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The INDEPENDENT, June 2, 2011
The
INDEPENDENT
Published on the first and third Thursdays of each month by
The Independent, LLC, 725 Bridge St., Vernonia, OR 97064.
Phone/Fax: 503-429-9410.
Publisher Clark McGaugh, clark@the-independent.net
Editor Rebecca McGaugh, rebecca@the-independent.net
Advertising Rep., Ellen Sadler, ellen@the-independent.net
Printed on recycled paper with vegetable based dyes
Opinion
Graduates: Choose wisely
Graduation ceremonies are happening all around.
After that walk across the stage, graduates will find
that life is full of choices.
Some will go to college, some straight to work,
some into the service. Some will get married and
raise families, some won’t.
We hope every graduate will go forth on their jour-
ney keeping an open, inquiring mind. Life-long learn-
ing is a great goal. You can’t go wrong with too much
knowledge.
Some graduates will make bad choices that will
take them to places they will wish they had never
seen. Excess drinking, drugs, crime, or just being
mean and unhappy can ruin lives, theirs and their
loved ones. We hope they all find their way to
healthy, happy, safe places – now or later.
We hope many will get involved in their communi-
ty and make a difference. Have a happy life, grads.
How to get a letter printed?
We have received a number of quality Letters to the
Editor lately without signatures. Unfortunately, it is our
policy not to print anonymous or unsigned letters.
If you are afraid to sign your name, let us know as
we may choose to print it anyway as long as we know
who you are.
But remember the signers of the Constitution –
who knowingly put their livelihood, property, families
and lives in jeopardy so we can enjoy the freedoms
we have today.
However, we couldn’t resist printing the recently re-
ceived letter below, signed only “Please Print, Mr. B.
Vernonia.“
Ike Says…
By Dale Webb, member
Nehalem Valley Chapter, Izaak Walton League
Once again, it is “that”
time of year, tag draw
waiting time! Unfortu-
nately, this time of year is
getting to be more and
more uncomfortable for
many of us, due to the
declining game popula-
tions in our state. Draw-
ing a deer tag in this state for a desirable unit is
almost impossible on a yearly basis; in most cas-
es it will be every 3-4 years. Eastern Oregon elk
are in the same boat…sinking. The saving grace
for Westside hunters is the Westside elk popula-
tion, which on the whole is maintaining.
I attended the spring ODF&W tag proposal
meeting and had a good chat with Herman
Biederbeck our district biologist. Of course I
voiced my opinion that the antlerless deer hunts
need to be deleted. ODF&W has proposed re-
ducing antlerless tag numbers in the Saddle Mt.
unit by 200 tags, 100 tags in the Scappoose unit,
100 tags in the Wilson unit and 100 tags in the
Trask unit. While I agree this is a step in the right
direction, it really is too late and they might as
well scrap the hunts altogether. One reason I say
this is that, while reducing the rifle antlerless
tags is a 66% reduction, the impact to the total
antlerless harvest is really only 40%. This is be-
cause the archery and disabled antlerless har-
vest will most likely not be affected by the reduc-
tion in rifle tags. Unless ODF&W makes an ex-
ception, the rule they usually follow is that, if a
unit has a unit-wide antlerless rifle season, then
archery and disabled tag holders are allowed an
either–sex harvest. It was discussed that the
commissioners would be looking at this issue at
the June meeting, but I wouldn’t hold my breath
that they will allow a limited rifle antlerless har-
vest and scrap the archery and disabled tags.
I asked Herman where the numbers came
from for the proposed reduction in antlerless
tags. His response was, “it did not come from the
district biologists, but came from the big game
managers in Salem.”
I did get some draft harvest data from Herman
regarding buck deer harvest in the Saddle Mt.
unit. It appears that the total buck harvest was
slightly lower, compared to the prior year’s har-
vest, at 551 bucks.
The elk picture remains pretty stable and I
questioned Herman whether there was any idea
of changing tag allocations; the answer was no,
with the possibility of an increase in rifle tags if
the bull escapement numbers continue to remain
high, more on this later. While many in the local
area viewed last year’s first season rifle as being
a tough one, the stats showed it was on par with
the previous year, with a bull harvest of 170 and
a 17% success rate. Second season bull hunters
saw a highly successful season, with 252 bulls
taken for a 26% success rate. Archers had an
average season with 140 bulls taken; I did not
get a success rate.
Please see page 18