Washington Administrative Code
Title 220 - Fish and Wildlife, Department of
WILDLIFE
Chapter 220-412 - Wildlife-Hunting-Permits
Section 220-412-080 - Special hunting season permits
Universal Citation: WA Admin Code 220-412-080
Current through Register Vol. 24-18, September 15, 2024
The commission may establish special hunting seasons and may set the conditions for each category and hunt.
(1) Deer, elk, cougar, or black bear special hunting season permit applications:
(a) To
apply for special hunting season permits for all categories of deer, elk,
cougar, or black bear, applicants must have a valid Washington big game hunting
license and a valid transport tag for the appropriate species. To apply for a
particular hunt, each applicant for deer or elk must have the proper transport
tag as identified in the special deer or elk permit regulations.
(b) Multiple season deer and elk permit
applications may be purchased without additional licenses or tags. Persons who
are successfully drawn must purchase a multiple season permit for deer or elk
and may also apply for archery, muzzleloader, or modern firearm special hunting
season permits for the species drawn.
(2) Mountain goat, moose, and bighorn sheep special hunting season permit applications:
(a) Persons who have previously harvested a
mountain goat, bighorn sheep ram, an antlered bull moose taken under an "any
antlered bull moose" permit, or any moose (whether antlered or not) taken under
an "any moose" permit in Washington are ineligible for a special hunting season
permit for that category. This lifetime harvest restriction does not apply to
mountain goat conflict reduction hunts, individuals who harvested a mountain
goat before 1999, raffle or auction hunt authorizations, ewe-only bighorn sheep
hunts, or antlerless-only moose hunts.
(b) Applicants for all mountain goat, moose,
and/or bighorn sheep special hunting season permits must have either
successfully completed hunter education prior to submitting an application, or
have a birth date prior to January 1, 1972.
(c) Successful applicants under this section
must purchase the appropriate hunting license by the deadline established by
the department (a minimum of 15 days). Failure to purchase forfeits the permit
to an alternate applicant.
(3) Wild turkey special hunting season permit applications:
(a) To apply for wild turkey
special hunting season permits, each applicant must have a valid small game
hunting license.
(b) Fall wild
turkey special hunting season permit holders must have a valid turkey transport
tag in possession to hunt turkeys in fall special hunting seasons.
(4) Special hunting season permit applications:
(a) Maximum group sizes are
determined for each category. If a group application is drawn, all hunters in
the group will receive a special hunting season permit and each hunter in the
group can take an animal. If the number of permits available in a hunt category
is less than the maximum group size, then the maximum group size is equal to
the number of permits.
(i) Maximum group size
for deer categories is 8.
(ii)
Maximum group size for elk categories is 8.
(iii) Maximum group size for bear categories
is 2.
(iv) Maximum group size for
cougar categories is 2.
(v) Maximum
group size for mountain goat categories is 2.
(vi) Maximum group size for bighorn sheep
categories is 2.
(vii) Maximum
group size for fall turkey categories is 4.
(viii) Maximum group size for moose
categories is 2.
(ix) Maximum group
size for multiple season deer is 2.
(x) Maximum group size for multiple season
elk is 2.
(b) An
applicant may purchase only one application for a special hunting season permit
for each category.
(c) Permit
applications will allow four choices for all categories except the quality
category for deer and elk will allow two choices.
(d) Permits will be drawn by computer
selection using a weighted point selection system.
(i) Applicants will receive one point for
each application category purchased.
(ii) Once drawn for a permit, the applicant's
points will be reduced to zero in that category. Applicants who are drawn for a
damage hunt administered by a WDFW designated hunt coordinator and not given a
chance to participate shall get their points restored. Those that decline to
participate for any reason are not eligible for point restoration.
(iii) An applicant's accumulated point
totals, immediately prior to sales of the 2010 permit applications, will be
replicated across all categories for that species. The point replication will
only occur in 2010, during the transition from single species categories to
multiple categories of the same species. Applicants for any new category added
in the future will begin with the point awarded at the time of the initial
application purchase.
(iv)
Applicants for the "any antlered bull moose" category (established in 2018)
will be credited with any points previously accumulated under the "any moose"
category.
(e) Incomplete,
ineligible, or inaccurate applications will not be accepted or entered into the
drawing.
(f) Permits will be voided
if the applicant is found to be ineligible or to have provided an application
based on inaccurate information.
(g) The purchase of an application will
result in one accrued point for the category purchased.
(h) If for any reason a successful applicant
chooses not to participate in the hunt, they are eligible for point
restoration. The successful applicant seeking point restoration must return the
special hunting season permit to the department of fish and wildlife Olympia
headquarters two weeks before the opening day of the special hunting season so
it can be reissued. The applicant's points will be restored to the level prior
to the permit drawing.
(i) Anyone
may apply for a special hunting season permit for deer, elk, bear, cougar, and
wild turkey.
(5) In addition to requirements for special hunting season permit applications, following are application requirements for:
(a) Special hunting seasons for persons of
disability: Only applicants with a Washington disabled hunter permit are
eligible to apply for any special hunting season permits for persons of
disability.
(b) Special hunting
seasons for youth: Only persons who are eligible to lawfully purchase a youth
special hunt application are eligible to apply for special hunting season
permits for youth.
(c) Special
hunting seasons for hunters age 65 and older: Only applicants sixty-five years
of age or older on or before March 31 of the current license year will be
eligible to apply for special hunting season permits for hunters age 65 and
older.
(d) Special hunting seasons
for master hunter program graduates: Only persons who hold a valid certificate
from the Washington department of fish and wildlife's master hunter program are
eligible to apply for special hunting season permits for master
hunters.
(6) Citizen reward for reporting violations - Bonus points: A person who provides information which contributes substantially to the arrest of another person for illegally hunting or killing big game or an endangered species as defined by Title 77 RCW is eligible to receive ten bonus points toward the special hunting permit drawing for one application category of deer or elk special hunting season permits.
(a) Only ten bonus points can
be awarded for providing information for each person charged regardless of the
number of violations involved.
(b)
Selection of bonus points is in lieu of application for a cash award.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Washington may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google
Privacy Policy and
Terms of Service apply.
