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SUNNY Temp: 53 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Thursday, November 21, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend September 19, 2002 Expanded turkey season brings hunters out in droves By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Oregon’s upland game-bird hunters will get their most expanded fall turkey season ever, and they are already lining up in force to take part in the upcoming hunt. Through Tuesday, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has sold 1,070 fall turkey tags, even though the season does not start until Oct. 15. The tags cost $11.50 apiece and have been available since Sept. 1 at the 560 Point of Sale computer-licensing outlets statewide. The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission has expanded the fall turkey hunt by two weeks and doubled the number of available tags to 2,000. The tags are sold on a first-come, first-served basis until they are sold out or the season ends, whichever comes first. But it looks like the tags could very well sell out before the season opens. Last year, all of the 1,000 tags were sold out by mid-September, according to Eric Rickerson of the ODFW’s game bird program in Portland. The first-come, first-served format is in its second year. Previously, the season was a controlled hunt, with hunters applying for tags. The season runs Oct. 15 through Nov. 30 this year. In previous years, the hunt stopped on Nov. 15. The expanded hunt period and tag availability were possible because of expanding turkey populations and increased complaints of turkeys damaging property, said Mark Vargas of the ODFW’s Central Point office. The fall season is open only in Jackson, Josephine, Coos, Curry and Douglas counties of southwestern Oregon as well as a handful of Willamette Valley counties. Hunters can buy one tag a season, and the bag limit is one turkey of either sex. TULELAKE, Calif. — Young waterfowl hunters later this month will get the first shot at some of the best duck and goose hunting the Klamath Basin has to offer. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is hosting a youth hunt Sept. 28-29 in the Tule Lake, Lower Klamath and Clear Lake refuges, which are all part of the service’s Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge system. The hunt, which takes place two weeks before the Oct. 12 opening day for adults in Northern California, is open for licensed hunters who are at least 15 years old but not yet 18. They must be accompanied by a non-shooting adult 18 years old or older. All areas of the refuges normally open for regular waterfowl hunting will be available to the young hunters. The refuges also will remain open after the regular 1 p.m. end of shooting, and the refuges are waiving any permits and check-in requirements. Also, the Tule Lake Refuge’s spaced-blind areas will be open for free-roaming hunters, and the newly opened Sump 1 (B) and Frey’s Island hunting areas will be open for the youth hunt as well. All other hunting rules and bag limits must be followed. Three more youth hunts will conducted on select Saturdays in October and November. They are: Sunday, Oct. 19; Saturday, Oct. 26; and Saturday, Nov. 30. For maps of the refuges and more information on the youth hunts, telephone Dave Menke at 1-530-667-2231. The area available to most hunters in northeastern Oregon’s Heppner Unit has been reduced by 37,000 acres with the closure of private lands that were open to hunting for more than three decades. Pioneer Resources elected to close their land along the western edge of the Heppner Unit to hunting because of a pending sale of the property. The affected areas include Opal Butte, French Pass, Parkers Mill, Tupper Creek, Board Creek, Thorn Creek and a small tract near Blake Ranch. New signs have been posted alerting hunters that trespassing is not allowed in these areas. The Pioneer Resources land was included in the Heppner Regulated Hunt Area, a cooperative program to provide hunter access. Other lands in the regulated hunt area and public lands will remain open to hunting. Hunters who have questions about the closure can telephone the ODFW’s Heppner office at 1-541-676-5230. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search M Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy web master feedback A D V E R T I S E R S