Camp Wainwright Suggestions

Brady · #1 03-02-2008, 09:35 AM

Hey guys, with all this CWD cerfluffle, and justafiably so IMO, I was lookin through the draw stats, and I am just curious, if the powers that be decide that more deer need to be "culled" in the base, what about expanding the hunt. After being there last year, I don't think more hunters per season would be that great, just too many people for the mornings, and too much of a madhouse, but what about more seasons? Maybe two or three Bow/muzzle seasons? What about centering the hunt around the rut a bit more? I know there are many issues that may make this hard to acheive, but I would rather see us hunters do this "cull" then SRD doing it, and with all the fluff that has the followed the recent culls, I think we could band together, and get this done. At the morning orientation on our hunt, the SRD guys made it quite clear that they would prefer that we do this instead of them....Thoughts? Good or Bad?????

duffy4 · #2 03-02-2008, 10:45 AM

A lot of factors involved here.

From a personnel perspective, I love hunting deer in the camp (always in the "primative season") and would welcome an opportunity to go there more often.

Regular rifle hunters possibly think the "primative" guys are getting the first hunt and they sometimes resent the success of the first season guys as it is. They may howl at the thpought of more "primative" opportunity.

There has been a proposal at the AF&GA conference for a couple years to request a handgun season for deer in Wainwright but it has been voted down for various reasons.

The SRD fellow I talked to once about the timing of the hunt felt the hunt was centered around the rut pretty well as it is.

It seems to me that most hunters are willing to shoot some does. When there were two tags a lot of guys would shoot one doe then hold onto the second tag for a buck. Last year with three tags and many shot two does and held the third tag for a buck. Hunters who are just looking to get a big buck or nothing are not helping with the deer population reduction. In some places you HAVE TO KILL A DOE before you can shoot a buck. This may be an option at Wainwright. Even a situation where a hunter could kill as many does as they wanted and only one buck may help some.

But when it comes down to a really serious reduction in the deer herd, helicopter gunning is I believe, the most effective method.

Robin in Rocky

Brady · #3 03-02-2008, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by duffy4

Regular rifle hunters possibly think the "primative" guys are getting the first hunt and they sometimes resent the success of the first season guys as it is. They may howl at the thpought of more "primative" opportunity.

Robin in Rocky

What if they were a little bit more creative on splitting these hunts up? Say Mon-Wed primitive, Thrurs-Sat Rifle. Then the following week switch them around. Also the powers that be could split the areas better for the two seasons. Screw it right up for the deer, but it would not be too confusing for the hunters, as you get a new crew for each hunt. I don't know. I think if the people that organize this great hunt in there, did some of these things, and possibly among a few other things, we hunters could do our part a bit more, and the helicopter hunts, may not have to take place, nor the deer pits, that we saw pics of in the paper. As a hunter myself, I could do quite well, not seeing pics like that again.

Also I want the people that co-ordinate the hunts in the Camp, to know that this is in no way a slam against their ability to organize these hunts, and I understand if these suggestions are not obtainable for whatever reasons. I was fully impressed with the way you folks did this while I hunted there last year.

#4 03-02-2008, 05:33 PM

I would like to see several more hunts instead of increasing the number of people per hunt like they did last year.Start the hunts a couple of weeks earlier,with a week of primitive hunts,then three weeks of rifle hunts.

birdhunter99 · #5 03-02-2008, 06:01 PM

I believe last year saw some changes there already, as a third tag was added and some of the military folks were allowed a restricted "landowners" hunt. The deer harvest in 2007 smashed the old record and provided a lot of heads for CWD testing, so I would say thing are already progressing. However you have to remember that the hunt is there at the privilige of the military and they can only accomodate a certain amount of hunting

Brady · #6 03-02-2008, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by birdhunter99

I believe last year saw some changes there already, as a third tag was added and some of the military folks were allowed a restricted "landowners" hunt. The deer harvest in 2007 smashed the old record and provided a lot of heads for CWD testing, so I would say thing are already progressing. However you have to remember that the hunt is there at the privilige of the military and they can only accomodate a certain amount of hunting

Yup things did change in there, and I respect that. All I am trying to say, is if we can avoid in any way, helicopter culls, and deer pits, by allowing us hunters to do more of an active part.....why not. I also respect the way the military allows this hunt, but I would imagine their stance would be similar on the CWD, as SRD's.

#7 03-02-2008, 07:49 PM

Quote:

All I am trying to say, is if we can avoid in any way, helicopter culls, and deer pits, by allowing us hunters to do more of an active part.....why not.

And I think most people here will agree with letting hunters do as much as possible in this regard.

shedcrazy · #8 03-03-2008, 10:23 AM

I think last year's hunt was a great success and we got the target numbers we had hoped for in target areas. In fact we might not see the 3rd antlerless only tag even this year. There will be 200 hunters per hunt again as we had only a average of 120-130 hunters show up per hunt.

I doubt we will see any big changes in the dates or added seasons. As already stated it is a training base and training is the priority. But this does not mean suggestions will not be discussed or looked at.

There is a large training event that takes places until Mid-Nov then the clean-up. So there is no time or resources to have the hunt any earlier. There would be no manpower or space to hunt any earlier.

There is no time to extend the hunt as of right now. Resources are spread thin and the Christmas Break is the only time some army guys get any type of a break.

As far as different weapon seasons..It is something wildlife managers struggle with....Is it better to have quality or quanity when you are trying to reduce populations?

As far as hunters doing the job, it is the best practise but a lot easier to talk about than do. Changing people's attitudes on harvesting does is the key.

Personally I think the 2.5 weeks is long enough to run a check station when you add setup and take down...

Brady · #9 03-03-2008, 12:40 PM

Thanx Shed, most of us don't really know all the behind the scenes stuff, myself included. The hard work of you and your peers, is paramount to the success of the hunt, and like you said, hopefully some of these suggestions get a bit of consideration, but if not, keep up the hard work, I appreciate it, and will be back in a few years.

#10 03-03-2008, 05:37 PM

"As far as hunters doing the job, it is the best practise but a lot easier to talk about than do. Changing people's attitudes on harvesting does is the key."

Reading about this has made me decide to start applying out there this year, i would gladly fill my tags on the first legal animals (does or bucks, whatever). Sounds like an interesting opportunity so why not take advantage of it.