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Fall bear hunting brings controversy By Mark Freeman Fall bear hunting will expand again next year in southwest Oregon, and animal rights advocates are growling mad about it. Bear hunters can buy two tags instead of one for southwest Oregon beginning in 2001 under new rules adopted Friday by the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission. The change in bear tags is one of several changes enacted by the commission, which also set tag numbers for this fall�s controlled hunting seasons for deer, elk, pronghorn and other big-game mammals. The expanded bear-hunting opportunities will be in the 11 hunting units of southwest Oregon, including the Rogue, Sixes, Chetco, Applegate, Evans Creek and Indigo units. Bear-hunting success has grown regularly in these units, with southwest Oregon hunters killing 196 bears in 1997, 208 bears in 1998 and 280 bears in the region�s 11 hunting units last year, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Statewide, hunters shot 856 bears, 3 percent more than the previous year, the ODFW reports. Not all southwest Oregon hunters are expected to buy a second $11 tag, but the added opportunities are expected to lead to a 10 percent increase in bears taken by hunters, according to ODFW biologist John Thiebes in Central Point. Since the ban on using hounds and bait to hunt bears began in 1994, most bears taken by hunters are found and shot by hunters stalking other species. Sally Mackler, a member of Oregon�s Bear and Cougar Coalition, called the commission�s action "absurd." Oregon�s bear population "is not exactly booming," yet the commission�s action has the potential to double the tags issued in the 11 Southwest Oregon hunting units. The ruling seems "more of a 'pick a number and make the hunters happy' strategy than one based in real biology," said Mackler, who lives in Jacksonville. The ODFW estimates bear populations to be growing in southwest Oregon, and agency biologists believe bear numbers are high enough to absorb the added hunting, Thiebes says. The tag increase marks the second straight expansion of bear-hunting opportunities in the past two years. This fall�s bear-hunting season was expanded from three to five months in Western Oregon, with all of August and December added to the traditional general season that has run from the end of August through November. The commission on Friday also adopted tag numbers for controlled-hunt seasons this year. The tags will be allocated through a computerized lottery drawing, and the results will be available Tuesday. Here is a run-down on some of the tag numbers for 2000: Blacktail deer � The commission dropped this year�s allocation of antlerless blacktail deer tags in Western Oregon by 6 percent to 27,966 tags. Mule deer � The commission authorized a slight dip in mule deer buck tags for rifle hunters this fall, but the overall tag numbers are slightly higher this year than in 1999. Rifle hunters will get 70,241 buck tags out of the 77,588 tags, with the remaining going to bow and muzzleloader hunters. That represents a 363-tag increase from last year. Roosevelt elk � The commission authorized the sale of 3,743 antlerless elk tags for the 2000 season, up three tags from �99. Rocky Mountain elk � Eastern Oregon�s controlled-hunt seasons this fall will include a decline in both bull and antlerless elk tags. The commission authorized 31,524 bull and either-sex tags for this fall, and that represents a 4 percent drop from last year. The antlerless tags have decreased 2 percent to 15,212 tags for this year. Pronghorn � The commission adopted a 7.3 percent increase in pronghorn tags after a mild winder and good fawn recruitment left the pronghorn herds strong for 2000. The ODFW will offer 2,383 pronghorn tags for this year, with close to half of the hunters expected to take a pronghorn this year. Bighorn sheep � Following a successful 1999 hunting season in which 53 of the 59 bighorn sheep tags were filled, the commission authorized 53 California bighorn tags and nine Rocky Mountain bighorn tags for 33 hunting units in Eastern Oregon this year. Mountain goat � The commission authorized no change to the goat tags, so hunters will again be vying to get one of the three Rocky Mountain goat tags offered in Oregon this year. More than 4,250 hunters have applied for the three tags. 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 Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA