B
Saturday, August 22, 2020
RECREATION
REPORT
ARCHERY ELK
HUNTING WILL
REMAIN GENERAL
SEASON IN 2021
SALEM — The
Oregon Department
of Fish and Wild-
life (ODFW) won’t
change archery elk
hunting seasons
from general to
controlled hunts until
2022 at the soonest.
The agency earlier
this year announced
that it would ask the
Fish and Wildlife
Commission at its
Sept. 11 meeting to
change archery elk
and deer seasons
to controlled hunts
starting in 2021.
Although a deci-
sion on changes to
the elk season is
deferred, the Com-
mission will, during
its Sept. 11 meeting,
consider the ODFW
proposal to change
archery deer seasons
in Eastern Oregon
to controlled hunts
starting in 2021.
“The popularity of
archery elk hunting
in Eastern Oregon
has led to signifi -
cant management
challenges in many
wildlife manage-
ment units,” said
Nick Myatt, ODFW’s
project lead for the
review of big game
regulations. “While
these issues need
to be addressed,
based on hunter
input received, we
want to further refi ne
proposed changes,
collect additional
information on ar-
chery hunter prefer-
ences around those
changes, and expand
involvement across
all hunters. ODFW
does plan on propos-
ing changes for the
2022 eastern Oregon
archery elk season,
but the proposals
will be taken to the
Commission for con-
sideration in 2021 at
a time that does not
overlap with archery
season.”
More informa-
tion on the propos-
als can be found
at https://myodfw.
com/articles/big-
game-review and
further details will be
available the week
before the Commis-
sion meeting at the
Commission page.
To comment, send
an email to odfw.
commission@state.
or.us or register to
testify at the virtual
meeting via Zoom.
The Observer & Baker City Herald
IN THE YEAR OF THE PANDEMIC, MORE PEOPLE VISITING THE EAGLE CAP WILDERNESS, OTHER OUTDOOR DESTINATIONS
Lisa Britton/For the EO Media Group
From the trail just below Horton Pass the view includes two of the major drainages in the Eagle Cap Wilderness — the East Fork of the Lostine
River at left, and Hurricane Creek at right — as well as the summit of the Matterhorn, the white peak at far right.
S PACE T O S PREAD O UT
By Jayson Jacoby
Baker City Herald
In the Eagle Cap Wilderness, social
distancing is better measured in miles
than in feet.
But the effects of the coronavirus
pandemic have spread even to the
Eagle Cap, Oregon’s biggest federal
wilderness at 365,000 acres and a place
where it’s not uncommon for visitors to
pitch their tent several miles from the
nearest person.
And possibly farther than that from
the closest road.
The effects aren’t dramatic, but
they have been noticeable, said Sweyn
Wall, the recreation, trails, wilderness
and special uses coordinator at the
Wallowa-Whitman National Forest’s
Wallowa Mountains Offi ce in Enter-
prise.
Wall said Forest Service wilderness
rangers and other employees have
reported a signifi cant rise this summer
in the number of people visiting the
Eagle Cap Wilderness and, to a lesser
extent, the Hells Canyon Wilderness.
The Forest Service won’t have
detailed data until Wall tallies reports
this winter.
But he said rangers have estimated
visitor numbers have increased by 50%
to 100% in the Eagle Cap Wilderness.
And the trend isn’t limited to the wil-
derness area, where motorized vehicles
and bicycles are prohibited and visitors
must either hike or ride a horse.
Wall said Wallowa-Whitman camp-
grounds have also been busier than
usual this summer.
This pattern is hardly exclusive to
the northeast corner of Oregon.
State parks departments, federal
agencies and other entities nationwide
have seen larger-than-normal crowds
this summer as people who spent
much of the spring staying home seek
outdoor activities.
And more than usual, those people
are choosing to drive to destinations
“What we’re seeing here mirrors
what’s going on in the rest of the
country. There’s a strong desire
on the public’s part to get out and
recreate outdoors.”
— Sweyn Wall,
Wallowa-Whitman National Forest
rather than fl y, and staying in tents
and campers rather than motel rooms
and resorts.
“This summer, 97% of people who
are traveling are taking that good
old-fashioned American road trip,”
said Marie Dodds, spokesperson for
AAA Oregon & Idaho. “People want to
go places where they can avoid large
crowds and do fun things in the great
outdoors. Of course, here in Oregon and
the West Coast in general, we have so
many locations where people can do
that.”
That the Eagle Cap Wilderness, and
the Wallowa-Whitman in general, are
among those locations is not surprising,
Wall said.
In a typical year, he said, 70% to 80%
of visitors to the Eagle Cap Wilderness
live outside the area, and many travel
more than 300 miles.
“What we’re seeing here mirrors
what’s going on in the rest of the
country,” Wall said. “There’s a strong
desire on the public’s part to get out
and recreate outdoors.”
Wall said fi ve wilderness rangers,
who spend most of their time in the
Eagle Cap but also travel in the Hells
Canyon Wilderness, have talked with
about 700 groups of wilderness visitors,
totaling around 2,000 people.
In 2018, by comparison, four wilder-
ness rangers visited with about 550
groups.
Based on this summer’s reports,
more people than usual are taking
their fi rst trip into the wilderness to
camp overnight, Wall said.
He said the number of cars parked
at Eagle Cap Wilderness trailheads
has been above average, with “cars
lining roads approaching popular trail-
heads a common experience.”
Wall said the pattern of use has been
similar to past summers, with a large
majority of people starting their trips
at one of three trailheads on the north
side of the wilderness — Wallowa Lake,
Hurricane Creek and Two Pan (at the
end of the Lostine River Road).
Wall said forest employees have seen
several cars parked at other trailheads,
including on weekdays, that usually
are empty even during weekends.
Bear Creek trailhead south of
Wallowa, for instance, has been much
busier than usual this summer, he said.
The situation has been similar in
other parts of the Wallowa-Whitman.
Chelsea Judy, the marketing direc-
tor for Anthony Lakes Mountain
Resort, which manages three Forest
Service campgrounds in the Anthony
Lakes area and four others at Phillips
Reservoir and near Sumpter, wrote in
an email to the Baker City Herald that
“we have seen a lot more traffi c and
people out recreating in general. Both
the Anthony Lake and Union Creek
complexes have experienced a higher
volume of campers and day users.”
Judy said visitor numbers are up by
15% to 20% at both complexes, with
a “very large number” of guests from
outside the area compared with the
past two summers. The Forest Service
awarded Anthony Lakes Mountain
Resort the concession to operate the
campgrounds starting in 2018.
Teresa Fraser, the camp host at the
Wallowa-Whitman’s Wetmore, Yel-
low Pine and Oregon campgrounds
along Highway 26 west of Unity, said
visitor numbers have been higher
than usual there. Wallowa-Whitman
employees have also reported more
people than usual camping along the
South Fork of the Burnt River.
Although the Eagle Cap Wilder-
ness has ample acreage for visitors
to spread out, people tend to congre-
gate at lakes, which usually have the
best places to pitch a tent.
The most obvious problem result-
ing from this summer’s increase in
visitors is, to put it bluntly, poop.
More specifi cally, human waste
that isn’t buried as it’s supposed to
be — in a hole 6 to 8 inches deep and
at least 200 feet from water sources.
This is not a new problem, to be
sure, Wall said.
But he’s heard more reports about
the issue this summer than in the
past.
Whether that refl ects an infl ux
of fi rst-time wilderness visitors,
who might not be familiar with the
proper disposal technique, is not
clear, Wall said.
Another effect that he attributes
to this summer’s pandemic-driven
boost in wilderness visits has to do
with a quota or permit system or
some other way to limit the number
of people allowed to enter the Eagle
Cap Wilderness.
There are no such restrictions now.
The Forest Service does limit the
size of individual groups entering the
wilderness to 12 people and 18 head
of stock, and to six people and nine
head of stock in the Lake Basin.
Wall said the number of questions
wilderness rangers have fi elded from
visitors who advocate for controlling
the number of people in the wilder-
ness has been modest this summer,
but it has been more common.
“Normally we have maybe only
half a dozen folks” annually who ask
about or suggest such limits, he said.
“This year we’ve had maybe twice
that number. It’s not a large percent-
age by any means, but it stands out.
It’s relatively unusual to hear about
in our part of Oregon.”
Crappie fishing has been as hot as the weather recently
Used to be I’d catch crappie in
Oregon until June 10. The last 4 to
5 years I’m still catching them up
until I knock off fishing and start
bow hunting, which is in September.
I don’t know what has changed. But
who cares, the bite is real!
Of course, the technique to catch
them changes as the year goes by. On
a recent Monday at Owyhee Reservoir,
Katy and I caught 114, and on Thurs-
day 141 in 4 hours. And, she was
reading a book for an hour or two both
times. This year it seems like the red/
white tube jigs are the hot ticket with a
small jig head, but on that Thursday I
switched to a Lake Fork Trophy Lures
Baby Shad in their pearl color and it
held its own.
Don’t grab the second rod, though.
Cast out the first one right fast so it
BASE CAMP
can be fishing and then reel in the
TOM CLAYCOMB
second fish. Unhook him right fast
and then cast it back in and grab the
Of course they aren’t up right by first rod. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat until
the bank like in the spring when
you’re tired. Fishing is unbelievable
they’re spawning. We’re catching
right now. More than likely you’ll only
most of them out 50 yards from the be able to handle one rod.
bank and further. We’ll cast out and
I don’t have a depth finder on the
let it sink to the bottom. If you’re
Black Pearl (which the haters call
fi shing with two rods cast out both. the Edmond Fitz Terror due to a few
Then pick up the fi rst one and
mishaps) so I can’t tell you what depth
slowly pick up the tip of the rod and to fish in but I’d say out to 30 feet. We
slightly reel. They start hitting right catch most of them deep but as soon
away. If not, repeat. Near dusk it is a as I say that we get a lot of fish not
hit every cast, literally. Reel it in, un- over 4 feet deep. Quite a few times
hook your fi sh and by now another we’ve had a jig by the side of the boat
fi sh will be hitting the second rod.
and caught a fish not 3 feet deep.
But big news, even though we’ve
owned the Black Pearl for 34 years
and she is very well weather worn, we
did upgrade her recently. We put on
a Honda BF2.3 gas motor. Ahh ... It
is like a slice of heaven. No longer do
we have to monitor the battery power
level nor are we limited to staying
within a couple of miles of where we
launched. Nor do we periodically have
to paddle back due to a dead battery.
A couple of times in bad winds I’ve
made it back within 50 yards of the
dock only for the battery to die (curse
of all curses) and get blown off into
eternity.
The Honda BF2.3 motor pushes
the BP about three times as fast as
the electric trolling motor too. As soon
as I get a free moment, I think I’ll go
down to the courthouse and legally
change her name to Suck My Wake!
That defi nitely sounds more presti-
gious than all the other names that
my disillusioned buddies have called
her. Including The Coffi n or Carp 1.
Now that I have a real motor and
can fi sh more and will be paddling
and cussing less, what am I going to
do with all of the fi sh that that allows
me more time to catch?
Yes, I am defi nitely on top of the
world now that I have a gas motor.
I’m thinking that I’ve reached the
pinnacle of crappie fi shing. And then I
got sent to South Dakota for 2 weeks.
I think the crappie had something
to do with me getting sent!