Net-Gunning for Big Mule Deer

[robby denning]

Net-Gunning for Big Mule Deer

Robby hosts Woodrow Myers on today's episode. Woodrow was a wildlife biologist for the state of Washington for 40 years before joining the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission. They talk net-gunning for big mule deer and more.

www.rokslide.com

 

[Sundodger]

Thank you Robby for this episode, not only highlighting the mule deer I love so much here in Washington, but the anti battle we are in.

Since 2020 we are quite literally in the fight for our lives to just be able to hunt/fish/crab/etc. and we get much less attention nationally than other places like CO, so it means a lot for you to give us the spotlight.

I know we don't have as impressive hunting as places like CO, but it's my home and I love fishing and hunting here.

When they are done with us they will be coming for the rest of you.

 

[jazzturkey]

Great episode! I love to see more exposure of the issues we are facing here in Washington!

 

[robby denning]

Thank you Robby for this episode, not only highlighting the mule deer I love so much here in Washington, but the anti battle we are in.

Since 2020 we are quite literally in the fight for our lives to just be able to hunt/fish/crab/etc. and we get much less attention nationally than other places like CO, so it means a lot for you to give us the spotlight.

I know we don't have as impressive hunting as places like CO, but it's my home and I love fishing and hunting here.

When they are done with us they will be coming for the rest of you.

Great episode! I love to see more exposure of the issues we are facing here in Washington!

sure thing guys, we wanna help Washington too. More to come hopefully.

 

[Bachto]

Thank you Robby for this episode, not only highlighting the mule deer I love so much here in Washington, but the anti battle we are in.

Since 2020 we are quite literally in the fight for our lives to just be able to hunt/fish/crab/etc. and we get much less attention nationally than other places like CO, so it means a lot for you to give us the spotlight.

I know we don't have as impressive hunting as places like CO, but it's my home and I love fishing and hunting here.

When they are done with us they will be coming for the rest of you.

I feel the same, it makes me really sad. I have had some amazing adventures in this state and I love hunting and fishing here.

I think the title of this podcast needs to be changed as at first I didn't even really care to listen to it. Just my opinion.

 

[Alpine4x4]

I didnt care to listen to it until I saw this post actually. Very glad I did. The Mule Deer portion was very informative.

The back end with the commission was interesting. I'd like to agree with Woody that the commission isnt anti-hunting, but their actions have spoken otherwise. If the information was not presentable as he said to make an informed decision, but yet was still available, decision making needed to be tabled until data was brought forward. If they felt they needed to take immediate action to save the species fine, but to then say the commission isnt ready to tackle the spring bear issue because of how much of an issue its become? Isn't that the whole point of the commission? Thats a cop out IMO. Get the data and make an informed decision.

He highlighted one of the major reasons the people feel WDFW has failed them. They have all this data collected by the department, funded by the tax payers (hunters), and the department cant even present it in a form that the commission making decisions can use it. What a waste. I'd love for my tax payer money to fund more studies with usable data to manage our wildlife.

We have watched as WDFW has waged war on Bass, Walleye, and Catfish under the guise of saving Salmon, yet there has been little to show in any available study that points to them as culprits in smolt loss. Some studies even refute that fact. Other studies are showing precipitous losses due to birds, mainly gulls, terns, cormorants, and pelicans. All species that are thriving due to man made islands on the Columbia River, but no action has been taken to curb the predation. Its stuff like this that paints the commission and the department in a bad light as a whole.

Then when your Governor does stuff like this it even further paints the commission in a bad light

WA BHA: 'Last-minute' Inslee Commission Appointments 'Undermine Public Trust' -

Governor Jay Inslee's waning-hours appointments to the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission are blasted by the state chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers as undermining public trust, abandoning stakeholder input and transparency, contradicting recommendations in the recent Ruckelshaus...

nwsportsmanmag.com

Then the WA state legislature earmarks $300,000 for an independant study that finds the commission is dysfunctional and now total reform is being proposed with no input from the people at large. Some of the reform options would be a final nail in the coffin for WA sportsman. The commission needs reform, but not at the hands of the governors office which got us in this bad spot to begin with by making poor appointments. We need more guys like Woody who follow the science, good or bad for the sportsman, while maximizing opportunity for the sportsman.

https://columbiainsight.org/new-report-raises-possibility-of-doing-away-with-washington-fish-and-wildlife-commission/

Former Commissioner Suggests Legislative Fixes For 'Dysfunctional' Panel Overseeing WDFW -

Following the release of a draft report on the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission and its future, former member Kim Thorburn calls for three legislative fixes rather than moving WDFW under governor.

nwsportsmanmag.com

 

[Jake Larsen]

I didnt care to listen to it until I saw this post actually. Very glad I did. The Mule Deer portion was very informative.

The back end with the commission was interesting. I'd like to agree with Woody that the commission isnt anti-hunting, but their actions have spoken otherwise. If the information was not presentable as he said to make an informed decision, but yet was still available, decision making needed to be tabled until data was brought forward. If they felt they needed to take immediate action to save the species fine, but to then say the commission isnt ready to tackle the spring bear issue because of how much of an issue its become? Isn't that the whole point of the commission? Thats a cop out IMO. Get the data and make an informed decision.

He highlighted one of the major reasons the people feel WDFW has failed them. They have all this data collected by the department, funded by the tax payers (hunters), and the department cant even present it in a form that the commission making decisions can use it. What a waste. I'd love for my tax payer money to fund more studies with usable data to manage our wildlife.

We have watched as WDFW has waged war on Bass, Walleye, and Catfish under the guise of saving Salmon, yet there has been little to show in any available study that points to them as culprits in smolt loss. Some studies even refute that fact. Other studies are showing precipitous losses due to birds, mainly gulls, terns, cormorants, and pelicans. All species that are thriving due to man made islands on the Columbia River, but no action has been taken to curb the predation. Its stuff like this that paints the commission and the department in a bad light as a whole.

Then when your Governor does stuff like this it even further paints the commission in a bad light

WA BHA: 'Last-minute' Inslee Commission Appointments 'Undermine Public Trust' -

Governor Jay Inslee's waning-hours appointments to the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission are blasted by the state chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers as undermining public trust, abandoning stakeholder input and transparency, contradicting recommendations in the recent Ruckelshaus...

nwsportsmanmag.com

Then the WA state legislature earmarks $300,000 for an independant study that finds the commission is dysfunctional and now total reform is being proposed with no input from the people at large. Some of the reform options would be a final nail in the coffin for WA sportsman. The commission needs reform, but not at the hands of the governors office which got us in this bad spot to begin with by making poor appointments. We need more guys like Woody who follow the science, good or bad for the sportsman, while maximizing opportunity for the sportsman.

https://columbiainsight.org/new-report-raises-possibility-of-doing-away-with-washington-fish-and-wildlife-commission/

Former Commissioner Suggests Legislative Fixes For 'Dysfunctional' Panel Overseeing WDFW -

Following the release of a draft report on the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission and its future, former member Kim Thorburn calls for three legislative fixes rather than moving WDFW under governor.

nwsportsmanmag.com

Thanks for these examples. There’s another thread started on the topic, specifically addressing the Commission issue. Glad you gave some specifics of what’s been going on.

Washington Fish and wildlife commission

Washington Fish and wildlife commission

I know most people view Washington as a lost cause, as a resident it's very discouraging. We really need to make our voices heard to take action on the stupidity happening in the commission. You can read more about it and take action at these HOWL links...

r.tapatalk.com

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dwils233]

As someone who has followed the Commission in WA pretty closely, I jumped towards the end and will have to go back and listen to the rest.

I agree that part of a debate, or collaboration is that you need to be willing to concede- but we need to acknowledge what/who is on the opposite side of the table. And maybe not about Commissioners, but about the other people trying to specific agenda's and values. I think many hunter-based organizations have actually done that: come to the table and tried to have productive conversations with the Commissioners and environmentalists...and those conversations have been productive.

Where this whole thing falls apart in Washington is that the emerging voices, the newer groups coming into this space and advocating (successfully) to the Commission don't share those values. They don't compromise; they will not yield. They are radical hardliners. I'm sorry but the Northwest Animal Rights Network isn't interested in caring about why hunters do what they do- they just want it to stop. And they see a commission, that if they frame their arguments in specific ways, will move the ball in favor of their desired outcomes.

So even if the Commission, or Commissioners aren't themselves anti-hunting, they are agents in anti-hunting agendas. And they tell us to all get along. Sitting down with extremists unwilling to concede or negotiate, legitimizes their views and values, at the detriment of everyone else. They don't want to sit at the big table, they want to claim it for themselves and burn everything they don't love out of the room. The Commission in WA is either complicit or ignorant of this, and the result is absolutely losses of opportunity, but also ruinous to wildlife management overall.

Hunters in WA have been forced to concede, even as they show up ready to negotiate on plenty things and reach into the middle with environmental orgs. Show me one time where the emerging fundamentalist stakeholders have either not gotten exactly what they wanted from the Commission, or negotiated an outcome in good faith for the other parties involved.

If the Commission isn't anti-consumptive use, fine. But then they need to admit they are getting played and outclassed constantly.