The Game Transport Form will help local hunters

Page 94 of the Washington Big-Game 2019 Hunting Seasons & Regulations states: “Transporting game or portions of meat taken by somebody else (WAC 220-200-120): If you transport or possess wildlife (or parts) killed by someone else, you must possess a written statement showing the name, address, license, permit or tag number; the number and kind of animal provided, the date killed, county, and area it was taken in, and the hunter’s signature.”

OK, you say, so what? Well, all hunters should pay attention to this small paragraph in the hunting regulations. This is valuable information, which many hunters don’t know about or ignore.

Scenario: One hunter gives another hunter the hide of a white-tailed deer. The hunter in possession of the hide stops at a Fish and Wildlife check station. An enforcement officer notices the hide and asks to see the deer tag.

There is no tag with the hide and the hunter doesn’t even know the name of the man who shot the deer. The hunter with the hide may receive a violation because he is in possession of a deer part with no tag or transport information.

It is entirely possible to write all of the required info on a piece of paper, any piece of paper, and be in compliance with the rules and regulations. However, this can be inconvenient at times.

Items, such as the back of an envelope, the inside of a box of ammo or the rules and regulations pamphlet have been used by hunters to record the required information over the years. There had to be a better solution.

The Game Transport Form was designed by me and published in the CBH. Fish and Wildlife noticed the form and printed it in the big game regulations for a couple of years.

There are about 20 copies of the form in my Ram. When my hunt group leaves a deer carcass at a friend’s place before we gather again to butcher, the transport form is completed and left with the deer.

A transport form will also be used if a hunter gives me the liver and heart of an elk, the rump feathers of a pheasant or the skin of a Hungarian partridge. The rules and regulations indicate “or parts,” so all parts of “wildlife” need to be accompanied by the form.

The CBH is providing readers/hunters with another Game Transport Form. All a hunter needs to do is cut out the form and make copies. Keep some in your hunt vehicle and make enough copies to help your hunting buddies or other hunters.