About 4 years ago I was late turning in my punch card and I got a "return" envelope from WDFW requesting me to send it in - which of course, I did.

The salmon section of my cards is near full every year.

Anyway, every year since then, they have been sending me an envelope. This year I got it several weeks before the license even expired.

So my question is this: are they purposly targeting cards with lots of punches to present a higher than actual average for the sportsman?

Has anyone else had this happen? I think their letter claims that they randomly send out the envelopes, but 4 years in a row seems suspicious to me.

We all know how much political BS drives WDFW decisions.

If you don't turn in your card they take the number of not turned in punch cards and use some formula to assign x amount of fish to each card. How they assign a fish to a particular area i don't know.

I believe I heard Kurt Kramer describing this process once at one of the regulation setting meetings where they ask for sportsmans input to make us feel like were represented.

I just thought it was nice to ask for my punch cards back on their dime rather than mine.

I believe I read that all un-returned punch cards are counted as if they were totally filled up.

Sorry to remind you Easy Limits, but it is your dime! remember that $wad you had to fork over for your license?,

Hey Qwick

You talking about Kurt Kramer the biologist. If so I believe I have heard him say it also that way to a bunch when I fishing an old haunt back home in Eastern Washington.

Ah yes, you are right Papafsh. How soon I am to forget.

Eh, they've sent me envelopes and my cards definitely reflect my cracker status. So I doubt they're targeting the fish-studs.

My wife has gotten envelopes and surveys before but they have never asked me.I usually send mine in although since they got rid of the c/r info they do not have a reflection of the fish I have caught.I think for some reason a name does get flagged for one reason or the other because it was three or four years in a row that my wifes name came up.

How about you cannot by the next years punchcard until the old one is returned?? easy simple you'g get a high percentage of them returned

If your a hunter that's how it is...if you don't report on your hunting sucsess for each tag you bought,no license for the next year.

The past two yrs I've gotten a survey for EVERY species I've hunted or fished for. They always say it's a random survey but like I said I've gotten one probably 15-20 times in the last couple yrs.

My son gets picked near every year yet never has had a fish on his card. I only have it for him so that he can go out with me and I teach catch and release to him. So I think they just have a select sampling pattern accross a varied base of people.

Jason S

My license vendor told me that starting next year, the fishing licenses will be like the hunting licenses in that a new one will not be issued til the state has received the old one. I noticed this year that we did not have the option of leaving used cards at the dealer - they have to be mailed in.

It would be totally irrational for the WDFW to count all unreturned cards as full - although I have heard that before. If that was the case, then us sportsmen would really be getting hosed.

The dealer in Port Orchard (Bay St Outfitters) collected punch cards and mailed them in.

To not issue till the old ones are returned is retarded dut to the over lapping of licences years with seasons.

Jason S

A token form of protest. I will not report the fish I take home as long as the tribes block rivers with nets and police themselves. I am sure the indians do not report all of their catch. I fill out my catch card during the season so as not to get busted. I don't send it in. The WDFW eventually sends me a blank form asking me to report my previous year's catch. I send it back blank.