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Commission adopts hunting changes By MARK FREEMAN Longer bear-hunting seasons, an official definition of a "visible antler" and a ban on new, high-tech archery bows top the list of new big-game hunting changes set for next year. The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission made these changes, along with changes to the state's controlled-hunt system rules, during a Friday meeting in Astoria. The commission also set the different season dates and bag limits for big-game seasons in Oregon next year. Western Oregon's general black bear season has been from the last Saturday in August through November statewide. The new season in Western Oregon will run Aug. 1 through Dec. 31 beginning next year. In Eastern Oregon, the new season will run Aug. 1 through Nov. 30. For the first time, the commission now has defined exactly what "visible antlers" are on deer and elk. The official definition is needed to clear up confusion over what constitutes an antler. A visible antler now is a velvet or hardened antler that is visible above the hairline on the skullcap and is capable of being shed. The new definition helps clarify that subcutaneous -- or beneath the skin -- bumps seen on some doe deer or cow elk are not antlers, says Kathy Shinn, spokeswoman for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The definition also allows ODFW to change bull elk bag limits on some hunts from "spike or better" bulls to bulls with a "visible antler," Shinn says. The commission also has banned the use of some new, high-tech archery systems during bow season hunts in Oregon. Bows that use a channel or track to guide an arrow are not legal during bow seasons. Specifically, the new definition for 2000 is as follows: Hunters cannot use any device secured to, or supported by, the bow's risers which supports or guides an arrow from a point rearward of a bow's brace height. The shooting hours for bird hunters was misprinted in the 1999 Oregon Game Bird Regulations booklet, and the commission has enacted an emergency ruling to fix them. Sunday's shooting hours were erroneously listed as daylight savings time, but daylight savings time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday. The correct shooting hours for Zone 1, which is all of Western Oregon, are 6:21 a.m. to 5:03 p.m. For Zone 2, which is North-Central Oregon, the shooting hours are 6:15 a.m. to 4:47 p.m. Shooting hours for Klamath and Lake counties, known as Zone 3, are 6:11 a.m. to 4:57 p.m. Shooting hours for Zone 4 areas of Eastern Oregon under Pacific Standard Time are 6:04 a.m to 4:37 p.m., while the slice of far southeast Oregon under Mountain Standard Time is 7:04 a.m. to 5:37 p.m. HORNBROOK, Calif . -- California fishery managers have re-opened a seven-mile stretch of the Klamath River in Siskiyou County to fall chinook salmon fishing. The California Department of Fish and Game re-opened the area from the Interstate 5 bridge upstream to a point 3,500 feet below Iron Gate Dam after biologists determined that 8,000 adult salmon spawners have already reached the hatchery at Iron Gate. The agency allows this bonus fishing opportunity when the hatchery's spawning needs are met. Anglers can resume catching and keeping fall chinook over 22 inches. As part of the annual harvest quota system on the Klamath, anglers upstream of Coon Creek Falls near Weitchpec have been allowed to keep only jack salmon under 22 inches since Oct. 15. Iron Gate Hatchery Manager Kim Rushton says the run of hatchery chinook is close to last year's pace. The chinook returns are those from the hatchery's annual release of 4.9 million chinook smolts. (Staff writer Mark Freeman covers the outdoors for the Mail Tribune. Call him at 776-4470 or e-mail him at [email protected] ) Outdoor Journal main page Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA