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Glitch thwarts anglers, hunters The Oregon computer-licensing system shuts down most of the day By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune The woods and waters of Oregon may be a little less speckled with hunters and anglers today, thanks to a state computer glitch that left last-minute buyers of new licenses in the lurch. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's new point-of-sale computer-licensing system shut down late Monday and remained down for most of the day, leaving thousands of outdoors people unable to buy their 2002 hunting and angling licenses. It was working by the evening. The shutdown, which ODFW spokeswoman Anne Pressentin Young blamed on problems with the agency's new licensing software, followed two days of slow service for outlets in Medford. Those without licenses cannot legally hunt or fish today, despite people's efforts to get their licenses and necessary tags Monday. "It's been a major inconvenience," Pressentin Young says. "New Year's Eve is not a good day for this to happen." The ODFW kept open its field offices in Central Point and elsewhere until 5 p.m. Monday issuing hand-written licenses and tags. One of those last-minute buyers was Dan Bartell of Medford, who planned to buy his 2002 hunting license Monday evening in preparation for his traditional New Year's Day goose-hunting trip to Klamath County. Bartell learned about 4:30 p.m. Monday that the license system was not working, and he scurried to the ODFW's Central Point office and was able to buy his new license just before the doors closed. "Normally, I buy mine a month or two before the (waterfowl) season starts, but this year I was real busy and didn't get around to it until now," Bartell says. "I guess everybody else is kind of stuck, but that's the way it goes." The agency had been selling 5,000 to 6,000 licenses day since late last week, Pressentin Young says. The ODFW recently changed its computer system software to one that uses newly generated identification numbers instead of Social Security numbers. That system was working well in recent weeks, but the end-of-the-year rush for 2002 licenses was its first real test, she says. Stores such as G.I. Joe's in Medford will be open today for those who can wait until regular business hours to buy their licenses. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.