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Rogue permit deadline nears By MARK FREEMAN White-water boaters and anglers who relish summers in the Rogue River's Wild and Scenic section are nearing the end of the mid-winter application period for trying to land coveted permits for the best summer launch dates. Applications must filed by Jan. 31 to gain entry into the annual lottery process, the first and most common way of getting a date to drift through the Wild Rogue between Grave Creek to Foster Bar this spring, summer and early fall. From May 15 through Oct. 15 of each year, the federal Bureau of Land Management limits boater launches into the Wild Rogue to 120 people per day. Since more people than that request specific summer dates for launchings, the BLM holds an annual lottery in February to divvy up those coveted permits. The lottery is handled for the BLM by Tioga Resources Inc., a Roseburg firm that contracts with the federal government. Permit applications cost $5 per person, and can be handled through the mail, fax, phone, and the Internet. The random drawing will be done in February, with results available by March 1. In past years, odds of landing a permit through the lottery have been about 1 in 9 overall. That is because the majority of rafters and driftboaters are all requesting the same choice Thursday, Friday and Saturday launch dates during July and August. But you can greatly improve your chances by seeking a less-popular launch date. For instance, statistics show your odds are about 30-1 of landing a permit allowing you to launch on a Thursday in July. But you could seek a permit for a Tuesday in late May or most mid-week days in September and bank on getting your choice through the lottery. Many seasoned rafters often apply in groups for the prime July and August days. To be successful, only one person in their group needs to get a permit for the whole group to go -- provided they list enough spaces on their application for everyone. Typically, more than 4,000 permits allocated through the lottery go unclaimed each year, and there are systems in place to land one of those. Starting at 8 a.m. April 1, the BLM starts giving away unclaimed permit reservations on a first-come, first-served basis to people calling the BLM's Rand office. For impulse boaters who wait until summer to decide if and when to launch, you can possibly gain a permit by garnering a permit from someone who does not confirm their reserved permits within the required 10 days of their launch. Here is information on how to apply for a permit: By phone . Call (541) 672-4168. By fax . The number is (541) 440-0023. Via the Internet . Tioga's Internet address: www.umpcoos.com/rogue By mail . The address is P.O. Box 5149, Roseburg, OR 97470. Turkey hunters had a record year last spring in eastern Jackson County, where record numbers of hunters bagged the most-ever turkeys taken in the spring general turkey-hunting season. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has completed its surveys of turkey hunters statewide, and the results show that Oregonians again made wild turkeys the most popular and productive game bird introduced into the state specifically for hunting. Statewide, hunters bagged 2,543 turkeys during the 1999 spring season, which runs April 15 to May 15. That's down slightly from the 2,621 turkeys killed in '98, but fewer hunters and fewer hunting days last year as compared to '98 show that hunter successes remain high. Hunters in the Rogue Unit, which accounts for most of eastern Jackson County, logged record numbers. The 852 hunters who bought licenses and tags for the Rogue Unit beats the previous record of 794 hunters in 1998. Also, the 210 birds the hunters harvested here is the first time ever that hunters took more than 200 toms in a spring season. The average hunter logged just under five days afield in '99, compared to more than five days apiece in '98. "That's exciting," says John Thiebes, an ODFW wildlife biologist who manages the Rogue Unit. "We've seen the turkey population grow and hunter numbers grow. Everything has worked out well. After all, that's why we have this season. The birds are here for hunters and the program is paid for by hunters." The Rogue Unit remains the second most popular, and second most successful, hunting unit in Oregon. The Melrose Unit of Douglas County is still tops in the state, with 1,449 hunters bagging 780 turkeys last spring. The Melrose Unit is primarily comprised of private lands in the Umpqua Valley around Roseburg, and the unit is considered to have the best turkey habitat in all of Oregon. The Evans Creek Unit, which includes portions of Jackson and Douglas counties, is the third most popular hunting unit for turkey hunters and its success rate is high. The 283 hunters who entered the Evans Creek Unit last year bagged 90 turkeys. The ODFW annually surveys turkey-tag buyers to get the harvest data. (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 Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Mail Tribune � 2000 -- Medford, Oregon USA