Outdoors
May 15
deadline to
apply for
controlled
hunt tags
ODFW officials urge
hunters to not wait
until last minute
EO Media Group
SALEM — Hunters don’t
have much more time to apply
for a controlled or premium
hunt this fall.
The deadline to apply is
May 15. If you apply at a
license agent, the deadline
depends on the store hours.
The online licensing system
for the Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW)
will accept applications up to
11:59 p.m. on May 15.
Applications cost $8 per
hunt series (buck deer, ant-
ler-less deer, elk, prong-
horn, bighorn sheep, Rocky
Mountain goat), and appli-
cants must have an annual
hunting license.
Among signifi cant changes
this year, archery elk hunting
in 13 units and three subunits
in the Blue Mountains shift
from general to controlled
seasons. And for the second
straight year, all archery
hunting for deer is controlled
in Eastern Oregon.
Details are available in the
big game hunting regulations,
which are available at https://
myodfw.com/
Here are some tips for
applying for a controlled hunt:
• Use group purchase. One
person can apply for an entire
hunting party and for their
family and friends.
• Double-check regula-
tions before applying. Even if
you’ve applied for the same
hunt for years, check your
hunt number and be sure the
hunt hasn’t changed.
• Don’t wait until the last
minute. ODFW offi ces are
closed so staff will not be
available to help customers
by phone or email during the
weekend. If you wait until
the last weekend and have
problems with your online
account, ODFW recommends
you visit a license agent to
make your purchase.
• Be sure to apply for a
premium hunt — deer, elk
and pronghorn antelope tags
with a four-month season
(Aug. 1-Nov. 30) and any-sex
bag limit. Everyone has an
equal chance to draw these
tags (including non-residents).
Premium tags are additional
meaning you can also hunt a
controlled or general season.
Hunters have until June 1
to change their hunt choice if
they’ve already applied.
As of May 1, 164,706 con-
trolled hunt applications have
been sold. In 2021, a total of
526,361 controlled hunt appli-
cations were received with
most applications coming
in the last week before
the deadline.
“We again urge hunters
to not wait until the last
minute this year,” said Jean-
nine Smith, ODFW licensing
services manager. “The
majority of applications come
in during the last few days
before the deadline and our
hold and email response times
peak.”
Big game herds fared well
over the winter, as the mild
weather resulted in little over-
winter morality. But severe
drought conditions are exac-
erbating poor habitat condi-
tions for mule deer resulting
in some emergency tag
reductions.
If you have problems with
your online account, call
Licensing at (503) 947-6101 or
email odfw.websales@odfw.
oregon.gov.
Rec
B
Saturday, May 7, 2022
The Observer & Baker City Herald
STORMS, SURF
and TASTY PERCH
A trip to the sea
spurs fond memories
DENNIS
DAUBLE
THE NATURAL WORLD
B
ack in the day, my parents
transported me and my
siblings from home in
Eastern Oregon to the Pacific Coast
twice a year; at spring break and in
late summer after pea harvest. Every
10-hour trip down the winding
“historic” Columbia River highway
proved an endurance test for a
family of seven crammed into a ’55
Mercury station wagon. Constant
banter, jostling for position,
peculiar body odors, and infrequent
bathroom breaks took their toll.
A few other things about those welcome
trips to the beach come to mind. First, was
invariably reaching our destination in the
dark. We sat patiently while Dad drove
around town looking for a cheap motel with
enough beds for all. What followed was his
best attempt to convince Mom he found a
good deal. My fondest memories, though,
involve casting for redtail surfperch. We
gutted and scaled our catch in the rolling
surf, Mom fried their fl at shapes crisp and
brown, and we feasted on soft white meat
until our bellies were full.
Several decades later I look out the
window of an ocean-front rental at Yachats.
My plan to spend the next three days fi shing
is in jeopardy. A dozen sea mussels, har-
vested at low tide the evening before, are
“clammed up” in
a sack on the back
porch. Mussels are
high in Vitamin
A and elevate the
fl avor of a bowl
of Cioppino, but
mine are destined
for bait. With gusts
up to 60 mph and
overnight freezing
temperatures pre-
dicted, the bottle
of Pelican Brewing
Company’s “Tsu-
nami” in my right
Dennis Dauble/Contributed Photo
hand and Johnny
The soft white meat of redtail surfperch complements a side of crispy
Winter’s gravelly
hashbrowns.
voice on Pandora
seem appropriate.
The loud crash
and pound of giant waves on the rock shelf
below is relentless, yet reassures. Some
things remain constant in an ever-changing
world. Fist-size balls of foam blow side-
ways from wave crests that would challenge
surfers on the north shore of Oahu. Rain
lashes at the window pane. Beach grass
bends sideways. Gulls huddle on the rocky
shelf below. A big screen view of the Pacifi c
Ocean rarely gets old except on days when
fi shing is on your mind.
See, Perch/Page B6
Dennis Dauble/Contributed Photo
The author casts from a coastal rock on a day
when tidal conditions were favorable.
Wallowa-Whitman workers conduct
survey for Columbia spott ed frogs
The frogs, which
require specific
habitat, are a
sensitive species
EO Media Group
LA GRANDE —
Employees from the Wal-
lowa-Whitman National
Forest recently sur-
veyed areas in the Upper
Grande Ronde River area
for the Columbia spotted
frog, a sensitive species
on the 2.3-million-acre
national forest.
Marie Gaylord, a bio-
logical science technician
for the La Grande Ranger
District, said employees
conduct the surveys each
April, when spotted frog
breeding sites are active
with the warming weather.
“The breeding of this
species of frog have been
recorded in this area for
over 30 years,” Gaylord
said in a press release from
the Wallowa-Whitman.
This year’s surveys
were done on April 27.
Dax Smith, a biolog-
ical science technican for
the La Grande Ranger
District, said many of
the areas surveyed are
part of the Collaborative
Forest Landscape Resto-
ration Program, which is
designed to restore ponds
and other habitat that the
spotted frog and other spe-
cies depend on.
“By returning to these
areas, we support the pro-
cess because it acts as a
report card for our pre-
vious work,” Smith said.
“These frogs could not
lay eggs in some of the
areas before, and now
with the fl oodplain recon-
nected they are able to
breed safely.”
Female spotted frogs
need specifi c habitat
to safely lay their egg
masses, which can include
from a few hundred to as
many as 2,000 eggs.
“Conditions like still,
shallow water edges,
emergent vegetation,
and ample sunlight all
contribute to a healthy
breeding location,” Gay-
lord said. “As such, the
presence of egg masses
is an indicator of certain
habitat conditions that
can then be used to deter-
mine the habitat suitability
for other aquatic or semi-
aquatic life.”
Although forest offi -
cials said improving hab-
itat can contribute to a
growth in the spotted
frog population, other
factors can threaten the
unhatched tadpoles. One
of the bigger risks is
people inadvertently step-
ping on egg masses.
“The egg masses that
these frogs produce are
very delicate,” Smith
said. “If you are out rec-
reating in these pond
areas, be mindful of your
step and do not touch or
pick up the masses.”
Forest users can assist
by documenting and
reporting sighted egg mass
locations to their local dis-
trict ranger offi ce.
For more informa-
tion about the Wal-
lowa-Whitman National
Forest, visit https://
www.fs.usda.gov/
wallowa-whitman.
Joseph Black/Wallowa-Whitman National Forest
Marie Gaylord, front, and Dax Smith, biological science
technicians for the La Grande Ranger District, survey a pond in
the Upper Grande Ronde area for Columbia spotted frogs on
April 27, 2022.