Washington multi season tags

J

Jackjr

Guest
Would like to have some of your thoughts and ideas on these tags. I have my own opinion, but would like to here some of the members thoughts. Thanks Jack
 
me and a co-worker who drew the deer tag were talking about it yesterday. i think it's worth the money as long as you have the time.
if you're not going to spend time hunting or can't spend the time, then don't put in first of all or spend the money on the tag. it's not worth it for a couple weekends worth of huntin here and there.
i think it's a great opportunity to get a whole lot of hunting time in and a great opportunity to take a nice deer. if i had the time to make it worthwhile, i'd put in for it, but as of yet, i have not. i think the guys who are putting in for it and drawing it but not buying it are shorting the guys who don't get drawn who want the tag, but i guess there's a second draw maybe??. we were also talking about how it'd be nice for $160.00 or whatever it is if that included the deer/elk tag and not charge more again for that.
 
I think it's great. I drew the deer permit, and am holding out hope for elk on the re-draw. Personally, I feel it will have paid off if it simply gets me a couple additional days in the field regardless of whether I harvest anything. It will also help me with a couple of tough situations: (i) I want to archery deer hunt, but I feel obligated to accompany some part timers on a rifle hunt...now I can do both and have a tag in my pocket; (ii) I want to apply for the eastern WA archery bull permits, but want to be able to hunt western WA if I don't get drawn. The elk permit allows you to do that.

I've spent a lot of money just for more opportunity in the woods (e.g. going to archery, hunting out of state, driving all over WA to the open hunts, etc.) - $150 extra is a drop in the bucket. Heck, these days, I'd spend that much in gas just to drive to Colville and back for the late whitetail season.
 
thanks for your thoughts. I do agree about the elk tags. I am from the west side too, and there are some good east side elk permits I would like to put in for and still hunt west side. The deer dont seem as good to me unless like you said you have alot of time to hunt.
 
> The deer dont seem
>as good to me unless
>like you said you have
>alot of time to hunt.
>


I actually don't have that much time to hunt. That darn job always seems to get in the way. Case in point - I rifle hunted last year and had to cancel out on my opening weekend plans two days prior. Had to work that week, so that only left me with two days to hunt the second weekend before the OTC muley season closed. The permit will make my hunting time more flexible to work around the job - hopefully I'll get at least a few days in September for the archery hunt, a few days in October for the rifle hunt, and if I've still got a tag, a few days in November for the late archery. If that $150 buys me the flexibility to triple my hunting time, that's huge.
 
LAST EDITED ON Jun-06-07 AT 03:35PM (MST)[p]Here's my take on this year's multi-season tag fiasco....

Me calling WDFW way back at the beginning of April to ask about the multiple-season hunting permit application for 2007 after patiently reviewing the Hunting section of the WDFW website since February on an almost daily basis for said information...

WDFW: "Hello, Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, how may I help you?"

Me: "Yes, I know the regs will not come out for some time, but I was wondering if you might be able to tell me the deadline for the multi-season hunting permit application? I can't find any information on your website. Is it going to be on June 28 with all the rest of the special permit applications?"

WDFW: "I'm sorry sir, you are not the first person I've had to tell this to, but the deadline for multi-season hunting permit application entry has already closed for this year."

Me: "I'm sorry, I could have sworn you just said that the deadline for multi-season hunting permit application entry has already closed for this year."

WDFW: "Yes sir, that's correct."

Me: "Let me get this straight...You've closed the entry, without ever having publicly announced ANY information about the multi-hunt permit application, how or where to enter, or the deadline?"

WDFW: "No sir."

Me: "I'm sorry, what do you mean by "no sir"?"

WDFW: "The deadline was announced some time ago and the deadline closed a couple weeks ago."

Me: "That's interesting, several of my hunting buddies and I have been checking the Regulation and Seasons section of your website religiously since the beginning of February and have NEVER seen any such notification."

WDFW: "Well, it's on the website."

Me: "I'm there now. Can you kindly direct me to where this information is located?"

WDFW: "Ummm...okay, it'll take just a second for me to find the right page."

Me: "It's not under the Important Hunting Dates section or any of the other pages under Seasons and Regulations."

WDFW: "Really? ... it should be there."

Me: "I can assure you that it is not."

WDFW: "Well, perhaps you missed it, it should be there."

Me: "I haven't. Shouldn't it be one of those "important dates" like say for example the 2007 Special Permit Application Submission Due under the Application Due heading?"

...silence...

Me: "Hello?"

WDFW: "Yes, I'm still here...just looking...Hmmm, that's interesting ?it is not listed. Maybe it was taken off the list since the deadline has already passed."

Me: "No, as I've said, we've been checking your website for the announcement. In fact I printed that page a while ago. I have it here somewhere."

WDFW: "Hmmm...I can't find it...can I get your contact information and give you a call back?"

Me: "Sure, it's...."

WDFW: "Thanks, we'll get right back with you."

Me: "Okay, thank you."

...a couple days pass and so I call them again...

WDFW: "Hello, Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, how may I help you?"

Me: "This is... we spoke the other day about the multi-season hunt application problem?"

WDFW: "Oh yes, we've gotten a lot of calls about that. I spoke with the person in charge of this and he told me the entry deadline had definitely passed."

Me: "Yes, I remember you mentioning that the other day. You were going to find out where this information was supposedly publicly posted and get back with me."

WDFW: "Oh yes, now I remember! It was a news release."

Me: "A news release?"

WDFW: "Yes."

Me: (joking) "I generally make it a habit to watch the nightly news and I don't recall any of the nightly news anchors making mention of this."

WDFW: giggle..."No they probably wouldn't mention it."

Me: "Why wouldn't this information be posted under the Regulations and Seasons area, specifically under Important Dates? Don't you think that would make more sense?"

WDFW: "Well, I don't know, but yes it would make sense to put it there."

Me: "Okay...I don't see it as a heading under the New Release section."

WDFW: "You need to click on the WDFW News Releases."

Me: "Okay, I don't see any headlines relating to multi-season. Where should I be looking?"

WDFW: "Hmmm, I don't see it there either."

Me: "Oh wait, it's probably archived down here on the left."

WDFW: "Where?"

Me: "Scroll down until you see News Release Archive on the left side of your screen."

WDFW: "Okay."

Me: "Let's see...nothing under March...you said the deadline was March 31st right?"

WDFW: "Yes, I think that is correct."

Me: "Do you find it odd that there was no news release or alert in March to the effect that a deadline for a special hunt application was approaching?"

...silence...

Me: "Hello?"

WDFW: "Yes, I'm still here."

Me: "Did you hear me?"

WDFW: "I'm sorry, I was trying to find something relating to the multi-season application...could you repeat the question."

...question repeated as I begin to look under February

WDFW: "That is a little strange."

Me: "Indeed...maybe it's archived here under February."

...silence...

Me: "Here's something under February 23rd..."

WDFW: "Yeah, okay, I found it."

Me: "Well, clearly this is unacceptable."

WDFW: "What do you mean?"

Me: "What part of the search for this supposedly public information we just went through implies "readily available to the public"?"

WDFW: "What do you mean?"

Me: "I had to dig through your website with you in order to find an "important hunting date" that should be readily available to the public and located in a better and more appropriate location on your website. Having to dig around under a couple of obscure layers isn't exactly what I'd consider "public". That's unacceptable and not fair to all the people who have waited patiently for something in the regs to come out."

WDFW: "What do you mean?"

Me: "How would a person know to look under News Releases for Special Permit, Deadline, and Important Date information...you know, Seasons and Regulations type stuff?"

WDFW: "I don't know."

Me: "I don't know either, seems pretty silly don't you think?"

....silence....

Me: "Hello?"

WDFW: "Yes, I'm still here."

Me: "It seems like the fair thing to do here would be to re-open the entry publicly and reset the deadline for those interested in taking part in the application process."

....silence....

Me: "Hello?"

WDFW: "Yes, I'm still here."

Me: "Is there someone there that I can talk to about this? How about this Dave Ware fellow?"

WDFW: "Yes, I think he's in today."

Me: "Can you put me through to him please?"

WDFW: "Sure, one moment."

Me: "Okay, thank you."

WDFW: "I'll connect you now."

Me: "Okay, thank you."

....she dropped call.

... I re-dial.

WDFW: "Hello, Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, how may I help you?"

Me: "Yes, me again, you were going to connect me with Dave Ware?"

WDFW: "I'm sorry, we'll try that again."

....she dropped call...again.

... I re-dial...again.

WDFW: "Hello, Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, how may I help you?"

Me: "Dave Ware please."

WDFW: "I'm sorry, let me connect you."

....automated voice comes on the line and says, "the voice-mailbox for the person you are trying to reach is full, please try again.", and then abruptly hangs up.

... I re-dial...again.

WDFW: "Hello, Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, how may I help you?"

Me: "Hi, me again, Dave Ware's voicemail is apparently full....could yo..." (cut off by WDFW)

WDFW: "Oh, I was hoping that wasn't going to happen, he's been getting a lot of calls about this. There are some pretty upset people out there."

Me: "I'll bet. Consider me one of them. Could you please write down a message for him?"

WDFW: "Ummm...sure, could you hold on while I get something to write with?"

Me: "Fine."

?silence?

Me: "Hello?"

WDFW: "Yes, I'm still here."

Me: "Ready?"

WDFW: "Yes, I'm ready."

Me: "Could you please have him give me a call regarding this multi-season hunt application situation...my name is...my cell phone is..."

....silence....

Me: "Hello?"

WDFW: "Yes, I'm still here."

Me: "Did you get that?"

WDFW: "Yes, is that all?"

Me: "Yes, thank you for passing my information along to him."

WDFW: "You are welcome, have a nice day."

Me: "You too!"

...after a week or so, I received no call from Dave Ware...so I picked up the phone...

WDFW: "Hello, Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, how may I help you?"

Me: "Could I speak with Dave Ware please."

WDFW: "Sure, let me connect you."

....automated voice comes on the line and says, "the voice-mailbox for the person you are trying to reach is full, please try again.", and then promptly hangs up.

... I re-dial...again.

WDFW: "Hello, Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, how may I help you?"

Me: "Hi, me again, Dave Ware's voicemail is apparently still full. He hasn't returned my call."

WDFW: "When did you leave a message?

Me: "When I called last, you wrote it down...did the message get to him?"

WDFW: "Yes."

Me: "Is he in today."

WDFW: "Yes, I think so."

Me: "Could you put him on the phone please?"

...should have expected it...the whole full-voicemail-dropped-call-re-dial routine....

Me: "Listen, I'm generally a very patient man, but this is ridiculous...if Dave Ware is there right now, I'd like for you to put him on the line, right now."

WDFW: "Can you hold please, I'll try to find him."

Me: "Fine."

?very short silence?

WDFW: "He's in a meeting right now, can I take a message?"

...repeat of last written message asking him to call me...

...no attempt to contact me was ever made...

...After several similar attempts, I called again and was magically/finally able to get through to Dave Ware nearly a month later...

Me: "Hi Dave, my name is .... I would like to talk with you about re-opening the multi-season special hunt application."

WDFW, Dave Ware: "I've gotten a lot of calls about that and I'm afraid we are not going to be able to do that, you'll just have to wait until next year like everyone else."

Me: "But Dave, there was not a public announcement of the multi-season special hunt application...how were sportsmen supposed to know about its existence or the entry deadline? It certainly was not anywhere under the Seasons and Rules section of your website and it certainly wasn't listed under the Important Dates section of your website. Come to eventually find out it was tucked in an obscure news release that came out way back in February - hardly a relevant place to announce an important hunting date...don't you think."

WDFW, Dave Ware: ?I know, we could have definitely handled it better.?

Me: "Not that many people look through that section, but there wasn?t even a news release in March alerting sportsmen about the deadline at the end of the month!"

WDFW, Dave Ware: ?Like I said, we could have definitely handled it better and we'll try harder next year.?

Me: ?Why can't you just re-open the opportunity for people to put in for the multi-season application and extend the deadline for entry, after all, the regs finally just came out and people would be better prepared to determine if taking part in the multi-season draw is even worth it for them now that they know the dates of the various seasons.?

WDFW, Dave Ware: ?Look, we are not going to do that.?

Me: ?Why not??

WDFW, Dave Ware: ?We have already ranked the people that have put in for it.?

Me: ?What does that have to do with anything? That's irrelevant since you never posted the information in a reasonable place for people to find out about it in the first place?Why can't you just reopen the opportunity for people to put in for it and extend the deadline? Seems to me there is plenty of time.?

WDFW, Dave Ware: ?It wouldn't be fair to the people who already put in for it.?

Me: ?What about it not being fair to all the people who missed out on the opportunity? What about all the revenue F&G missed out on? Doesn?t Fish & Game need the extra revenue that more applications would provide? If not, why do I have to pay as much as I do for tags??

?silence?

Me: ?Hello??

WDFW, Dave Ware: "Look, I admit the application process wasn?t handled very well this year but we are not going to open it back up. You?ll just have to wait until next year like everyone else."

Me: ?Dave, I'm not calling on behalf of myself, I'm calling on behalf of all the sportsmen that got royally screwed out of the chance at being able to hunt during multiple seasons.?

?silence?

Me: ?Hello? Dave, are you hearing me??

WDFW, Dave Ware: "Yes, but you've got to understand the timing of these things.?

Me: ?What timing, how long does it take a computer to rank and randomly select the winners?seconds?maybe??

?from that point an extended and increasingly heated debate begins that comes full circle to?

Me: ?Please explain to me in rationale, logical terms why can't you just re-open the application opportunity??

WDFW, Dave Ware: "We CAN reopen it but I'm just not going to, okay??

?astonished silence?both of us stunned by his inadvertent admission of the real truth.

Me: ?Okay, I'd ask you why you can't reopen the application process again, but now we both know that you actually could?so, now?which of the two would you prefer, A) Do the right thing and publicly re-open the multi-season special hunt application for the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of those of us that would like the chance to participate, and in doing so help generate some much needed revenue for fish and wildlife habitat and management, or 2) choose to do the lazy and selfish thing which will end up with you, your boss Dave Britell, and your boss?s bosses Larry Peck and Jeff Koenings having to spend a lot of time answering several hundred, perhaps thousands, of extremely irate telephone calls and e-mails from sportsmen of this state?

?silence?

Me: Hello?

WDFW, Dave Ware: "You do what you have to do.?

So I am?

If you are upset by the way the Dave Ware and the Washington State Department of Fish & Wildlife has severely mishandled the 2007 Multi-Season Hunt Application, let's motivate them by expressing your own personal extreme dissatisfaction.

(360) 902-2515
Dave Ware - [email protected], [email protected]
Dave Brittell - [email protected], [email protected]
Larry Peck - [email protected], [email protected]
Jeff Koenings - [email protected], [email protected]



________________________________________________
Liberalism is the philosophy of Western suicide.
 
i just think Washington is the worst place in the west for any type hunting......having lived here on the west side and hunted the east for 30 years.....it has done nothing but get worse just like any saltwater fishing.....Sure any tags are great but when the animals are sub par and and the numbers even worse I gave it up and hunt ID,WY,MT,CO,Utah and NEW Mexico....rather build points there and see 10- 30 bucks a day then spend a season hoping for a shot at one.....Washington Fish and Game is the worst.....I'm speaking from all levels ..I graduated from the UW w/ a Fish and wildlife degree and worked for Oregon,Wa and Wyoming and Washington is by far the worst for everything.....look at the odds for an elk tag cow permit on average w/ no points 1 in 20 to 30...Moose 1 in 4,000......Multi tags are just another scheme to get our money....and let us hunt for poorly managed game......Things were great here 20-30 years ago but when you over sell tags to an ever increasing population it will just get worse.....But that how they make thier money
 
Why is Washington even mentioned here on Monster Mulies ? Except for a lucky few a 120 class buck is a monster here....There were the good old days but unless you are a shirpa w/ unlimited time and access to private farm land in Winthrop or N. Cascades and draw a rut tag in Swakane and Entiat then dont bother!!!!!!Mutli tags are just another way to get your money....
 
>Why is Washington even mentioned here
>on Monster Mulies ? Except
>for a lucky few a
>120 class buck is a
>monster here....There were the good
>old days but unless you
>are a shirpa w/ unlimited
>time and access to private
>farm land in Winthrop or
> N. Cascades and draw
>a rut tag in Swakane
>and Entiat then dont bother!!!!!!Mutli
>tags are just another way
>to get your money....

X2, you have a much better chance at a big buck sitting on your ass at home waiting to draw a special tag and not even bother to hunt the early archery, muzz, or modern seasons, hell even the late archery season is terrible, and don't even get me started on how crappy the high hunts are!

Michael
"What I could do, I was doing, and that was simply putting my butt on the line for my country, the country that I loved, so that all the protestors and the academics and the liberal intelligentsia back home could enjoy the right to protest against people like me, the hated middleclass." --Gary R. Smith, US Special Forces
 
Gotta love Washington hunting! I didn't even know these tags existed until I read about them here. Wouldn't apply for anyway because like jrd432003 says this state is a joke. You buy a hunting license to hunt deer, then you have to buy a different hunting license to hunt ducks. The controlled hunt tags and 'bonus' point system is useless, your much better off taking the underwear section from the sears catalog into the bathroom to get jacked around! I feel bad for all of the guys who can't afford to go elsewhere and will leave the WA big game for them.

To bushcraft- Thanks for pointing out how ridiculous their system is to the F&G. That took some patience!
 
LAST EDITED ON Jun-12-07 AT 08:54AM (MST)[p]jrd432003:
While I agree with you about our WDFW being incompetent (like almost every other agency in this state) our hunting is far from horrible. I find it funny that most of the folks that I hear saying that this state has no quality animals never get out of their rigs except to take a leak, throw garbage into the woods or shoot at stumps. I am not implying that you are that type, just making an observation. We are not like other states where you can road hunt your way to a 180" buck or a 350" bull. Here it takes a little more effort than most guys are willing to put out. We have plenty to "book" bucks and bulls, you just have to do the ground work/home work and be consistent. Also, a lot of our better hunting is on public land open during general seasons. You absolutely do not have to depend on a special permit or private land to nail a bruiser.

Eric

Ultra liberal, wolf loving, illiterate, gay, hippie midgets on crack piss me off!!!!

deerline.gif
 
I was gonna put in my two cents, but Eric just said it for me. Well said pb!

How did we all hear about it and a small few didn't??
 
My first thought was to get defensive, but then again, you are right there are no deer here worth hunting. I do take the whole private land thing personal though.
 
I think that the tag is overpriced for what you are getting, but if I hadn't forgot to apply this year and had drawn it, I would still have paid the price to be able to hunt that much more.

In response to those that think the hunting in WA is a joke/poor, I would reply that I hope that there are alot more of you negative, lazy, road hunter types out there, because that means that there are fewer people out there really hunting for a big buck or bull.

Now I realize that WA may not be the deer state that CO is, or the elk state that UT is, but it's home, it's better than nothing, and if you are willing to put in some effort, you can get an animal like the two pictured below. These two bucks are from the last two years, and both score over 165".

2005, my buck
0632885-R1-014-5A.jpg


2006, son's first deer
DSCN1603.jpg

DSCN1596.jpg
 
Oops, I posted my message before I finished what I was going to say. I was just going to add that in the last 10 years (a combined 11 years of hunting), my son and I have shot a total of 4 bucks that score over 165", for me, that's a good buck every three years, and those aren't bad odds in my book.

Good luck to those of you who are willing to put in the time and effort. Scott
 
45e5ea6209d453af.gif


I really enjoy hunting this state and will continue to as long as i know there's a chance to find a deer like those once in a while.
for you whining, sniveling complainers...i agree with bone and the other guys. if you're afraid of a little work, you'd better stay home. usually it's more about the hunt than the kill for most guys anyway.
 
If you guys think Washington is bad, please don't waste your time and money putting in for Oregon. It is by far the worst state I have hunted in. I have hunted in five states, with my largest typical just under 190 and my largest non typical about 210. The 190 buck was shot in Utah and the non typical is from Washington. Between my son and I we have 18 bucks mounted and out of the 18, we shot 15 of them in Washington. I guess I am getting off the subject, but what I am trying to say is I have the money to hunt anywhere I want to hunt and still I love to hunt Washington. I do like the idea of the multi season tag and hope I draw in the second round this friday. That will increase my odds of another great buck here in the state I was born and raised in.
 

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