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Wednesday, August 26, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Big-game hunting forecast is good
For this year’s big game
hunting prospects, the opera-
tive word is “winter” — as in
there hardly was one in most
of the state.
While a warm winter and
low snowpack bring potential
problems for farmers, fish and
increased wildfire danger, it
also facilitates better overwin-
ter survival for all age classes
of big game animals. Wildfires
have also been an important
factor. The recent big range
fires were very bad news for
sage grouse, but in many areas
wildfires have also created a
mosaic of early successional
growth that deer, elk, and
other animals are benefiting
from and helping their popu-
lations along. These and other
factors point to a potentially
good 2015 big-game hunting
season, and in some parts of
Oregon perhaps better than
has been seen in some time.
In fact, the Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife is
currently planning to increase
controlled deer tags by about
one percent statewide, and elk
tags by three percent.
Overall mule deer numbers
are down throughout the state,
although that is the case across
the western U.S. and not just
in Oregon. However, that
doesn’t necessarily translate
into lower populations and
reduced hunting opportunities
across the board.
According to Justin Pri-
mus, ODFW assistant district
wildlife biologist in Baker
City, mule deer numbers are
stable-to-increasing and buck-
to-doe ratios are at a decent
15:100, although fawn-to-doe
ratios are a little low at 30:100
(38 to 40 would be better for
growing the populations).
“Because of the mild win-
ter there was good overwinter
survival and there should be
a fair number of older class
bucks available,” says Primus.
Elk numbers are still below
desirable levels in the Cas-
cades, mainly on national for-
est lands, which have seen a
decline in logging activity.
“The national forests are
getting bigger, deeper and
darker, and the elk continue
to be hard to hunt, with a
low success rate,” says Brian
Wolfer, ODFW district wild-
life biologist in Springfield.
For that reason he strongly
encourages elk hunters to do
some serious preseason scout-
ing, looking at areas burned in
wildfires, areas that have been
heavily thinned, and grassy
meadows. One new factor
affecting both elk and deer
hunting is Weyerhaeuser’s
new fee hunting policy that has
displaced some hunters look-
ing to avoid paying for access
into new areas. The result is
there may be more competi-
tion with other hunters than
previously in some places.
On a more positive note,
elk are doing very well in the
eastern half of the state. John
Day assistant district wildlife
biologist Angelique Curtis
reports that elk are above man-
agement objective for all their
units.
“It will be great elk hunting
this year,” she says.
Oregon has very good pop-
ulations of bear and cougar.
Sticking mainly to forested
habitats, some of the best bear
hunting is in the Coast Range
and southwest Oregon, with
the Applegate unit continuing
to produce the largest harvest
in the state. For fall bear hunt-
ing, focus on where the ber-
ries are becoming ripe, while
in the spring look for open
grassy hillsides and clearcuts
where the bears graze on fresh
green-up.
Cougars are more challeng-
ing to find, and while some
hunters are consistently suc-
cessful using predator calls,
most are taken opportunis-
tically while hunting other
species.
Deputy DA honored
as wildlife protector
Deschutes County
Deputy District Attorney
Andrew “Drew” Moore
was honored with the
“2014 Wildlife Prosecutor
of the Year Award” at the
Oregon District Attorneys
Association summer con-
ference held August 20 in
Bend.
The award was presented
by members of the Oregon
State Police (OSP) Fish
and Wildlife Division and
Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife (ODFW) rep-
resentative Chip Dale, who
is the Klamath and Malheur
watershed manager.
The award recognized
Deputy District Attorney
Moore for his support, hard
work, dedication, efforts in
enforcing fish and wildlife
laws and commitment to the
preservation of Oregon’s
natural resources through
prosecution of those who
violate the fish and wildlife
laws.
The Central Oregon OSP
Fish & Wildlife Team nomi-
nated Moore for this year’s
award, for distinguishing
himself time and again in
prosecuting violators of
Oregon’s fish and wildlife
and natural resource laws in
the Central Oregon area.
The Central Oregon
OSP Fish & Wildlife Team
said that, “Drew Moore has
proven himself and we con-
sider him a valuable part of
our team. Drew is always
available to the team day or
night; whether it’s a phone
call to answer questions,
give guidance or to meet
personally to review cases.
He takes a vested interest
in the effort the team makes
in investigating wildlife
cases and works diligently
to achieve positive case
resolutions, supporting our
efforts.”
The Oregon Sportsmen’s
Coalition, which consists of
volunteer outdoor enthusi-
ast organizations opposed
to the unlawful and unethi-
cal taking of wildlife (to
include the Oregon Hunters
Association), sponsored
the award with the OSP
Fish and Wildlife Division
and the ODFW. This is
the eighth annual pre-
sentation of the Wildlife
Prosecutor of the Year
Award.