...and there are elk wounded in every day hunting situations.

Yeah, but its not everyday that mom, pop and jr. as well as local media get to watch elk turned into target practice along a major highway. Is that how you want hunters perceived? Not me.

WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE Print Version
NEWS RELEASE
600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091 RSS Feeds

December 30, 2009
Contact: Margaret Ainscough, (360) 902-2408

WDFW Director Phil Anderson's statement on
archery elk hunt near Concrete, Skagit County

"I and others at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) share the public’s concern over the archery elk hunt that took place December 26 near Concrete in Skagit County.

"The hunt was intended to control damage by moving elk off fields and encouraging them to return to forested areas. Property owners in the vicinity had complained that elk were trampling fields, knocking over fences, damaging orchards and vegetable crops, and creating traffic hazards on area roads.

"Unfortunately, the hunt was not carried out in a manner consistent with WDFW’s Hunter’s Code of Conduct, and we took immediate action to close the archery hunt in that area.

"The behavior that took place violated a number of the principles of the Hunter’s Code of Conduct that is published in the state’s hunting rules pamphlet and that is emphasized in all our hunter education courses. The code emphasizes the need for hunters to show respect for wildlife and to be considerate of non-hunters. In addition, it encourages hunters to behave responsibly and urges them to follow high ethical standards to ensure that the tradition of hunting can be passed on to future generations.

"The future of hunting in this state depends on hunters who behave appropriately, consistent with this recognized code of conduct. It is clear that the inappropriate behavior of a few can jeopardize hunting for the many who respect their sport and the tradition of hunting.

"Elk damage has been, and will continue to be, a problem in this area. I want to assure those who have expressed concern over this hunt that, in the future, WDFW wildlife managers will seek alternative ways to address elk damage in Skagit Valley."

the point is, we are the intruders not the elk, the wolfs, bears, cougars are supposed to take care of elks

i heard of a story on the o/p that the elk herd was gona be killed off in town, wtf, if there was no town we wouldnt have to kill them off,

freekin cry me a river cuz elk and deer were eatin your stupid ass apple trees and roses\

i get the fact that people gotta eat, i get the fact people gotta hunt to eat but this was leagal (not moral)

so whatever

Ya just aren't grasping it yet.

If you going to take an Elk with a Bow you can expect it to cover some ground after it's hit. These elk dropped close enough to where they were shot that a front loader was used to load them. I have seen Elk cover ridicules amounts of ground with solid just behind the leg chest shots from a 338 win mag.

It does not say any of the Elk that were hit were not recovered.

this was not a hunt although it was incorrectly titled one. The first mistake made.

There was a reporter there before it happened a game warden and a team of people assembled and waiting to drive the animals back across highway 20 AFTER the elk were put down and even a plan to close down the highway to do it.

no one with a clue could of expected these animals to drop in there tracks.
and the fact that one of these horrible so called hunters were able to get multiple arrows in a wounded elk says they were trying to do the job as humanely as they could.
I would of rather watched this happen than watch a wolf start eating one while it was still alive.

Why are we intruders. We are the only free ranging wild animals left on land and only guilty of being on the top of the food chain. The real world and what sometimes needs to be done isn't always pretty

I chose to be most offended by the reporter ...Art

Yea your not being trapped by the media because you cant read and absorb the information presented. Nowhere in the article did it say that there were "2 arrows stuck in it hind end" (whatever that means).

The actual quote reads like this: (now go slow and read it out loud) "A few of the animals had arrows embedded in their hides and were bleeding but were still upright and running."

Here is what you should have figured out if you know anything about bowhunitng:
1. The hide covers the entire animal. Supprisingly the hide even covers the vital areas.

2. Animals shot with a bow will usually run upright until they bleed, hemorage, and die. Supprisingly they run and bleed at the same time.


You need to read the article for what is written and not add anything to it. If you are an informed hunter with knowledge, then you can clearly see the angle of this article is written against hunting, hunters, and the WDFW. If you are not an informaed hunter with knowledge, then you are sucked into a false image created by your own imagination. Hell, you even imagined words that arent even in the article.

What do you imagine when the article says "The state game officer kept his binoculars trained on a tightly clustered group of about 70 elk in a pasture surrounded by several men armed with high-powered bows." I'm sure you are imagining Mel Gibson with a "high-powered bow" and the entire Brave Heart scene attacking the elk like they are a small group of baby seals that cant get away. 70 elk, even "tightly clustered" takes up quite a bit of space. How many hunters is included in "several"? Is it 6 or is it 600? There were only 6 elk killed so I think its closer to 6 hunters. There is no way 6 hunters could suround 70 elk the way it is being portrayed in this story.

That because it was on a major highway. Mom, pop, and jr are too fat, lazy, and uninformed to do any better. If its not near a road, their TV screen, or in an article written by Dick they wont even know it happens. You might think about changing your mind set here. If you want hunters to look good or be percieved good then you cant let Dick Clever wright sh!t like this. You need to express to mom, pop, and jr. that this was not wrong and this is a managed hunt with a very low success killing method. There must be more facts stated for people to absorb the true information.

My favorite part "One elk cow’s entrails were dropping from her belly, the result of a wound possibly inflicted when she didn’t quite clear a barbed wire fence, theorized Worth Allen, an officer with the La Conner unit of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, who was at the scene." Best two words in that whole quote are "possibly" and "theorized". Neither statement is factual or confirmed, only speculation. For dummies, that statement is fact. For informed people that statement is read with a little uncertanty that it might not be true. How is it that there was not a cry for "extremely low fences" to be built so elk could clear them and not get injured. Sure nobody is blaming the farmers fence for being too high. Could it be that the elk was injured by an arrow? Could the elk have injured it self trying to get in the pasture before shooting light? Could the elk have not been injured at all and Dick is a moron and cant grasp the physical world and imagined intestines in his front row seat to HORROR (OOOOHHHH)?

One day you will understand that you are not seperate from this earth and are part of it. Until then go talk to the PETA hippies; their uniformed asses will except your statements and pat you on the back.

Gentlemen:
My original intent in posting this thread was to invite constructive discussion on the reported event, the reporter himself, and State agencies involved (WDFW & WSP). Thank you all for your participation. As a next step, and to hopefully give our online efforts some legs in the field, I'll give Ms. Ainscough at WDFW a call on Monday to provide her with a link to this thread. I'd like to inquire as to any post-event shifts in agency policy. Given the WDFW press release posted above, I am particularly interested in discussing what violations of the cited "Hunter Code of Ethics" occurred and how the WDFW didn't also create a situation that would likely result in such violations. The participating hunters seem to be the sole scapegoats, and the hunting community at large are at risk of losing the privilege of hunting in the subject press release. I will also likely contact Mr. Clever's editor and discuss the article as reported and perhaps also write a letter to same.

We generally seem to agree that damage control/cull hunts are a legitimate game management tool, and exercise our choice to participate or not. I'd just like to see more forethought by all parties in the matter when such a cull occurs alongside a State highway, and the attending newspaper reporter and State agents are content in taking liberty with the facts....

Good point. Why is WDFW trying to throw the hunters under the buss? Was this a huge organized plan by all hunters involved to hunt in this manner? Was this an accident where everbody shows up at the hole at the same time? I would also like to know exaclty which codes were broken and how many broke them.

Here is the story from a different source and this story says that there were up to a dozen men cornering the herd. This story needs a lot more details than what is present.

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/80298137.html



Has anyone ever been out on opening day of any elk season and seen a lot more hunters, surround a lot more elk, in a lot bigger pasture?

Just to clear up a few things Dick Clever is the editor Someone else wrote most of the articles I happened to drive by when this was going on and I was shocked by the circus like atmosphere surrounding this hunt ! The Elk were penned like cattle with no where to go People slowing down to watch or stopping to watch Elk being moved with a loader , come on ,this hunt was a joke from start to finish By the way the reporter that wrote the articles for the local paper was not on scene

Thanks for the clarification, sodfarmer.

A loader, huh. Talk about full service.

Years ago, I had a Wyoming outfitter that was camped near me one season offer to pack out my elk for free. In my youth and exuberance, I declined. But that story will have to be told another day....

I will say this was a huge mistake and should not of happened. I am also very surprised that a dozen of the people with these tags would be able to coordinate being at the same place at the same time. Was it opened to anyone with a west side Archery tag or was it a special tag???

Sodfarmer Did you see the shooting???

Was all the info second hand to the writers of the articles.
Funny that they can write as though they were there and everything they write is so believable to so many people.

As ugly as this was I would rather it happens this way. (Preferably with no one watching ) than the animals killed on the road or worse just shot and buried.

sodfarmer,
Given the cited intent of the cull (damage control and mitigating elk/auto impacts), I'd also be interested in knowing if the WSP restricted traffic in some manner in the event of an elk fleeing from the pasture and crossing the highway. If memory serves correct, isn't the posted speed limit in that area 50 or 55 mph? An elk through a windshield at that speed or a rubber-necker rear-end accident would have been tragic....

I did not see any traffic control when I went by but it was a few minutes after most of the shooting What schocked me the most is that one elk had a couple of arrows in it and none were close to where they should be . I think the elk should have been herded out of the fenced area into the woods and then it would have been more fair to the elk.
Given the location and now the publicty, all this has done is given the hunter a black eye

And that is the most frustrating part about this situation. All hunters, for or against this hunt, take the black eye with a sucker punch. All hunters get a tarnished image no matter their hunting ethics.






BTW

Did the elk come back?

Check out the opinon page in the Skagit Valley Herald

The three comments at the bottom of this article are enough to boil blood.

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20091231/SPORTS/712319971/1008/SPORTS02