be to get rid of the whitetail only tag south of the Salmon and just have a whitetail only season after the general season ends.

I think that was probably the justification. It was early on enough that I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to what IFG was doing. I had a hard enough time keeping myself in line!

I think that may be an option worth studying. In the early 2000's IFG went scorched earth on whitetails in unit 23 (primarily in that New Meadows area) I'm not sure if that helped the muleys, that area was never known for having a ton of them to begin with.

 

[Muleyrevive]

Good to hear different perspectives on the issue.

I feel opportunity comes at a cost, maybe not in the aspect of guys selectively hunting the few big deer that are on the landscape, rather the future new hunters years from now.

I feel doe hunting is a travesty. If you want meat hunt a cow elk.. JMO.

Winter ranges around the southern units I frequently hunt haven’t changed all that much in the last 20 years. Some fires actually in the early 2000’s opened up chocked juniper areas and good stands of bitter brush and sage have taken hold.,but then there is the elk… I believe Ryan Hatfield said in his book that you can put 3 deer to 1 elk on the mountain and that is very evident. So if carrying capacity is an issue tags should follow suit.

Another thing that is absurd is taking historically great producers of a great deer herd and genetics and opening them up to a general hunt.Around council would be an example. One closer to home was opening 56 to a general hunt. I personally asked the biologist at the time.why? He said it’s not a trophy deer area anymore. 2 years earlier a 260 buck was killed.

Can Idaho collar deer in late November? Can we set feed sites up every November and let the deer enter and exit at their leisure. It sounds like Idaho has lost allot of winter range in areas.

Just doesn’t to seem to the novice person that there is much data out there concerning different herds.

It kills me these guys hiking around in knee deep snow for headgear… same moan about the herd looking like sht.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Muleyrevive]

Is this the same as every forum? 1/3 about the topic? 2/3 individuals talking back and forth..?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[khart_6882]

I have seen that over the years completely, but it sounds like you have given up on change?
I agree IDFG is the single worse.. And ill reinforce it. , but how can we change it??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

*Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has entered the chat*

-So, you think IDFG is the worst, huh?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[khart_6882]

Is this the same as every forum? 1/3 about the topic? 2/3 individuals talking back and forth..?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Precisely. Just when you think they’re done and things are getting back on topic, they come back with 3 more pages that should have been held in messaging format.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Muleyrevive]

Precisely. Just when you think they’re done and things are getting back on topic, they come back with 3 more pages that should have been held in messaging format.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This sounds all to familiar..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jaden Bales]

Would love to know where you got the 1940s date from. I don't think it's accurate. Everything I've researched alludes to it being close to 40 years later than that before it became a chronic widespread issue.

Dioni, you’re just so spot on with all this you’re saying here throughout the thread.

There’s a study one can find that says cheatgrass has expanded 10-fold in the Great Basin since the 90’s.

 

[HookUp]

*Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has entered the chat*

-So, you think IDFG is the worst, huh?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

For Big game they do a fine job. No other state has tribal and commercial rights like Wa does. If you think the game department can make the decisions on game management and harvest you are seriously mistaken. We have lots of opportunity with deer success ratres in the 30% rate and just to many people and not enough animals such as elk. I hunt out of state every year or two and Washington could never be any of those states and its just a dumb comparison.

 

[Grundy53]

For Big game they do a fine job. No other state has tribal and commercial rights like Wa does. If you think the game department can make the decisions on game management and harvest you are seriously mistaken. We have lots of opportunity with deer success ratres in the 30% rate and just to many people and not enough animals such as elk. I hunt out of state every year or two and Washington could never be any of those states and its just a dumb comparison.

They do a fine job growing predator numbers. Ungulates, not so much.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

 

[WRO]

Dioni, you’re just so spot on with all this you’re saying here throughout the thread.

There’s a study one can find that says cheatgrass has expanded 10-fold in the Great Basin since the 90’s.

Can you post a link for that?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[KurtR]

For Big game they do a fine job. No other state has tribal and commercial rights like Wa does. If you think the game department can make the decisions on game management and harvest you are seriously mistaken. We have lots of opportunity with deer success ratres in the 30% rate and just to many people and not enough animals such as elk. I hunt out of state every year or two and Washington could never be any of those states and its just a dumb comparison.

How does the tribal rights differ from other states

 

[dirtytough]

For Big game they do a fine job. No other state has tribal and commercial rights like Wa does. If you think the game department can make the decisions on game management and harvest you are seriously mistaken. We have lots of opportunity with deer success ratres in the 30% rate and just to many people and not enough animals such as elk. I hunt out of state every year or two and Washington could never be any of those states and its just a dumb comparison.

Super high population and otc tags. That isn’t management. That’s just a free for all.

 

[Pistolpete28]

Super high population and otc tags. That isn’t management. That’s just a free for all.

Not to completely derail this thread from Idaho’s deer management, I’m a Washington resident that has hunted a lot out of state. I think Washington does a decent job at managing opportunities for the ratio of humans : big game. They could change a few things, and make it a lot better, in my opinion the multi season tags need to go, they should also make a guy pick a region of the state with there deer and elk tags. With the way western states are starting to limit non residents, I’m grateful I can buy an otc tag in Washington, sure we don’t have the numbers or quality, but it’s a tag and anything can happen with some effort.

 

[Jaden Bales]

Can you post a link for that?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Here ya go!

I fibbed. It was 8-fold. Not 10-fold. That’s on me.

Publication Alert: Annual Invasive Grasses Spreading Through Great Basin to Higher Elevations and Northern Aspects | Working Lands For Wildlife

Working Lands for Wildlife research is showing that annual invasive grasses are moving up in elevation and to more northern aspects throughout the Great Basin.

www.wlfw.org

 

[Jon Boy]

How does the tribal rights differ from other states

Pretty much a free for all in Washington for the tribes and they take full advantage of it. Like hunting extremely limited entry units from sept 1 to feb 28 with rifles on public land. In Montana outside of a few limited opportunities like gardiner basin bison hunts, that is not allowed off the res.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk