The agency will take public comments on the candidate proposals in a separate online process

Eric BarkerOutdoor and Environmental Editor

A hunter displays a pheasant.Tribune/Eric Barker

Mule deer does graze in wheat stuble of eastern Washington in this photo from 2021. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is in floating possible hunting rule changes and plans to share the ideas with the public. Pete Caster/Tribune

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will share potential changes to hunting rules that the agency may develop into full proposals to be vetted during its three-year, season-setting process.

Wildlife managers will explain dozens of potential rule changes and answer questions during a series of online public meetings starting Tuesday.

“We wanted to take this opportunity to thoroughly discuss details about the hunting rule changes we are considering with members of the public,” said Anis Aoude, the department’s game division manager in a news release. “After reviewing over 1,000 comments in an earlier public comment opportunity, WDFW has narrowed it down to about 60 proposals we are considering for this three-year season setting. We have not yet determined which of those potential proposals will move forward for the formal rule making process, and public input now can shape which proposals we consider.”

The agency will take public comments on the candidate proposals in a separate online process.

The recommendations were made by agency staff, partners, advisory groups and members of the public. They will be unveiled on the agency’s rule-making website Monday at bit.ly/4fJ8xo7 which will also include links to the public meetings and public comment surveys. Aoude said they include things like changing boundaries of hunts, adding or subtracting an early or late hunt or changing rules governing hunting methods. He said making some mule deer and elk hunts on the east side of the state permit only instead of over-the-counter is not included.

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“We still have some work to do on that,” he said.

Candidate changes that make the cut and are developed into formal proposals will be unveiled late this year or in January. Another public comment period will be held then. The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission will decide which proposals are adopted into the 2027-29 hunting rules, but it could delegate some or all of it to Fish and Wildlife Director Kelly Susewind.

All of the informational meetings will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. via Zoom. The first on Tuesday will cover deer, elk and moose. A meeting on Wednesday will cover waterfowl. A meeting on turkey, upland game birds, small game, carnivores and furbearers will be held Aug. 17.