||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS |||
The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office would like to acknowledge the community’s questions and continued interest in the November 18 hunting accident on Lopez Island. This is still an active investigation and the Sheriff’s Office is waiting to receive the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (WDFW) portion of the investigation. At this time, the Sheriff’s Office cannot disseminate details of an ongoing investigation.
According to WDFW, deer season is still ongoing through December 15th for muzzle loader and December 31st for archery. Modern firearm (which includes shotguns) hunting is over for this season. As with any area where the state allows hunting on public lands, is it always advisable to be cautious when walking or hiking in those areas.
In Washington, about 50% of land is publicly owned and open to hunters and recreationists. These lands are managed by state or federal entities. State-owned lands open to hunting are managed by WDFW and the Washington Department of Natural Resources (WDNR). Washington State Parks also owns public lands, however, hunting is not allowed in state parks. Federally owned lands are managed by the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, etc. State and federal lands all have different land management mandates that affect when and where hunting is permitted.
More details regarding the Lopez hunting accident will be released once the investigation is completed and doing so wouldn’t compromise the integrity of the investigation.
Visit the WDFW website to learn more about hunting in the State of Washington: https://wdfw.wa.gov/.
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Thank you for the update.
Also: According to the WDFW regulations if you have a “Second Deer” special permit you can hunt until December 31st on the Islands.
Not sure what happened here, but there seems to be a mismatch between deer hunting and recreational use of public lands by people who are unarmed.
I have encountered hunters when hiking Lopez Hill in the past and they were clearly upset to find that not only was their prey approaching on the trail, but my movements through public land may have scared their dinner away.
Every so often proposals come up to allow hunting at Turtleback or Moran State Park. The public should oppose these attempts to open more public land to armed individuals, because even though the chance of accidents is small, it is not zero.
Non-lethal methods of deer population control exist which DO carry zero risk to unarmed users of public lands. Whether 50% of the state allows hunting on public lands or not, we can and should do things differently in San Juan County.
David Bowman makes very good argument.
We certainly do not support opening up parks to hunting. Such small areas would be prone to accidents.