[Citori]

http://www.king5.com/news/local/Bow-hunters-shoot-elk-in-Wash-pasture-80308087.html

I am almost speechless. No wonder people think those of us who enjoy the shooting sports are knuckle dragging neanderthal's. What were these morons thinking? What is their definition of sportsmanship? Did they think people were going to high 5 them for whacking elk in a pasture within sight of a road? Will they go back to their buddies and brag about bagging an elk with a bow?

Where is the common sense? Where is the sense of ethics? WDFW officers watched all this and didn't say anything?

It is video like this that will hasten the end of a sport many of us used to enjoy.

Now, I am speechless...

 

[Wormonhook]

I've been following this mess, it just makes me sick to my stomach. Sadly, this behavior spans big game hunting, bird hunting, and all aspects of fishing. What are people thinking? I guess the mindset of buffalo hunting continues.

 

[hikepat]

Saw a deal in todays Seattle Times on that and all I could think was what a bunch of dumb asses those idiots are. How many Elk were wounded to each one killed that will later just die off. Each of those hunters should lose their hunting rights for a few years.

 

[nathanj]

Hopefully the property owner and/or neighbors will name and shame these fools. If word gets out about who these idiots are I'd imaging they'd have a hard time showing their faces in public.

 

[KerryS]

Hopefully the property owner and/or neighbors will name and shame these fools. If word gets out about who these idiots are I'd imaging they'd have a hard time showing their faces in public.

This is not going to happen. I was in the cafe in Lyman over the weekend listening to one of the property owners. He was as disgusted as anyone but from the property owner's point of view the elk are as much a nuisance as the hunters were dumb asses. From what I heard the property owner was more disgusted with WDFW's handling of the situation than the stupidity displayed by the hunters involved.

 

[Jim F.]

Please refrain from referring to such ilk as "hunters." They are NOT! I place blame on the State also . . . if the intent as expressed was to "haze" the elk back into the woods, they should have done just that. I likewise disagree with the "no violations" . . . I do believe the State rules specify "fair chase."

 

[Daryle Holmstrom]

The Nates did the same thing but with guns up just North of the Nooksack hatchery , the wardens were hiding under their trucks to dodge the bullets, it never made the news because it was food for the tribe, yeah right, it happened before the cell phones could take video. This was like 20 years ago before the Nates wiped out the Nooksack herd.

 

[Gone]

Yep, as has been already noted, the state really screwed the pooch on this one. Sorta makes one question the intelligence of those in Olympia making rules to manage fish and wildlife...

 

[wolverine]

These "bow hunters" really aren't bow hunters. They are just morons who begged, borrowed, or stole a bow so they could participate in the "herd reduction". Sort of like the idiots that "fly fish" on the Kalama fly only waters for salmon. 4/0 crudely tied wooly buggers that they rip/snag through the holes.

 

[jobyksu]

I'll take the bullet as the devil's advocate here.

It sounds like these aren't hunters - but instead are harvesters. The hunt was to "keep elk out of the residential and farm areas" which this herd definitely was. One source (that wasn't the wildlife officers observing the hunt) assumed that some elk were shot but not killed. There were not charges for that, though, so it very well may not have happened. These *ahem* hunters were there to fill their freezers and keep this herd from doing more damage to the ranch. It was never *about* the hunt, which is fine.

This herd was on pasture for a beef farm, causing damage. Unfortunately, the whole thing happened in the open in front of the general public. I'm sure there would have been a similar reaction to people actually seeing how a slaughter house operates.

 

[Jim F.]

I prefer "greedy, opportunistic bastards/parasites" to "harvesters," but I do need to learn how to express my true feelings . . .

 

[speyfisher]

Devil's advocate

Well, O.K. So Wash Dept of WIldlife decided to thin out herd of Elk that are grazing within sight of a highway. And, for safety reasons, it was decided to use archery equipment rather than firearms. Too bad some PETA types happened by to witness the ordeal. bawling: Maybe the highway patrol should have just blocked off that stretch of road for a couple hours.

Now about the idiots that "fly fish" on the Kalama fly only waters for salmon. 4/0 crudely tied wooly buggers that they rip/snag through the holes. How many times have we read accounts of the old timers, back in the day dredging 6/0 irons down amoungst the stones? All decked out in their knickers, tweed coats, and funny little hats. Photographs verifing the great numbers of Salmon killed that day.

Not that I condone the "fly fishing" techniques practiced on the Kalama. But it does make one question the origins of the techique as well as wonder just how long it has been going on. :hmmm:

 

[Zack Dudley]

If anyone knows about the area where that happened those elk just sit in that same field ALL the time, they just screw up the field for the cattle and the farmers lose money, im with joby on this one they were just killing to get some meat in the freezer. It wasnt ethical but really the elk there are just a nuisance in the area destroying the farmland.

 

[jobyksu]

One thing I forgot to mention - it is definitely a losing situation in terms of PR. Even if we (hunters/angers/outdorsfolk) could see a line between hunting and what happened here, try to convince the public of it.

 

[Wormonhook]

I've done some animal damage control professionally. There are right ways and wrong ways to do it. This was a horrible method, wrong time, wrong place. If you are going to control large mammals, archery is not the preferred method. Anyway, too tired from early morning in the duck blind to write and make sense. Had a bunch of "sky busters" in the club behind us who rival the archery "hunters" in this situation.

 

[KerryS]

If anyone knows about the area where that happened those elk just sit in that same field ALL the time, they just screw up the field for the cattle and the farmers lose money, im with joby on this one they were just killing to get some meat in the freezer. It wasnt ethical but really the elk there are just a nuisance in the area destroying the farmland.

I know a bit about the area and the herd hardly sits in the same field all the time. They are quite mobile and will even move to the other side of the river from time to time. The area this took place in was not the open field owned by the nature conservency that has a viewing area along the hyway.

 

[Jmills81]

awwwwful

 

[Leroy Laviolet]

Amazing...
For some reason, many Game and fish agencies seem to f-up most of these types of situations.... this was very simple, but somehow, some "professional" came up with this nightmare plan as a good idea... Mindboggling ...

 

[Guest]

If they wanted to thin the herd they should do it but use some common sense.

I would like to know when the State will fire the persons who allowed this. If they are not fired they should be.

This story has as much to do with fishing as it does hunting. That is not hunting. Calling that hunting is like calling gill netting fishing.

 

[Daryle Holmstrom]

Yeah, the could have had the night hunt like years ago for the native Americans to thin the herd just a bit, no cameras then