I asked specifically about using my dog to pack water and got a hard no. His reasoning was that any dog trained well enough not to blow a hunt will aid in the hunt. Tracking, pointing, alerting, etc. He also said that packing is aiding in the hunt. He made good points. If he wasn't aiding in some way, I wouldn't want to bring him.
So horses should not be allowed with that reasoning or any pack animal they are aiding in the hunt. Maybe they need to start catching poachers and not worry about the guy with his golden retriever in the woods.
Except that pack animals don't track or run game, aren't capable of aiding in any other way and aren't specifically prohibited in the regs like dogs are. I wish I could use my dog but that's how Wa is. And it's probably for the best. Only thing dumber than Washington regs is Washington residents. We also can't pack a rifle for black bear on a backpack archery deer hunt. Same warden was real adamant about that one. Makes no sense. I should move.
Do you have horses who can bay and blood trail? If so, I would agree.
The not being able to use a dog to follow blood trails is asinine in any state. I would think recovery of a wounded animal should be important. I have horses who can walk you right up to deer and antelope if you know what your doing. Guess you could train a horse to bait bears in by playing injured.
We finally got South Dakota to use dogs for trailing a wounded deer. There were a lot of “pheasant hunts” during deer season before
Had more than a couple clients kill elk after the horses or mules alerted us to their presence. Literally would tell my clients "If your horse snaps its head up or becomes fixated on something use its ears like gun sites...more than likely there is an animal standing there watching us." We had horses alert us to elk, moose, bears, people, etc across the drainage from us over 1/2 mile away.
Yeah I agree with you there. Unfortunately Washington tends to implement policy based on what thing X is capable of, not what person Y is actually doing. They will argue that because dogs are capable of baying and treeing certain big game animals, and baying and treeing certain big game animals is illegal, hunting for big game animals with a dog is illegal. That's why I mentioned the rifle during archery deer hunt as an example. Even though it makes no practical sense at all, any Washington warden will tell you with a straight face and serious tone that because it is illegal to shoot a deer with a rifle during archery season, one can not carry a rifle in their pack while archery hunting during a season open for archery deer. Even if that person is black bear hunting they can not carry both a bow and a rifle at a time that overlaps archery deer season in a unit open for archery deer. Even though black bear season overlaps deer season and black bears can be hunted with any legal weapon. It's right there in the regs. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever and yet, there it is. That is how Washington operates, and it's only going to get worse.
$60x7day hunt=$420/365= $1.15 you could save a day/year, for board your dog. I’m sure you have spent $420 on other non useful things.
