Game harvest waste requirements

As stated in Washington's Big Game Hunting Seasons and Regulations pamphlet, hunters may not allow game animals or game birds they have taken to recklessly be wasted.

The rules around waste are outlined in RCW 77.08.010, which states that "To waste" or "to be wasted" means to allow any edible portion of any game bird, food fish, game fish, shellfish, or big game animal other than cougar to be rendered unfit for human consumption, or to fail to retrieve edible portions of such a game bird, food fish, game fish, shellfish, or big game animal other than cougar from the field.

Edible portions of game birds must include, at a minimum, the breast meat of those birds. Entrails, including the heart and liver, of any wildlife species are not considered edible.