I got in touch with JR at WDFW enforcement today and here is what she said about the bonus point deal.

The officer in the field has some discretion on whether or not to award bonus points and/or monetary rewards for reports of both fish AND game violations. The better the job that you did documenting the infraction and scope of the infraction would be something that the officer would use in considering what type of reward you would be eligible for. Her number is 360-902-2934.

Take it this way. If you report someone who is one trout over limit, you may be able to receive a small reward of $50 or so, maybe nothing. If you report 3 snaggers taking kings in a closed area, and they have 6 on the beach already, or a person taking a deer out of season, doe without a doe tag, etc., you may be in line to collect as high as a $500 reward and even 10 preferrence points towards a favorite hunt of yours. (Are you listening, Hey Y'all?)

This can be an incentive to treat those gamies politely when you see them so that if you ever report a violation to them, they will remember you as a good guy/gal.

The "eyes in the woods" project sounds like a good program to get involved in as they will teach you the proper way to get info on violators WITHOUT putting yourself in harm's way, and also it will help you to build a relationship with some of the local enforcement officers.

eye in the woods

This way those who want to really give something back to the wildlife effort can really make a difference. There are opportunities to volunteer in both fish and wildlife activities. I am not a tree hugger, cut many a tree down, but some of you have participated in some clean-up activities which are great. You could even use your participation to help get your volunteer hours for the Master Hunter ed program.

Andy