the reason you are seeing the indians come off of the rez to hunt, using the "usual and accustomed" argument is because they have decimated the quality of the elk and deer herds on the rez.
I posted this on another thread, but since the state has gone to the spike only rule on elk, the quality of bulls has risen so far that there is now better elk hunting off the rez then on it.
Isn't it crazy that we can have a state with 3 million people in it, but have better elk herds on public land than a reservation with beautiful habitat and an extremely low population of indian hunters?
For any of you yakima area hunters, ask yourself why the state abandoned unit 342 as a deer draw only unit 2 years ago......it was because the Dept of wildlife got sick of all the indian hunting, truckloads of mature bucks were coming out of the mud lake area daily. It is pretty pathetic when you have to return a unit to a general draw so the quality goes down, so the indian poaching will stop.
It is a real problem in this state that doesn't get a lot of attention. When the dept makes decisions on what units it wants to manage for mature elk and deer, it needs to pay special attention to how the indian factor will play out, because if they have a legal right to hunt that unit, as soon as the quality of animals rises up, they will be there.
The key here is that with all of these new regulations that the dept has put in place the last 6 or 7 years for elk and deer, the number of mature bulls and bucks have risen to the point where now it is better hunting off the rez then on it.
It really is pathetic that such a small population group (indians) who are a sovereign nation in control of some of the best deer and elk habitat in the state are so inept at controlling their own hunting on their rez that it is better hunting off the rez then on it.
The big issue here is that a very small number of people can do massive damage to the mature buck and bull populations, they have proven that on their own rez'.
Unfortunately, there is little one can do about it. Legally, it seems to be kind of a grey area. And, prosecuters seem unwilling to dump a bunch of resources into prosecuting people over it for something legally unsure.
The only way that I can see to help control it is to essentially wage a PR campaign against them. A lot of people are sympathetic to the indians in this state. But, that being said, those same people (libs) are not going to stand for indians shooting the biggest bulls and bucks by the truckloads. That will not play well on TV or in the newspapers, especially if their is video or photographs. One problem I see is that there are occasional stories about this in the mainstream press, but there is never any video or pictures. I would tell all sportsmen to carry their digital cameras and if they are out in the field and see this to take pictures. A picture of 9 dead mature bull elk in the back of a truck in the local newspaper or the Seatttle Times, is not going to play well with the general public.
The indians have already basically won the legal argument. But, they have always based their right to hunt these animals as one of spirituality, sustenance, etc. If you can expose that farce to the public then MAYBE the PR of it all will help slow it down. They are acting in an unethical and immoral way when it comes to harvesting these animals, and people will not stand for that, if you can get the word out.
