Washington harvest

The extreme heat turned many berries to mush. On June 28, temperatures in Lynden reached degrees Fahrenheit 41 Celsius and it was hotter at berry farms east and north of Lynden. Late June is typically when raspberry harvest begins. Early picks amid the heat wave became juice-quality grades. Later, some farmers were able to pick berries that could be frozen. Intense heat waves and a historic drought in the American West reflect climate change that is making weather more extreme.

Following the reporting deadline, WDFW conducts a telephone survey of randomly selected individuals who failed to report their hunting activity by the deadline.

It is the random nature of the survey that allows WDFW to accurately estimate hunter effort, harvest, and success rates compared to previous years. While reports provided by hunters before the deadline are critical, once the deadline passes, WDFW no longer accepts sporadic reports because they reduce the statistical strength of the harvest estimate.

For this reason, you still may be contacted for information in a subsequent hunter survey. WDFW strongly encourages you to submit your reports on time because it is important for management of wildlife in Washington and support for hunting opportunity.

The hunter report administrative fee encourages hunter reporting. Hunter reports are important for improving the accuracy of harvest statistics and providing information to WDFW biologists across the state so they can prepare for setting permit levels for the coming hunting season. For more information on the hunter report fee, see WAC If you made a mistake on your hunter report, contact the Wildlife Program before the deadline date so your report information can be adjusted.

You can reach the Wildlife Program by email , or by phone at If you believe you have been assessed the hunter report administrative fee in error, please contact the Wildlife Program by email , or by phone at You will not be able to submit a report after the deadline date. If you pay the hunter report administrative fee, you have missed the deadline and are no longer required to report for that season's hunting activity.

WDFW encourages you to report on all future hunting activity because it is important for the management of wildlife and hunting opportunity. Log in to your account and click the hunter reporting link to see your reporting record. After reporting successfully, you will receive a confirmation number.

Write down this confirmation number and treat it like a receipt. There are a number of reasons this might occur. The most common error is the result of information being entered incorrectly at the point of license sale. If you find a mistake in your information, submit your hunter report by logging in with the incorrect information on your license. If you find no errors and are still having problems with the reporting system, please contact the Wildlife Program by email , or by phone at You completed your report after we created the notice.

Check the date of the notice to verify. Your report did not go through correctly. Another hunter uses the same email address. You must report on each special permit and each additional tag purchased. This results in multiple reports for certain species. For example, if you drew both a quality deer and second deer special permit, you would owe hunter reports for your general season deer tag, the quality deer special permit, and the second deer special permit.

All trappers of fur-bearing animals are required to complete a trapper report. Harvest is calculated directly from the reports and not expanded to include trappers that did not return a completed report. Bobcat and river otter pelts must be sealed by April 20 after the close of the appropriate hunting or trapping season in which it was killed. The harvest figures are drawn directly from the pelt sealing records.

Hunters who take a cougar during hunts where dogs are prohibited must notify the department within 72 hours of kill excluding legal state holidays and provide the hunter's name, date and location of kill, and sex of animal.