NW Hunting Addicts Petition for Youth Archery Doe Hunts

[Salmonhawk]

Contact Thomas at NWhuntingaddicts@gmail.com if you want to sign. I did.

TO: Washington Fish & Wildlife Commission
From: Northwest Hunting and Fishing Addicts Association;
Advocates for Youth, Women, Senior, and Disabled Archery Hunters

We are currently circulating a petition throughout the state requesting that the Commission provide the opportunity for youth, women, senior, and disabled archery hunters be able to harvest white-tailed does during the early archery season in Game Units 101, 105, 108, 111, 113, 117, and 121 for the September 2011 early archery season. This user group is a limited, but growing, number of individuals that need to be provided with a better opportunity to hunt when weather conditions are favorable to harvest a deer. The weather conditions in the late archery season are very unpredictable, but often have high temperatures in the teens or lower. For those Commission members that have not hunted with archery equipment, these conditions make it very difficult, even for the adult male archery to get the bow drawn back. A growing number of new hunters want to hunt with archery equipment and not modern firearms for various reasons. It should be the goal of the Commission to promote this opportunity for all user groups and not just the modern firearm hunters.
We understand that the reduced doe hunting opportunity in the northeast is a direct result of the population decline of white-tailed deer due to the back-to-back tough winters that occurred several years ago. This request will have minimal to no effect on the doe population due to the limited number of hunters in this user group. In fact, it will have less impact than the number of white-tailed bucks with 3-points or less that will be left dead in the woods in Game Units 117 and 121 by firearm hunts that will shoot then count points as a result of the new 4-point minimum restriction! The buck-to-doe ratio in the northeast has long been an issue due to the late modern firearm season. Biologically, this hunt makes more sense than the late archery doe hunt because it can improve the buck-to-doe ratio before the start of the white-tailed rut in early to mid-November. This would reduce the stress on the buck population to breed does that will be harvested in the late archery season. Buck winter survival is decreased significantly by poor buck-to-doe ratios because the bucks are forced to breed longer, resulting in reduced body condition going into the winter months.
We will be providing the Commission with the petitions received for the August 5-6 meeting and hope to see this hunting opportunity provided for the 2011 Early Archery Season.

Thanks,

Thomas Mifsud Jr.
Northwest Hunting & Fishing Addicts Association