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Friday, January 24, 2020
The Observer & Baker City Herald
RECREATION
REPORT
SNOWMOBILE
POKER RUN IN
BAKER COUNTY
SET FOR FEB. 1
UNITY — The Burnt
River Snowmobile
Club’s annual Poker
Run is set for Satur-
day, Feb. 1. There is a
$1,000 total pot with
guaranteed payout,
including $500 for
fi rst place, $200 for
second, $100 for third
and two $50 prizes for
fourth place, plus fi ve
$20 prizes for a loser’s
draw.
There will also be
raffl e prizes distrib-
uted.
The run will be
from 8 a.m. to 4
p.m. Cards must be
returned by 4 p.m.
to The Water Hole
in Unity. Parking is
at Phipps west of
Unity, and the Blue
Mountain Sno-Park
between Unity and
Austin Junction.
Cards and tickets
are available at the
Burnt River Market
and The Water Hole in
Unity, and at Austin
Junction store and
restaurant. Buy-in is
$5 per hand, best of 7
wins. Raffl e tickets are
$1 each or six for $5.
Proceeds benefi t
food banks in Baker,
Grant and Malheur
counties.
For more informa-
tion, or to buy raffl e
tickets, call Rick at
541-881-6069, Luke at
541-212-4682, Jim at
541-881-9622, Casey
at 541-473-2073, or
Dan at 541-823-3069
or by email at snow-
ridingfool@yahoo.
com
JANUARY 31
DEADLINE TO
REPORT ON 2019
HUNT RESULTS
Hunters have until
Jan. 31 to report their
2019 hunts. If you
purchased a tag,
reporting is manda-
tory even if you didn’t
hunt or harvest an
animal. Hunters who
fail to report on deer
and elk tags will be
fi ned $25 when they
buy a 2021 hunting
license.
WAYS TO REPORT
• Go online – it’s the
fastest and easiest
way to report. You will
need to verify or look
up your account on
the MyODFW.com
licensing page. (Click
on the Buy a License
button) to report 2019
hunts. Once you have
completed steps to
verify your account,
choose “Submit a
Hunting and Fishing
Outcome Report” or
“Outcome Reporting
/ Mandatory Report-
ing” to complete your
report. Be sure to go
to the online licensing
system, you can’t
report through the
MyODFW app.
• Visit an ODFW
offi ce with a com-
puter available for
reporting: Adair
Village/Corvallis,
Bend, Clackamas, La
Grande, Portland-Sau-
vie Island, Roseburg,
Salem Headquarters,
Springfi eld, Tillamook.
• Call ODFW Licens-
ing at 1-866-947-6339
for assistance report-
ing.
OREGON EXPANDS MOUNTAIN GOAT HUNTING OPPORTUNITIES IN ELKHORNS, WALLOWAS
Lucky hunters will have
longer to get their goat
By Jayson Jacoby
will run from Aug. 1-31. The 2019
season was Sept. 7-15. Applica-
tions totaled 2,600.
• No. 2 has 2 tags (one nonresi-
dent) — 2020 hunt will run from
Sept. 1-30. The 2019 season was
Sept. 16-24. Applications totaled
774.
• No. 3 has 3 tags — 2020 hunt
will run from Oct. 1-31. The 2019
season was Oct. 12-20. Applica-
tions totaled 1,488.
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
The relative handful of
hunters fortunate enough to
draw a tag for a mountain
goat will have more time to
track down one of the cliff-
dwelling animals in 2020.
The Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW)
has lengthened the season for
several mountain goat hunts
in the Elkhorn and Wallowa
mountains, and in Hells Can-
yon, for this year’s seasons.
ODFW also created two
new goat hunts in the Wal-
lowas, each offering a single
tag.
• Southern Wallowas — all
of the Catherine Creek, Keat-
ing and Pine Creek units, and
the southern part of the Mi-
nam unit. The hunt will run
from Aug. 1 through Oct. 31.
• Copper Creek — parts of
the Minam unit in the Eagle
Cap Wilderness. The hunt
will run from Sept. 1 through
Oct. 31.
Both of the new hunts
are much longer than has
been typical for mountain
goat hunts in Northeastern
Oregon. Most of the existing
hunts will run for one to two
months in 2020.
In 2019 the majority of
those hunts ran for eight to
15 days.
A goat tag is the rarest of
big-game hunting opportuni-
ties in Oregon. And as with
bighorn sheep tags, hunters
can draw only one in a life-
time (bighorn hunts have also
been extended to about one
month for 2020).
ODFW offi cials decided to
lengthen the goat seasons
in part because the previous
seasons were so short that
unavoidable factors such as
wildfi res or early snowstorms
could disrupt goat hunters’
chances, said Nick Myatt, the
ODFW offi cial who lives in
Baker City and has been lead-
ing the agency’s multi-year ef-
fort to streamline and, where
possible, to simplify hunting
regulations statewide.
“These are once-in-a-
lifetime hunts, and we wanted
to make sure our season
structure really refl ected
Wallowa Mountains
• E. Hurricane Creek has 1 tag
— 2020 hunt will run from Sept. 1
to Oct. 31. The 2019 hunt was Sept.
7-22. Applications totaled 484.
• W. Hurricane Creek has 1 tag
— 2020 hunt will run from Sept. 1
to Oct. 31. The 2019 hunt was Sept.
7-22. Applications totaled 316.
• Goat Mtn. No. 1 has 2 tags
— 2020 hunt will run from Sept.
1-30. The 2019 hunt was Sept. 7-22.
Applications totaled 760.
• Goat Mt. No. 2 has 2 tags —
2020 hunt will run from Oct. 1-31.
The 2019 hunt was Oct. 12-22.
Applications totaled 321.
• Cusick Mtn. has 1 tag — 2020
hunt will run from Sept. 1-Oct.
31. The 2019 hunt was from Sept.
7-22. Applications totaled 529.
Hells Canyon
Alex Pajunas / Baker City Herald fi le photo
Rocky Mountain goats in the Elkhorn Mountains.
that,” Myatt said. “We felt that
giving people the maximum
fl exibility is the right thing
to do.”
Heavy snow is a particular
issue, Myatt said, since moun-
tain goats spend most of their
time at the highest elevations
where blizzards aren’t uncom-
mon during September and
October.
The addition of the South-
ern Wallowas and Copper
Creek hunts brings the total
goat tags for 2020 to 27, all
in Northeastern Oregon. Two
of those tags — one in the
Elkhorns and on at Hat Point
— are for hunters who don’t
live in Oregon.
In 2019, about 12,500
people applied for one of the
25 mountain goat tags avail-
able.
Oregon’s biggest mountain
goat herds live in the Elk-
horns and the Wallowas.
There are smaller herds in
the Strawberry Mountains
south of Prairie City, in parts
of Hells Canyon, and in the
Wenaha River area north of
Elgin.
ODFW trapped goats in
the Elkhorns and moved the
animals to each of those areas
over the past two decades to
either create herds or supple-
ment existing populations.
Following are changes in
the lengths of mountain goat
hunts, along with the number
of tags, and the number of
applicants for each hunt in
2019.
Elkhorn Mountains
• No. 1 has 3 tags — 2020 hunt
• Hat Point No. 1 has 2 tags (one
nonresident) — 2020 hunt will run
from Sept. 1-30. The 2019 hunt
was from Sept. 7-22. Applications
totaled 655.
• Hat Point No. 2 has 3 tags —
2020 hunt will run from Oct. 1-31.
The 2019 hunt was from Oct. 12-
22. Applications totaled 683.
• S. Snake River No. 1 has 2
tags — 2020 hunt will run from
Sept. 1-30. The 2019 hunt was from
Sept. 7-22. Applications totaled
939.
• S. Snake River No. 2 has 1
tag — 2020 hunt will run from Oct.
1-31. The 2019 hunt ran from Oct.
12-22. Applications totaled 378.
Other areas
• N. Wenaha has 1 tag — 2020
hunt will run from Sept. 1 through
Oct. 31. The 2019 hunt was from
Sept. 7-22. Applications totaled
601.
• Strawberry Mountains has
1 tag — 2020 hunt will run from
Sept. 1 through Oct. 31, the same
period as for 2019. Applications
totaled 1,936.
Pronghorns: Tougher Than They Look
Photo and caption by Jim Ward
Pronghorns are not the delicate creatures they appear to be. They prosper in some of the harshest conditions. Their coat consists of hollow hair
and provides insulation that would insult your best goose down jacket. In a sprint, their enlarged heart and respiratory system takes in 4 times
more air than the best Olympic runners. The pronghorn would give the African cheetah a run for his money and leave him panting in a long-dis-
tance chase. Their eyesight would challenge your best binoculars. The photo depicts a small portion of the Grande Ronde Valley herd, which has
grown to over 50 animals in recent years.