Commission Strikes Down Elk Tag Proposal

A proposal to limit general elk tag holders to shooting only spike bulls was turned down by the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission last weekend.

Less-restrictive elk hunting regulations were approved for northeastern Washington and western Washington than had been proposed by wildlife managers.

State Fish and Wildlife Department officials said a statewide spike-only elk season would have helped increase bull-to-cow ratios in elk herds.

The commission expanded previously designated three-point elk hunts and limited-entry elk hunts. In Western Washington, areas that had been open for any bull were converted to spike bull hunting with branched bulls by permit. But in northeastern Washington general tag holders will still be able to hunt for any bull.

The commission also set a new staggered start for the opening of elk seasons. The 1997 elk seasons in the Blue Mountains all will end on Nov. 2. But they will start as follows:

Oct. 20 for hunters who draw branched-antler bull tags.

Oct. 25 for hunters with general spike-only tags and those going for any bull in northeastern Washington.

Oct. 27 for hunters who were unsuccessful in applying for special bull or antlerless elk tags.

Oct. 28 for hunters who draw antlerless elk tags.

In response to passage of Initiative 655, the panel expanded black bear and cougar hunting seasons. The ballot measure banned the use of hounds to hunt both the cougar and black bear. It also prohibited the use of bait to trap black bear.

Beginning next season, the black bear season will be three months and a week in Eastern Washington and four months in Western Washington.

The general cougar season will run Aug. 1-March 15. Hunters no longer must enter a drawing in order to buy a cougar hunting permit.

Idaho trails ungroomed

With more than double the normal snowpack, Forest Service rangers say smowmobile riders who stray too far off marked routes in some areas, including the St. Joe Ranger District, could “sink out of sight.”

No St. Joe areas have been groomed, but several popular trails are open, including Bullion Road (Forest Service Road 570) and the North Fork St. Joe River Snowmobile Trail, where riders should avoid the dangerous avalanche chute at the summit of Moon Pass.

Timber Creek Road (Forest Service Road 201) is also open. Riders should note that portions of Road 201 which continue to be plowed for log hauling will be closed.

Bluff Creek (Forest Service Road 509) and the St. Joe River Road (Forest Highway 50) will be plowed through January. Fishook Creek Road (Forest Service Road 301) to Rock Run and Cemetery Ridge Road (Forest Service Road 1907) will be plowed until spring.

For updated backcountry snow conditions in the Idaho Panhandle National Forest, call (208) 765-7323. For info on specific trails in the St. Joe District, call (208) 245-5417.

, DataTimes