From rain-forest elk habitat on the Olympic Peninsula to bone-dry chukar cover in the basalt scabland of the Columbia Basin, upcoming fall hunting seasons are shaping up as pretty much a carbon copy of 2007 hunts.
No massive wildfires were burning at time of writing and, while snowfall last winter was heavy, and some winter wildlife mortality took place, the season did not appear to be a major killer. The spring brood period for some upland birds was cold and wet, and populations of wild eastside pheasant, for example, are down, but not disastrously so.
And for Washington hunters, facing habitat loss, a finite resource, and an increasing human population, the status quo is not necessarily a bad thing.
Here is a quick rundown of prospects for a few of the more popular species this fall, according to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists:
Deer: The best hunter success rates are almost always found in the whitetail country of northeast Washington. This fall should be no exception, except that the buck ratio is not where biologists would like it to be, probably because of several not-so-friendly winters in a row. Biologist Dana Base in Colville expects a mediocre buck hunt this fall by his standards, but by anyone else’s, it will still be good hunting.
Base admits that a bow or blackpowder hunter, or a juvenile or senior, or a rifle hunter who got drawn for a special permit, with a three-day weekend to hunt, is pretty much a shoo-in for an antlerless whitetail. Top game management units for antlerless deer should be Douglas (GMU 108), Sherman (101), and Kelly Hill (105).
Base said rifle hunters, chasing spike bucks or better, should avoid units 111, 113, and 117-East because some winter kill was reported in those areas.
In the Okanogan, traditional mule deer country, biologist Matt Monda, Ephrata, expects an average hunt this fall, in his words, “neither a bonanza nor gloom and doom.”
The area has a healthy mule deer population, Monda said, but because of a degree of fawn mortality the past few years and the resultant low population of young bucks, the best hunting will be for three-points and better.
The top units, Monda said, will likely be Chewuch (GMU 218), Pearrygin (224), and Gardiner (231).
Elk: Yakima-area elk herds are popular with hunters from here, mostly for spike bulls currently, and biologist Jeff Bernatowicz from WDFW’s Yakima office said the herds have been relatively stable the past few years. He expects the 2008 hunt to be comparable to that of last season, average to perhaps a little above average.
“Experienced modern weapon elk hunters know that the rifle season on the east slope of the Cascades is weather dependent,” Bernatowicz said. “Most of our animals summer at high elevation in the Cascades, and snow is critical to push them down to accessible areas in time for the hunting season.”
If snow is late this year, he said the higher-elevation units 356, Bumping, and 346, Little Naches, would be the better bets. With snow, try 342, Umptanum, 360, Oak Creek, or 368, Cowiche.
Pheasant: Washington’s best hunting for wild pheasant is found these days in the southeast corner of the state, on and around irrigated farmland in Franklin, Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin counties. Biologist Joey McCanna, upland bird specialist out of the WDFW’s Spokane office, said carryover of adult birds was good this year, but that wet, cool weather during the hatch cut the number and average size of observed broods.
“Since about 80 percent of our wild-pheasant harvest is on young birds, I’m looking at a relatively poor hunt in the southeast this fall,” McCanna said.
Fish and Wildlife, however, runs a good pheasant release system there, and McCanna suggested Rice Bar and Willow Bar as two of the more popular spots to hunt pen-raised birds.
Release sites around the state are described and mapped on WDFW’s Web site, www.wdfw.wa.gov.
The Royal Slope in Grant County, between Potholes Reservoir and Royal City, is a popular pheasant hunting spot, and the Royal Boosters Club has capitalized on the fact. To benefit scholarships, equipment and facilities at Royal High School, farmers in the area have banded together to sell hunting permits for thousands of acres of prime pheasant habitat to the public. The cost is reasonable, and it’s a realistic chance for the average scattergunner to at least put up a couple of birds during the fall season. For more information contact MarDon Resort at 1-800-416-2736.
The hunt is based entirely on released pheasants in Western Washington and, for hunters from this area, that means either the Skagit Wildlife Area or the Snoqualmie Wildlife Area. Biologist John Garrett in Mount Vernon manages both and said the number of pen-raised birds available to him will be about the same as last year, around 8,000 total for both areas. Release sites on the Skagit include Leque Island (Smith Farm), just across the bridge from Stanwood; the “headquarters unit,” on Fir Island just west of Conway; and the Samish Unit, on Samish Bay near Samish Island. The latter will be open to youth and senior hunts only, Garrett said.
On the Snoqualmie, birds are released at Crescent Lake, Cherry Valley, and on the Stillwater unit. Releases generally are on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, for hunting the next day. And Garrett usually saves a few birds to sweeten the Thanksgiving weekend hunt, which marks the end of the release season.
Check the Web site for release site descriptions, or call the Mill Creek office at 425-775-1311.
Quail: Eastside biologists all said that while upland bird hunters don’t normally plan a trip specifically for quail, they may be missing a bet. Quail populations have exploded in many parts of the Columbia Basin, and the small birds offer a challenging shoot. Look for them in the brushier habitat, particularly along stream courses, wasteways, and river bottoms.
Waterfowl: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s annual estimate of North American duck populations is out, predicting flights this fall down about 9 percent from last year, but still 11 percent above the long-term average. Three of the most-harvested species around the state shape up this fall as follows: mallards, down 7 percent from last year, but 3 percent above the long-term average; green-winged teal, up 3 percent, and up 57 percent; and widgeon, down 11 percent and down 5 percent.
Best local duck hunting is on the Skagit Wildlife Area, along the bayfront from boats when the wind is blowing, on Skagit delta ponds and potholes (with permission to trespass) after fall rains start, and on the relatively new Samish Unit. In eastern Washington, try the Desert Wildlife Area west of Potholes Reservoir, where walk-in hunters can find some pretty good jump shooting along wasteways and ponds.
Snow goose hunting last year on and around the Skagit delta was excellent. The prospects this year, according to WDFW’s Doug Huddle, includes both good tidings and bad. The good is that the prediction from Russian biologists is for 140,000 snows on the Pacific flyway this fall and winter, compared to 120,000 last year. The bad is that the hatch was not great, so the number of less-wary, more-huntable juvenile birds will be down from last year.
Huddle (360-633-5325) will again run the Fir Island Quality Hunt program, where specific hunt spots are assigned by random drawing to snow goose hunters who have applied to the program and who have their written permission to hunt snows in hand. Last year, FIQH hunters harvested about 2,000 snow geese, at an average of 3.22 birds per party, per day. Average party size was 2.7 people.
For complete information, including hunting tips and descriptions of the available units, go to www.wdfw.wa.gov, then hunting, game species, waterfowl, snow geese. Print out the single-page application to hunt snow geese and apply for the quality hunt drawing. Deadline to enter the drawing is Sept. 26.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
