HUNTING –The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission will consider adopting 17 new hunting rules for the upcoming season when it convenes Friday and Saturday April 12-13 in Olympia.

Among other proposals on the agenda, the panel will consider allowing bowhunters to use illuminated arrow nocks, which can be helpful in finding and retrieving arrows.

All of the proposals scheduled for a vote are posted online.

In other business, a plan will be discussed for transferring the Fish and Wildlife Department's Hunter Education Division and certain wildlife-conflict responsibilities from the Enforcement Program to the Wildlife Program.

PREDATORS— The potential impact of wolves on northeastern Washington game species such as deer and elk will be discussed in a public meeting set by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife on Wednesday (March 27) in Colville.

• The meeting is scheduled from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Colville Ag Trade Center, 317 West Astor Ave.

State and local wildlife managers will present information on wolf monitoring in the area along with population trends and harvest data for white-tailed deer, elk and moose.

They’ll also discuss the status of wolves in the region and the impact wolves have had on deer and elk populations in other western states, according to a WDFW media release.

Dave Ware, WDFW game manager, said the department has not documented any measureable impacts from wolves on game species in Washington, but recognizes that reports from other states have raised public concerns.

“We want to talk to people in northeast Washington about this issue because that’s the area of the state that has the largest number of wolves,” Ware said. “We’d encourage area residents who have concerns to attend this meeting.”

ENDANGERED SPECIES — Wildlife agents plan to use a helicopter to drive deer into nets TODAY (March 19) at a refuge along the Columbia River at Cathlamet, Wash.

They hope to capture about a dozen endangered Columbian white-tailed deer at the Julia Butler-Hansen Refuge to move them to a refuge near Ridgefield.

An effort that began in January to move about 50 deer isn’t going as well as wildlife officials hoped, according to the Daily News:

• Agents have captured 23 deer, but one died while being transported, apparently from stress.
• Another was later found dead and three more were killed at Ridgefield by a coyote or other predator.

Officials are moving the deer because they fear a dike will break, flooding the refuge.

WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT — Sinlahekin Wildlife Area manager Dale Swedberg doesn't just preach the gospel of rejuvenating wildlife habitat with controlled prescribed fires — he'll let you see for yourself.

A website with an eye-opening collection of photos compares historic photos of the Sinlanhekin Wildlife Area with photos of the same locations made in recent years.

 While the northcentral Washington landscape near Loomis has been improved in some ways, the most glaring observation is the increase in tree cover due to fire supression in the past 90 years.  Trees are good, but too many of them clogging the landscape eliminates the habitat diversity needed by wildlife.

Fire has been around as long as life because fire depends on living things to produce the fuels fire needs to exist. A person would think that there might be some important connections developed in such a long relationship. — Dale Swedberg

Resources for learning more about prescribed burns include:

• Washington Prescribed Fire Council established in 2012;
• Coalition of Prescribed Fire Councils established in 2007
• North Central Washington Prescribed Fire Council established in 2006
    

HUNTING — Time's running out for hunters planning to make applications for Montana's special deer and elk hunting permits and non-resident combo licenses. 

The deadline is Friday.

See details here.

POACHING — Up to $5,000 in rewards is being offered for a tip that leads to the conviction of the culprits in the latest spree poaching case in Eastern Washington.

Five white-tailed deer, including two bucks and three does, were discovered in the Grand Coulee area of Lincoln County on Saturday with only the backstrap and hindquarters removed. The deer were shot and left to rot just a few feet from each other, and appeared to be fairly fresh kills.

This is the sixth multiple-deer poaching incident documented in Eastern Washington this winter, including two incidents in Spokane County.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is offering a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual(s) responsible for this spree killing and the Human Society of the United States has pledged another $2,500.

Information can be submitted anonymously:

1. Contact Officer Wood in Lincoln County, (509) 892-1001.
2. Call the state Poaching Hotline, (877) 933-9847.
3. Email the tip to reportpoaching@dfw.wa.gov.
4. Text the information to TIP411 (847411).

ENDANGERED SPECIES — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is in the process of moving about 50 Columbian white-tailed deer from a refuge near Cathlamet where they could drown because an old dike is expected to fail.

If they didn’t drown the deer — the western-most subspecies of white-tailed deer — might die of hypothermia of starvation, setting back efforts to restore the animals, a state endangered species.

The Daily News reports the deer are being moved from the Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge to another federal preserve near Ridgefield.

Work began in January and 11 deer had been moved as of Tuesday. Wildlife agents are taking special care while darting or netting the deer to avoid stress that could kill them.

Columbian white-tailed deer are native to parts of southwest Washington and northwest Oregon.

The Columbian white-tailed deer was federally listed as endangered in 1968, at which time only a small population was known to survive on islands and a small area of mainland in Washington along the lower Columbia River. In 1978, a small population of Columbian white-tailed deer was identified in Douglas County, in Southwest Oregon, and subsequently listed as endangered. A recovery plan was published in 1983. Since then, the Douglas County population has rebounded and was delisted in July 2003.

POACHING — The Idaho Department of Fish and Game is seeking information on the illegal shooting of three deer within the boundaries of Dalton Gardens, a small community in Kootenai County just north of Coeur d’Alene. 

The incidents occurred between Thursday, February 7 and Saturday February 9.

A buck, a doe and a fawn whitetail deer were each found dead, each shot with a small caliber bullet.  The three carcasses were found at two different locations within Dalton Gardens.  The deer were all left to waste.

The deer season in northern Idaho is currently closed, so the shooting of a deer is a violation of state wildlife laws. 

Discharging a firearm within the city limits of Dalton Gardens is also illegal.

Anyone with information regarding these incidents should contact the Idaho Fish and Game Department at 769-1414; or, the Citizens Against Poaching (CAP) hotline, at 1 800 632-5999. 

Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a CAP reward if the information provided leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible.

WILDLIFE — Helicopters are getting ready to fly for a wide-ranging wildlife research effort in Idaho's Clearwater region.

HUNTING — Last week my outdoors column pointed out the benefits and responsibilities of getting permission to hunt on private land.

A few days later, I noticed this report from the area Fish and Wildlife Police weekly activity summary. In case you don't get the point, most landowners frown on game hogs and illegal hunting activity even if they initially were generous enough to hunt on their land.

From Region 1 wildlife enforcement Capt. Dan Rahn:

 Officer Spurbeck received a report of three bucks that were shot legally but only the back-straps were removed from the carcasses.  Officer Spurbeck met with the reporting party who showed Officer Spurbeck the three carcasses.  The reporting party gave Officer Spurbeck the names of the people who were hunting on the reporting parties land with permission.  Officer Spurbeck contacted Officer Leonetti to interview the subjects in Pierce County. 

WILDLIFE WATCHING — Here's a rut report from eagle-eye Curlew resident Foster Fanning to go with his photo, above:

Pursuing passions in the wild…

Had a unique opportunity to watch a whitetail stag in courtship with a young doe Friday. A ruckus in the cottonwood grove across the Kettle River from my home caught our attention. Three whitetail deer were running, the does flashing the ‘danger’ signal they are named for. Watching for a moment we sorted out that a large four-point male was in pursuit of one of the young does.

They had dashed down off the river bank, splashing through the shallows and across the gavel bar. The doe managed to double back and before the buck realized and changed direction she had again jumped off the river bank and made her way under a hanging rootwad and rapidly dropped to the ground and went completely still and silent. The buck caught her scent and doubled back himself but ended up momentarily losing track of the subject of his lust. He walked the riverbank sniffing the air.

About that time I had set up camera and tripod in my yard across the river. The buck as well as pursued doe, now in hiding, took note of me. My presence wasn’t enough to throw him off the chase, but things slowed quite a bit.

I caught this image of the courtship, showing part of the story; the buck in pursuit, the doe in hiding and the proximity of their courtship. End of the story, as far as we could see was the doe springing to her feet and fleeing into the brush, almost tempting the buck with how close she passed to him. Of course, he took off in hot pursuit.

It will give me a pause to wonder when I view next year’s spotted fawns if maybe, just maybe…

WILDLIFE — Most deer hunters retreated to the great indoors after the late whitetail buck hunting season in northeastern Washington closed on Monday.

But the bucks are still in the rut. Conceptions typically are peaking right around today.

Montana outdoor photographer Jaime Johnson caught the buck (above) showing there's a lot of hard work to do out there maintaining the whitetail populations, but somebody's got to do it.

Said Johnson:

We managed to get into the whitetail pretty heavy today. We witnessed many bucks heavy in the rut. This guy was located in some pretty thick stuff. He decided to stop chasing the does long enough to… Let us get this image!

POACHING — Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife enforcement officers are seeking information about a Spokane-area spree killing involving at least three deer.

The poaching incident occurred last week near the intersection of Madison and Thorpe Roads near the Painted Hills Golf Course.  Three white-tailed deer were shot from the road in a “no-shooting” area at about 6:30 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 10, says Madonna Luers, department spokeswoman.

Two of the deer were left injured and paralyzed in the field.  One of the deer was taken.

Anyone with information about this crime is encouraged to call the Spokane Regional WDFW Office, (509) 892-1001 and ask for Officer Douglas King. 

Information can also be called in to the WDFW poaching hotline at 877-933-9847, or texted to TIP411.

Persons providing information that leads to the arrest of the person(s) responsible for these poachings may be eligible for a reward and may remain anonymous.

HUNTING — Reports have been coming in for two weeks that whitetail bucks are actively scraping, sparring and now they're pursuing does.

Rattling is a good hunting tactic in the early portion of the rut.

The late season for whitetail bucks opened in select northeastern Washington units Saturday and the season runs through Nov. 19

Nate Krohn photographed this bruiser with his trail cam at a baited plot on Nov. 6. He also had remote photos of sparring bucks.  He was planning to be out this week rattling to help his wife put a tag a nice 6x4 pointer he's been following.

“I have his sheds and mounted them on a skull and he scored out in the low 170's,” Krohn said.

  

HUNTING — The whitetail deer mating season — better known as “the rut” — is the best few weeks of the year to tag a big buck. 

The rut in Eastern Washington will be reaching it's peak just about the time the late buck season closes on Nov. 19.

HUNTING — While elk hunting in the Blue Mountains last week, I saw whitetails at elevation 5400 feet — and I also saw several scrapes.

But Montana outdoor photographer Jaime Johnson saw more than that on Thursday.

We spent most of yesterday chasing whitetails. We noticed several does with roughed up back hair. We also saw several bucks whose necks were swollen and witnessed several jousting. It was raining off and on, but we stuck with it and ended up with over a hundred good images!

The large buck was pretty messed up – he was kicking everyone’s butt. We affectionately called him Duke (he walked sideways like John Wayne and didn’t take crap from anyone).

HUNTING – Eastern Washington deer check station results indicate that hunters have been filling their tags at a higher rate than last year.

And the last buck of the general season checked Sunday afternoon in the Methow area (left) sported the largest set of antlers measured at the Winthrop station in 17 years, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife reports.

The Deer Park station on Saturday and Sunday checked 196 hunters with 53 deer. That count included 44 whitetails, 24 of which were antlerless deer harvested by seniors, disabled or youth hunters. The overall whitetail-mule deer success rate was  27 percent, up from 16 percent on the same weekend last year.

Nineteen more hunters were checked this year than last year at Deer Park. The difference may be last year’s initial negative reaction to new four-point minimum in Units 117 and 121, ”and possible misunderstanding about antlerless hunting still being available to seniors, disabled, youth hunters,” said Madonna Luers, department spokeswoman in Spokane.

The Chattaroy station saw 67 hunters with seven deer for a success rate of only 12 percent. The station wasn’t operated last year so no comparison can be made.

Winthrop check station reported hunters had a success rate of about 20 percent during the general rifle season that ended Sunday.

”The last deer we checked for the season was a very large 9x10 point mule deer with a 33-plus-inch antler width,” said Scott Fitkin, district wildlife biologist.  ”This is likely the largest set of antlers seen at the check station in at least the last 17 years.  The lucky hunter harvested the estimated 4 ½ year-old animal in the Tripod Burn area which appears to be producing excellent summer deer forage 6 years after the fire.”

Hunting for white-tailed deer continues through Friday (Oct. 26) in Units 101, 105, 108, 111, 113, 124 for any buck and in Units 117 and 121 for 4-pt. mininim.

No more check stations are scheduled to be operated in northeastern Washington until the last weekend of the late whitetail buck hunt, which runs Nov. 10-19.

POACHING — Five deer were shot, killed and left to rot north of Reardan around Oct. 4, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife police said today.

It’s the second five-deer spree-poaching case the agency has investigated in the Spokane Region in two weeks.

The Lincoln County deer included three bucks and two does shot with small-caliber firearms in and near an alfalfa field.

In late September, five whitetails were found dead in another case north of Spokane Valley after spotlighting activity was noticed near the intersecton of Farwell and Peck roads. Two fawns in that case had been run over by a vehicle; the others shot.

It's honorable to rat on scumbag poachers, but you can also earn hefty rewards or bonus points offered for information leading to arrests in these cases.

Call the agency’s regional office in Spokane, (509) 892-1001. 

View Larger Map

WILDLIFE ENFORCEMENT — Five white-tailed deer were killed and left to rot north of Spokane Valley on Sept. 28 in a poaching case state wildlife police are still investigating.

Spotlighting was reported around 1 a.m. near the intersection of Farwell and Peck roads. Two fawns killed in the incident apparently were intentionally run over, officers said.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife police are looking for more tips. Report poaching incidents by phone at (877) 933-9847, or text message to TIP411.

Weekdays, call (509) 892-1001 and ask for Officer Jason Snyder.

Persons providing information that leads to the arrest of the person(s) responsible for these poachings may be eligible for a reward of up to $2,500 from WDFW and Conservation Northwest.

Informants may remain anonymous.

WILDLIFE — The mating season for white-tailed deer is a month or more away, but bucks already are tuning up.

 

For the past week, we’ve noticed the whitetail rattling antlers. Nothing serious, more for fun.

Tonight we observed these bucks jousting. One would watch while the other two rattled antlers.

Then they would switch and the observer would join in while another watched.