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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (April 18, 2020)
B Saturday, April 18, 2020 RECREATION REPORT Starkey Forest remains closed to public due to pandemic The U.S. Forest Service’s Starkey Experimental Forest and Range south- west of La Grande will remain closed to public entry until fur- ther notice to align with Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s execu- tive order designed to reduce the spread of coronavirus. The 25,000-acre Starkey Experimen- tal Forest and Range was designated for research in 1940 and is the primary fi eld location for collab- orative studies of the effects of deer, elk, and cattle on ecosystems. Starkey is popular with the public for gathering of shed deer and elk antlers each spring, and a large concentra- tion of 100 or more people traditionally camp in a small area at the main gate in anticipation of open- ing day, May 1. “This year, our fi eld staff is extreme- ly limited, owing to stay-at-home orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are not able to safely accommo- date the traditional May 1 opening day,” said Hans Hayden, Starkey area man- ager. “The gover- nor’s orders also do not allow large groups of the public to congregate, many of whom travel hundreds of miles to camp together at the Starkey entrance. The current pandem- ic and associated need to avoid large gatherings, maintain public safety, and maintain safety for those who serve the public are all key considerations in de- laying our opening until further notice.” Starkey’s tempo- rary closure is part of a larger closure order that currently applies to developed recreation sites on the Wallowa-Whit- man, Umatilla and Malheur national forests. A developed recreation site is a site which has been improved for recreation, including but not limited to campgrounds, trail- head facilities, picnic areas, rental cabins, Sno-Parks, and boat ramps. Forest roads and trails, and general forest lands, remain open. Ladd Marsh Bird Festival canceled The Oregon De- partment of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) and the Friends of Ladd Marsh have canceled the 2020 Ladd Marsh Bird Festival sched- uled for May. Next year’s event, the 15th Ladd Marsh Bird Festival, has been scheduled for May 14–16, 2021. The Observer & Baker City Herald Oregon’s wolf numbers rising ■ State biologists estimate population increased by 15% during 2019 Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife photo A wolf of the Wenaha Pack captured on a remote camera on U.S. Forest Service land in northern Wallowa County in February 2017. year. A pack is defi ned as four or more wolves traveling together during Oregon’s estimated wolf popula- the winter count. Nine other groups tion increased by 15% in 2019, and as of wolves, numbering two or three has been the case since the animals animals, were documented. returned to Oregon about 20 years Three previous packs no longer ago, the majority of the state’s wolves have four wolves — Snake River, live in the northeast counties. South Snake and Wildcat, all in Wal- Biologists from the Oregon Depart- lowa County. ment of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) Of the 22 packs, 19 have ranges tallied 158 wolves this winter, an that are in northeastern Oregon — increase from 137 the previous winter, Baker, Union, Wallowa, Grant, Uma- according to the annual wolf report tilla and Morrow counties. released Wednesday and available Nineteen of the 22 packs had pups online at odfw.com/wolves. in 2019 and consisted of least two Those are considered the “minimum adults and two pups at the end of known wolf counts” and don’t repre- 2019. sent the actual population of wolves, “The state’s wolf population con- according to ODFW. tinues to grow and expand its range,” “The actual number of wolves in said Roblyn Brown, wolf coordinator Oregon is likely higher, as not all for ODFW. individuals present in the state are Although most of Oregon’s wolves located during the winter count,” continue to live in the northeast according to a press release from the corner, this region, unlike in some agency. previous years, wasn’t the focus of wolf Biologists counted 22 wolf packs attacks on livestock during 2019. this winter, up from 16 the previous ODFW confi rmed 16 wolf attacks By Jayson Jacoby Baker City Herald on livestock, compared with 28 at- tacks in 2018. In 2019 wolves killed one adult cow, one steer, 11 calves, six sheep and one protection dog, according to ODFW. More than half of the attacks were by the Rogue pack, which lives in Jack- son and Klamath counties in southern Oregon. Wolves from the Pine Creek pack in eastern Baker County killed an adult cow in April 2019 and a calf in May 2019. Wolves from the Catherine pack killed one calf in Union County in January 2019. The Bear Creek pack killed one calf in May 2019 in Wallowa County, and the Ruckel Ridge pack killed six adult sheep in Union County in September. ODFW confi rmed that seven wolves were killed in 2019, fi ve hit by vehicles and one that died from a disease. On March 12, 2019, Lawrence Aguilar, who lives about 9 miles from Halfway in Baker County, shot and killed one of four wolves that he said were chasing his cow dog near his home. Then-Baker County District At- torney Matt Shirtcliff determined in April 2019 that Aguilar was legally justifi ed in killing the wolf. Oregon law allows people to kill wolves that are attacking working dogs or livestock. ODFW didn’t document any cases of people illegally killing wolves in the state in 2019, according to the annual report. Oregon Wild, a group that advo- cates for wolves to expand into new territories in the state, lauded the trends detailed in the report. “Wolf killing went down, livestock confl icts decreased, and Oregon’s wolf population grew,” Danielle Moser, Oregon Wild’s wildlife program coordi- nator, said in a press release. “This is good news, and more strong evidence that focusing on nonlethal measures to reduce wolf-livestock confl ict works.” See Wolves/Page 2B Donations boost reward to $10,000 in poaching of bighorn ram near Troy TROY — Oregonians have raised additional money to bring the total reward to $10,000 for information leading to charges involv- ing a bighorn ram that was shot illegally Jan. 26 on the Wenaha Wildlife Area in northeastern Oregon. The Oregon Hunters Association (OHA), Oregon Wildlife Foundation (OWF), and the Oregon Chapter of the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep (OR FNAWS) chipped in to raise the reward from $1,000 to $10,000, or fi ve hunter pref- erence points. The original $1,000 is from the OHA Turn In Poachers (TIP) rewards program, funded through fi nes and restitutions from illegal fi shing and wildlife convictions. Field biologists discovered the crime after they received transmissions that the bighorn ram’s radio collar had stopped moving, which is an indicator of death. They found the radio collar and one severed, tagged ear on the ground near an access road to a feeding station. Evi- dence indicates the ram was shot. Blood and hair were found beneath the collar. “Collaborative efforts like this send a strong message that Oregonians feel protec- tive of our fi sh and wildlife,” said Curt Melcher, director of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW). OHA received support and encouragement from chapter branches across the state. The Union-Wallowa, Blue Mountain, Rogue Valley, Josephine County, Umpqua, Bend, Yamhill County and Tualatin Valley chapters each contributed $500 for a total of $4,000. The Oregon Wildlife Foun- dation contributed $2,500 to the reward. Collaborators are pleased to come together to stop poaching, said Tim Gres- eth, the Foundation’s execu- tive director. The nonprofi t is dedicated to fi sh and wild- life conservation involving obstacles such as habitat loss, illegal hunting and collisions with vehicles. “These problems can be solved when organizations work together,” Greseth said. “Oregon Wildlife Foundation is proud to join organizations like Oregon Hunters Associa- tion and Portland Audubon in the fi ght against wildlife crimes in Oregon. The Foun- dation is committed to doing that.” The Oregon chapter of the Foundation for North Ameri- can Wild Sheep also contrib- uted $2,500 to the reward. “No one agency or organi- zation has the resources to do everything on their own,” said Kevin Martin, the chap- ter president. In talking about the January poaching of the ram, Martin said, “When they take an animal, they steal from the people of Oregon. And from everyone who contrib- uted to the animals being there.” Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Capt. Casey Thomas agrees. “Poachers take away op- portunities from everyone else out there following the rules,” Thomas said, “I’m very appreciative of all the different organizations com- ing together to increase the reward amount, which will hopefully generate a good tip or information that leads us to those responsible for kill- ing this bighorn.” Turkey hunters need to prepare before heading out By Tom Claycomb There are some turkey hunting fanatics out there. In fact, you may be one of them. Here are a few symp- toms/signs: • You like turkey hunting almost as much as you do elk hunting. • You get the DTs when you hear a gobble reverberating through the woods. • You have or almost have lost a job over turkey hunting. As you know, spring is the big time to hunt turkeys — Oregon’s statewide spring turkey season started April 15 and continues through May 31. The toms are strutting and trying to impress the hens and calling one can almost be as cool as calling in a bull. BUT ... before you actually go hunt- ing you have some important tasks to complete and a few choices to make. First, you need to decide which ammo to use. When I was a kid pretty much turkey out to 50 to 60 yards. So, you have to aim at an actual body part (head/neck) just like when hunting with a rifl e. It no longer suffi ces to use your bead sights on your regular shotgun. A lot of turkey hunters now use a scope or red dot sight. Riton Optics has a cool Red Dot Scope and a 3x magnifi er that you ought to use. Tom Claycomb photo The next thing you need to do is to Claycomb uses Birchwood Casey choose your ammo. There are a lot of Shoot NC targets, which make it options on the market nowadays, and easy to see where BBs hit. a lot of them work OK, but of all the ammo that I’ve tested HEVI-Shot is all we had was lead No. 2 shot, and 30 hands down the best. I did a compari- to 40 yards was about the maximum son once for Bass Pro Shops and some for range. of the competitors had 17 to 34 BBs in A lot has changed since then. No the kill zone if I remember correctly. longer do a lot of people use their HEVI-Shot had 119! The kill zone trusty old dove or duck shotgun. looked like Swiss cheese. Many hunters have a turkey hunting After choosing your ammo you shotgun. One big reason is that with need to sight in your shotgun just like the shells we now have, you can roll a you do when sighting in your rifl e so the main pattern hits where you want it to. But whoa, before you shoot you need to get a good choke to maximize your shotgun’s performance. I use Trulock chokes. You’ll want to use a tight choke. Turkey loads kick so I use a Caldwell Lead Sled or a Caldwell Hydrosled to do my sighting in, espe- cially if you’re dumb enough to use some HEVI-Shot 3½-inch magnums. They’re a killer (on both ends). And also, I like to use the Birchwood Casey turkey targets (Their Shoot NC targets). That way I can easily count how many BBs hit in the kill zone. You’ll want to sight in your shotgun right below the head. You don’t want to shoot at the head and have half of the BBs go fl ying harmlessly over- head. Shoot at the neck so the turkey gets the main brunt of the pattern. Now you’re ready to go turkey hunt- ing. Good luck.
