A10
SPORTS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, March 17, 2021
Elk
Continued from Page A1
ODFW offi cials have cited mul-
tiple reasons for proposing the shift
from general to controlled archery
seasons.
One is the increasing number of
archery hunters over the past few
decades. ODFW said the number of
archers hunting elk in Eastern Ore-
gon rose from about 12,300 in 1995
to about 18,500 in 2019.
Another is improvements in tech-
nology, which allow hunters to make
longer kill shots and archery hunters
to have higher success rates.
“WE HAVE TRIED TO
CRAFT A SOLUTION
THAT ADDRESSES
THE PROBLEMS
WE ARE SEEING IN
SOME UNITS, WHILE
CONTINUING TO
RETAIN AS MUCH
GENERAL SEASON
OPPORTUNITY AS
POSSIBLE.”
Contributed photo/Gary Lewis
A bull elk in Northeast Oregon. The
hunting season for archers could
change from a general season to a
controlled season starting in 2022 in
many parts of the region.
— Jeremy Thompson, district wildlife
biologist for ODFW’s Mid-Columbia area
But because the archery seasons
have remained general seasons, with
no limits on how many tags are sold,
ODFW’s lone tool to limit hunting to
protect deer and elk herds has been to
cut the number of tags for rifl e hunts,
which are controlled hunts with lim-
ited tags awarded through the lottery
system.
“Currently the controlled rifl e
season is the one place we have
the ability to adjust hunter har-
vest, and they have taken almost
all the tag reductions in the last
25 years,” said Jeremy Thomp-
son, district wildlife biologist
for ODFW’s Mid-Columbia area
who is managing the review of
elk archery hunts. “The ultimate
goal of this proposal is to be able
to make management actions
equitable for all users.”
In choosing which units to
propose the change from a gen-
eral to a controlled archery sea-
son, ODFW officials consid-
ered the elk populations in those
units, as well as hunter density
and hunter displacement, which
are based on a 2020 public sur-
vey of hunters.
Units where the bull ratio —
the number of bulls per cow —
have not met the state’s goals in
three out of five years are pro-
posed to change from general to
controlled archery hunts in 2022.
Contributed photo/Gary Lewis
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is proposing signifi cant changes to elk hunting rules for archers.
Draft 2022 archery regulation proposal
Contributed image/Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife propos-
es to change the following hunting units from general
season to controlled season for archery elk hunters in
2022: Silvies, North Malheur River, West Beulah, Mur-
derers Creek, Northside, North Sumpter, Desolation,
Heppner, Ukiah, Starkey, Catherine Creek, Keating,
Minam, Imnaha, Snake River and Pine Creek.
“We have tried to craft a solu-
tion that addresses the problems
we are seeing in some units,
while continuing to retain as
much general season opportunity
as possible,” Thompson said.
ODFW is proposing to change
from a general to a controlled elk
archery hunt in some other units
because, although those units are
meeting bull ratio goals, the bull
elk harvest is near what biolo-
gists consider the unit’s capac-
ity. In some units, archery hunt-
ers have been taking as many or
more branch-antlered bulls than
rifle hunters have, according to
ODFW.
Two Baker County archery
hunters, Bob Reedy and Keith
Jensen, said they have concerns
about the potential effects of
ODFW’s proposed changes.
Reedy, who lives in Baker City
and also owns an archery shop,
disputes ODFW’s contention that
switching from a general to a
controlled season for elk is nec-
essary to deal with declining elk
populations and bull ratios.
“I think a lot of this is about
the state mismanaging the ani-
mals,” Reedy said.
He contends the state could
either temporarily ban hunters
from killing bulls, whether they
use bows or rifles, or change the
bag limit to prohibit hunters from
shooting spike bulls. By restricting
hunters to harvesting only mature,
branch-antlered bulls, Reedy said the
state could boost bull ratios in units
where they’re below state objectives.
“If they want better bull ratios,
stop shooting so many bulls,” he said.
Jensen, who also owns an archery
shop in Bowen Valley just south
of Baker City, said he concedes
ODFW’s point that for the past few
decades rifl e hunters, not archers,
have borne the brunt of cuts in elk
tag numbers.
But Jensen said he’s worried
ODFW’s proposed “piecemeal”
approach — moving to controlled
archery seasons in some units but
continuing with a general season in
others — would push many hunters
to units with a general season, lead-
ing to overcrowding.
Both Jensen and Reedy also
said they believe ODFW is failing
to acknowledge that predation, by
bears, cougars and wolves, is con-
tributing to declining elk numbers in
some units.
ODFW is asking hunters to
submit comments on the pro-
posed changes, which the Fish and
Wildlife Commission is sched-
uled to discuss during its June 18
meeting.
The commission will make a
decision on archery seasons for 2022
during its September 2021 meeting.
More information is available
online at myodfw.com/articles/
big-game-hunting-season-review.
Comments should be emailed to
odfw.wildlifeinfo@state.or.us
no
later than April 15. There will be
additional opportunities to comment
before and during the commission’s
June 18 meeting.
TOM CHRISTENSEN
CHRISTENSEN
TOM
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