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Archers, Muzzleloaders, Modern Firearm Hunters – Who Gets What???
Dave Ware, Game Division Manager

Deer and elk hunters are required to choose a tag specific to a weapon type each year. This system was initiated in 1984 in order to reduce crowding during modern firearm seasons and to provide hunting opportunity for primitive weapons. Overall, the system has worked fairly well with archers and muzzleloaders making up about 20 percent of deer hunters and 32 percent of elk hunters in 2004. So hunter density during general modern firearm seasons has gone down significantly and each area of the state or “district” has separate seasons for all three groups of hunters.

Unfortunately, what this system has also done is create competition among the groups and everyone asking for more hunting opportunity for their particular type of weapon. They ask for more units, more days, more permits, rut opportunity, or later opportunity; anything that helps them with improving harvest or hunting conditions. The arguments almost always refer to lack of fairness, or crowding problems, or minimal impacts to the resource. This competition results in one of the most contentious parts of wildlife management, which is allocation of the resource among hunters.

During development of the 2003-05 hunting season package, the department formed a committee consisting of members representing all three hunting groups. The committee members were a subset of a citizen panel called the Game Management Advisory Council (GMAC). After multiple discussions with the sub-committee and the GMAC, hunting opportunity was tweaked in each district of the state to equalize opportunity for all users. The intent was to fairly allocate opportunity for all types of hunters.

The concept was to ensure that adequate opportunity was spread across the state, so the geographic designations used were districts. The state is divided up into seventeen districts with a wildlife biologist in charge of each district. Within each district the idea is to make sure there are enough game management units (GMU) open and adequate seasons provided so that hunter participation for each group mimics the proportion of hunters in that group on the statewide basis. So if archers make up 20 percent of elk hunters statewide, then each district should be providing enough opportunity so that about 20 percent of its elk hunters are archers. In addition, each group’s opportunity should be sufficient to allow harvest levels that are proportionate to the group’s participation levels. Again, if 20 percent of the district’s elk hunters are archers, then they should harvest about 20 percent of the elk taken in that district. It is important to remember that allocation is balanced within the district not within each GMU.

The main changes that were done during the 2003-05-season setting were to add units or permits. The sub-committee reviewed the results of the changes earlier this year and they are encouraging. Most areas of the state are getting closer to the objectives.

For 2006-08, the sub-committee has recommended some changes to get us even closer in districts that needed improving. The sub-committee also recognized that some districts were providing about all they could, so no changes were recommended.

So how will this allocation equity affect the 2006-08-season regulation development? As mentioned previously, the allocation sub-committee of GMAC made several recommendations.

Implementation of the recommendations will depend on District Biologist review and impact on the resource. In many cases, the Biologists will also be discussing the changes with local stakeholders to determine relative support or acceptance of the recommendations. Following are the recommendations of the sub-committee:

Districts that should consider changes for deer hunting equity:

• Provide modern firearm opportunity in GMU 381 (District 4).
• Consider harvest success for primitive weapons in District 5 (Columbia Basin).
• Look at swinging some antlerless opportunity to muzzleloader in District 6 (Okanogan).
  • Muzzleloader: Disabled permits, youth, senior, other?
• Add some antlerless deer opportunity for muzzleloader in District 7 (Chelan County).
• Consider transition in District 12 (King County), GMUs 454 and 460 from archery to modern.
• Consider transition in District 14 (Skagit & Whatcom counties) to additional muzzleloader opportunity. Recommendation: Reduce archery late opportunity in 407 from any deer to any buck and provide muzzleloader permits to take antlerless during their late season.
• Consider transition in District 16 (Jefferson & Clallam counties) to additional muzzleloader opportunity; add antlerless muzzleloader opportunity to GMUs 603 (take a few permits from MF); add GMUs to any buck season.
• Consider transition in District 17 (Grays Harbor & Pacific counties) to additional muzzleloader opportunity. Recommendation: Add antlerless permits in units as well as general season buck opportunity.

Districts that should consider changes for elk hunting equity:

• District 2 (Spokane, Lincoln, & Whitman counties) needs to increase archery and modern firearm opportunity, especially consider archery and modern firearm opportunity in the Turnbull Refuge. Could also provide a modern firearm late season around the refuge.
• District 3 (Blue Mountains) needs to increase archery participation and success. Recommendation: Take some of the antlerless modern firearm permits and allow archery for either-sex during the season.
• Increase archery participation and success in District 7 (Chelan county). Recommendation: allow antlerless in the Malaga unit or GMU 251.
• In District 10 (St Helens), if antlerless opportunity is added to GMU 516 it should go to modern firearm.
• Consider antlerless opportunity in District 11 (Thurston & Pierce counties) for modern firearm in GMU’s 652 & 667.
• Consider either sex modern firearm opportunity for GMU 454 in District 12 (King County).
• Look for archery and muzzleloader opportunity in permit seasons in District 15 (East Olympics).
• If possible, add GMUs/opportunity for muzzleloader; look at swinging antlerless permits to muzzleloader in open GMUs in District 17 (Grays Harbor & Pacific counties).