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Seniors can hunt, fish for free By MARK FREEMAN Oregon seniors have until New Year's Eve to take advantage of free lifetime hunting and fishing licenses, and those who don't will start paying for those privileges beginning Jan. 1. Seniors holding a free permanent hunting or fishing license before Jan. 1 will be exempt from new fees for these licenses beginning in 2000. The change comes from the 1999 Oregon Legislature, which changed the license-fee structure to require seniors 70 years and older to pay an annual fee of one-half the cost of a regular adult hunting or fishing license. That means seniors will pay $8.50 for a 2000 hunting license, $9.50 for a fishing license or $16.50 for a combination license. To qualify, seniors must have lived in Oregon at least five years. The change is one of several fishing and hunting license fee increases for 2000, and license buyers also will be required to furnish their Social Security numbers. Federal law and Oregon statutes related to child-support enforcement work requires the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to use Social Security numbers for tracking license buyers. In the past, hunters and anglers had the option of using a computer-generated identification number for tracking their license and tag purchases. Social Security numbers are not public records and will not be disclosed except in child-support cases, the agency says. The Rogue Valley Chapter of the Oregon Hunters Association will be collecting frozen venison and non-perishable foods this month to fill food baskets that will be donated to hungry families in the Rogue Valley. The Oregon Hunters Against Hunger is an annual program that collects some of the bounty from this fall's big-game harvests and other foods for needy families. The collections begin tonight, when frozen venison, elk and other meats will be accepted during the OHA's monthly meeting at J.J. North's Grand Buffet, 1016 N. Riverside Ave., Medford. The chapter's social hour begins at 6 p.m., with the no-host dinner at 7 p.m. The meeting also will include the club's annual Horns Show, during which local members will bring their antler racks from this season's hunts for scoring and contests. Club members who bring food for donation will receive free tickets for tonight's club raffle. After tonight, frozen meats can be taken to Medford Ice on Crater Lake Highway near Delta Waters Road. Donors should make sure to say the meat is for the OHA food baskets. Non-perishable foods like canned goods can be delivered during regular business hours to the OHA State Office, 800 Bennett Ave., Medford. Two dogs died from strychnine poisoning while on the E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area near Corvallis in October, but wildlife officials have not been able to identify the source of the poison. One dog died Oct. 2, and the second died Oct. 26, according to Dave Budeau, manager of the state-run wildlife area that allows hunting. Tests on the two dogs' stomach contents turned up strychnine. Strychnine is a potent stimulant processed commercially in products like rodent poisons. It is derived from the seeds of a tree in the nightshade family, and it is not used on the wildlife area. Although many hunters and dogs have used the wildlife area since the dogs' deaths, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife recommends that hunters pay close attention to their dogs and keep them from eating material found on or near the wildlife area. The Oregon State Police are investigating the poisonings, and troopers have re-traced the routes the dogs took on the wildlife area before the animals died. Samples also have been taken of water sources used by both dogs, but preliminary chemical analyses have found no contaminants, the ODFW reports. The OSP investigation will continue. (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