B
Friday, Sept. 13, 2019
RECREATION
REPORT
Grouse hunters
asked to drop
off wing, tail
from each bird
The Oregon
Department of Fish
and Wildlife (ODFW)
is asking success-
ful forest grouse
and mountain quail
hunters to return
a wing and a tail
from each bird they
harvest.
Look for collection
barrels (often bright
blue with yellow
signs) at major
road junctions or
highways in popular
hunting areas. You’ll
also fi nd barrels at
some ODFW offi ces
and popular rural
markets.
Locations of
barrels in this area
include:
• Junction of
Highways 7 and 245,
about 10 miles south
of Baker City
• Junction of High-
way 7 and Middle Fork
Road near Bates
• Junction of
Highway 86 and Forest
Road 77, near the sum-
mit of Halfway Grade
between Halfway and
Richland in eastern
Baker County.
• Junction of
Highway 86 and For-
est Road 39 east of
Halfway
• Junction of Forest
Roads 39 and 66 north
of Highway 86
• Junction of Imnaha
Highway and Forest
Road 39 east of Joseph
• Junction of High-
way 3 and Charolais
Road north of Enter-
prise
• Junction of Smith
Mountain Road and
Bramlet Lane north of
Wallowa
• Promise Road
between Wallowa and
Maxville
• Junction of Moses
Creek Lane and Bow-
man Loop east of
Lookingglass Creek
• Highway 204 near
Andies Prairie Sno-
Park
• Junction of Grays
Corner Road and Mt.
Harris Loop
• Highway 203 near
Catherine Creek State
Park
• Spring Creek Road
near Interstate 84
• Mount Emily
Summit Road near
Interstate 84
• Highway 244 near
Starkey
HOW TO SUBMIT
YOUR WINGS AND
TAILS
• Clip the right
wing close to the
bird’s body. Submit
the left wing if the
right wing is dam-
aged (i.e. worn or
missing feathers).
• Remove all tail
and rump feathers
by skinning out the
lower 2 to 3 inches
of the back of the
bird and clipping off
the tail.
• Place wing and
tail together in
provided paper bag,
and write the date of
kill and general loca-
tion where indicated.
Please do not use
plastic bags, as they
speed decomposi-
tion and make the
wings and tails hard
to use.
• Put the wing
bags inside the col-
lection barrel or drop
them off at the near-
est ODFW offi ce.
The Observer & Baker City Herald
UPLAND GAME BIRD AND WATERFOWL HUNTING OUTLOOK
UPLAND GAME BIRD HUNTS
Winging it
Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife
Baker County
CALIFORNIA QUAIL
• Eastern Oregon, Oct. 5 to Jan. 31, 2020
• Daily bag limit, 10
Upland game bird hunters
should see an average year
in Baker County. A mild
winter and favorable spring
conditions led to good chick
production. Birds had good
reproduction, chicks were of
good size, and broods were
generally large.
Quail seem to be still trying
to recover from the hard win-
ter of 2016-17 and their num-
bers have been down the last
couple of years. Chukar are
making a quicker comeback,
numbers seem to be about
average. Hunters should
expect to see birds scattered
in pockets of good habitat.
Access and Habitat properties
offer good upland hunting and
access to public land.
Malheur County
Last winter was very mild,
resulting in good over winter
survival of upland birds. Tim-
ing and intensity of spring
precipitation has a major
infl uence on chick produc-
tion for upland species. This
year was characterized by
heavier than normal spring
rains in April and May and
slightly cooler temperatures
in early summer. Overall,
nesting conditions were good
with range conditions in fair
to good shape for upland bird
chick production.
• Chukar: Surveys on
established routes yielded 54
chukar per 10 miles and good
production with 11.4 chicks
per brood. This is a 15 percent
increase from last year and is
23 percent above the 10-year
average of 40.7 birds per 10
miles. The most productive
routes were along the west
side of the Owyhee Reservoir
and Cottonwood Canyon
southwest of Harper.
• Pheasant: Surveys along
established routes yielded
3.4 birds per 10 miles, a 39
percent decrease in number
of birds observed from last
year’s survey and 50.6 percent
below the 10-year average.
Chick production was fair at
4.0 chicks per brood. Hunting
prospects will vary depending
on the farming practices in
the area where you have per-
mission to hunt. The outlying
areas around Willow Creek
CHUKAR AND HUNGARIAN PARTRIDGE
• Statewide, Oct. 5 to Jan. 31, 2020
• Daily bag limit, 8 total (within Lower Klamath Hills RHA
near Klamath Falls the daily chukar limit is 2 birds)
ROOSER PHEASANT
• Statewide, Oct. 5 to Dec. 31, 2019
• Daily bag limit, 2
UPLAND GAME BIRD
FORECAST
Grant County
Trend counts for quail, tur-
key and chukar are down for
the 2019 season while forest
grouse were diffi cult to fi nd
and may be down. The likely
reasons were the prolonged
winter conditions and deeper
than normal snow. Turkey
and chukar offer the best
opportunities this season for
upland hunters, with turkey
widely distributed through
the county.
The Philip W. Schneider
Wildlife Area is open to the
public and offers good bird
hunting. Quail, both Cali-
fornia and mountain, can be
found in brushy and riparian
areas throughout the county
but hunters will have to work
to fl ush them out of cover.
Hunters will fi nd grouse
throughout the national forest
with blue grouse on ridge
tops, like Strawberry Moun-
tain or Vinegar Hill, and ruff
along brushy creek bottoms,
like Murderers Creek or
Camp Creek.
BLUE & RUFFED GROUSE
• Statewide, Sept. 1 to Jan. 31, 2020
• Daily bag limit, 3 of each species
MOUNTAIN QUAIL
• Crook, Grant, Wheeler, Gilliam, Klamath, Umatilla,
Morrow and Wallowa counties, Oct. 5 to Jan. 31, 2020
• Daily bag limit, 2
MIGRATORY GAME BIRD HUNTS
MOURNING DOVE
• Statewide, Sept. 1 to Oct. 30
• Daily bag limit, 15 (possession limit 30)
BAND-TAILED PIGEON
• Statewide, Sept. 15-23
• Daily bag limit, 2 (possession limit 6)
DUCK AND MERGANSER
• Zone 2 (see map, Page 2B), Oct. 5-Dec. 1, Dec. 4-Jan. 20
• Bag limit (see footnote below)
DUCK AND MERGANSER (SCAUP)
• Zone 2 (see map, Page 2B), Oct. 5-Dec. 1, Dec. 4-Dec. 31
• Bag limit (see footnote below)
Kathy Orr/For EO Media Group
The chukar, a type of partridge, is among the favorite up-
land game birds for hunters in Eastern Oregon. Chukars
generally prefer steep ground in the sagebrush country.
and Vale have higher bird
numbers than areas closer to
Ontario and Nyssa. Those ar-
eas with suitable year round
habitat continue to produce
pheasants.
There are very few public
lands in the area available
to pheasant hunters and the
few parcels that are available
tend to get hunted daily. One
option for private lands access
is the Cow Hollow fundraiser
https://www.facebook.com/
CowHollowPark/ to benefi t
the Cow Hollow Park.
• California quail: Surveys
on established routes yielded
41.5 quail per 10 miles, up
5.7 percent over last year and
2.5 percent above the 10-year
average. Production was good
at 9.9 chicks per brood with
similar production observed
in both agricultural and range
lands.
Umatilla County
This year’s brood routes
have shown a decrease in
upland game bird numbers.
Pheasant counts on our estab-
lished routes were below our
10-year average. Untimely
spring rains and a long harsh
winter may be having a nega-
tive effect on our upland game
birds after last year’s robust
numbers.
The majority of upland
hunting is on private land,
so be sure to ask permission
prior to hunting. Hunters
looking for public land can
access the Columbia Basin
Wildlife Areas, including
Power City, Irrigon, Coyote
Springs and Willow Creek.
Ladd Marsh Wildlife Area
The 2019 hunting season
will be challenging for hunt-
ers. Although spring weather
conditions looked promis-
ing, the number of pheasant
broods as well as the brood
sizes observed have been sig-
nifi cantly lower than previous
years. Quail however seem to
have done better with strong
brood sizes.
Dove numbers on the area
look good. Hunters can fi nd
success hunting tree rows,
and harvested farm fi elds.
Pass shooting may also be
good where hunters can get
between water and these
areas in the morning and
evening.
Hungarian partridge, ruffed
and blue grouse were not
seen during the brood routes
but can still be found in low
numbers on the Glass Hill
unit. Overall, hunters should
be able to fi nd birds but may
have to hunt in non-tradition-
al habitats to fi nd them.
Upland game birds can
be located throughout Ladd
Marsh providing ample
hunting opportunity for all.
Grassland, fencerows, brush,
and areas adjacent to agricul-
tural fi elds are good locations
to key on but do not overlook
dry and receding wetlands.
The wetland habitat provides
more opportunity for pheas-
ants than all the rest com-
bined.
All visitors, including
hunters, must have in their
possession a free daily permit
to access the wildlife area.
Permits will be available at
several self-check-in stations
at entry points and parking
lots. All visitors are required to
have an ODFW Wildlife Area
Parking Permit to park on the
wildlife area. Hunters receive
a free parking permit with
their hunting license. Parking
permits are to be displayed on
the vehicle dash. Learn more
about ODFW’s Wildlife Area
Parking Permit Program.
Union County
Quail counts suggest a
better year than last year and
pheasant counts are down.
Hunters can expect to work a
little harder to fi ll game bags
with roosters this season. The
best hunting opportunities
are pheasant on the Ladd
Marsh Wildlife Area and for-
est grouse on national forests.
Hunters should work ridge
tops above 5,000 feet for blue Wallowa County
Surveys for blue (dusky)
grouse and stream corridors
and ruffed grouse indicate
with heavy cover and water
that blue grouse populations
for ruffed grouse.
are still below the long-term
DUCK AND MERGANSER
• Zone 1 (see map, Page 2B), Oct. 12-27, Oct. 30-Jan. 26
• Bag limit (see footnote below)
DUCK AND MERGANSER (SCAUP)
• Zone 1 (see map, Page 2B), Nov. 2-Jan. 26
• Bag limit (see footnote below)
COOT
• Statewide, concurrent with duck seasons listed by zone
• Bag limit, 25 (possession limit 75)
BRANT
• Statewide, Nov. 23-Dec. 8
• Bag limit, 2 (possession limit 6)
CROW
• Statewide, Oct. 1-Jan. 31
• No bag or possession limits
WILSON’S SNIPE
• Zone 2, concurrent with duck season
• Bag limit, 8 (possession limit 24)
WILSON’S SNIPE
• Zone 1, Nov. 2-Feb. 16
• Bag limit, 8 (possession limit 24)
REGULAR GOOSE*
• East zone (see map, Page 2B), Oct. 12-27, Nov. 4-Jan. 26
• Bag limits, 4 Canada geese, 10 white-fronted, 6 white
geese daily (possession limits, 12, 30 and 18, respectively)
* Canada geese are all types of Canada geese including
cackling and Aleutian Canada geese. White geese are
snow and Ross’ geese. White-fronted geese are also
known as specklebelly geese.
• Footnote: The daily bag limit of ducks (including
mergansers) is seven. Within the daily bag limit, you may
not have more than: three scaup (during open season),
two hen mallards, one pintail, two redheads, and two
canvasbacks. The possession limit is triple the daily bag
limit.
average. The number of blue
grouse broods observed this
summer is below normal as
well. Nevertheless, these
species should provide fair
opportunity during September
and early October.
Forest grouse hunters
should be aware that there
are vehicle restrictions and no
camping allowed on Hancock
forestlands during fi re season.
Chukar numbers are doing
well and hunting should be
good this fall.
hunting is on private property,
so be sure to ask permission
before hunting. The Powder
River from Baker City to
Brownlee Reservoir offers the
best waterfowl hunting.
Grant County
Grant County offers very
limited waterfowl hunting
opportunities due to lack of
habitat — it’s mostly jump
shooting on private land along
the John Day River.
Malheur County
Many of the desert ponds
dried
up this summer because
Baker County
of mild winter conditions and
Duck and goose hunting
very little precipitation, but
is expected to be similar to
those ponds that held water
past years with a few resident through the summer had fair
birds available early in the
duck and goose production.
season. More migrant birds
Desert ponds are also a good
will arrive later in the season opportunity for early season
and hunting should improve, jump shooting.
especially in the Baker and
See Winging/Page 2B
Keating valleys. Almost all
WATERFOWL FORECAST