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56 °F Forecast | Road Cams Sunday, April 4, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend March 18, 2004 Biologists hold off on changes in black-tailed deer season By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune State wildlife biologists have backed off recommending any radical changes to black-tailed deer hunting seasons until an overall plan for managing the species is completed. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has opted against mandatory check-ins and reporting of hunters’ success, against pushing rifle hunters out of November and not favoring further shrinking of Western Oregon’s general deer season. Agency officials, for now, instead recommend that the 2005 seasons essentially mirror those planned for 2004, except for some additional trimming of some antlerless tags. Declining deer numbers and hunter success led to a 35-day general season this fall throughout most of western Oregon, and a 28-day general black-tail season in the Cascades. "There was lots of discussion about doing some fairly radical things," says Ron Anglin, head of the ODFW’s Wildlife Division. "After talking to the public, we really didn’t want to go there yet." Instead, the ODFW recommends keeping the current format until the agency completes a black-tailed deer management plan meant to guide black-tail policies and hunting seasons for several years, Anglin says. Advertisement The report comes in the form of recommendations to the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission, which sets wildlife management policies for Oregon. The seven-member commission meets Friday in Gold Beach, where the commissioners will discuss what directions the ODFW should take for this fall’s seasons. The recommendations are consistent with what the 9,000-member Oregon Hunters Association has asked the ODFW to do — resist any major changes to hunting seasons until more information on hunting’s impact on deer herds is known. "It’s pretty much what we asked for," says John Thiebes, a former ODFW biologist who now works as the OHA’s field coordinator. "The OHA will certainly show support for the staff recommendation, but it’s the commission that will ultimately decide." The ODFW also plans a series of public meetings across the state this spring to discuss the likely scenario about this fall’s black-tail hunting seasons. In similar meetings earlier this year, hunters showed mixed support for the various ideas for curbing the seasons, says Tom Thornton, the ODFW’s game program manager. Once agency biologists decided not to recommend shortening the 35-day season, many of the other ideas — such as allowing deer hunting during the general Roosevelt bull elk season — fell to the wayside, Thornton says. "If we had gone shorter, then putting those (deer and elk) hunts together probably would have gotten more consideration," Thornton says. "Since the black-tail season is still fairly long, there’s more reason to keep them separate." The ODFW recommendation, however, does include dropping the "800 series" hunts that allow some hunters the chance to shoot a third deer and continue to reduce antlerless hunts to where they are used strictly to address agricultural damage complaints. Thornton stresses that the black-tail seasons for 2005 are still far from set in stone, and the actual seasons won’t be set until this summer at the earliest. "These are very early proposals," Thornton says. "The commission can change things between now and the fall." ODFW biologists have been searching for a way to slow or help reverse a decade of declines that black-tails are suffering in the once deer-rich woods of western Oregon. The problems, according to wildlife biologists, are primarily degrading habitat and disease, with predation and other issues likely causing deer numbers and buck ratios to plummet throughout much of the black-tails' range. As a wildlife agency that controls very little land in Oregon, the ODFW has little opportunity other than hunting seasons to alter deer management. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S RESOURCES Oregon Road Conditions & Cams SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Food for Thought Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Prime Times