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Heartbreak on Hart Mountain Deer tag isn�t the treasure many thought Mark Freeman What two years ago was anointed as the best raffle tag open for deer hunters in the West is no longer considered worthy of even raffling off again. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has dropped its Hart Mountain rifle tags from next year�s raffle and auction lineup used to help fund programs aimed at improving wildlife habitat and hunter access in Oregon. The state instead will replace the Hart Mountain tags with two additional statewide deer hunts, one for auction and one for raffle, in next year�s Access and Habitat Program hunt lineup. After first setting an all-time auction record, hunters apparently have little interest now in bidding big bucks to hunt bucks with a rifle in the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge. "The expectations were higher than what the area could produce," says John Beck, who used to run the ODFW�s Access and Habitat Program. ODFW officials believe hunters will bid more money at auction and buy more tickets at raffle time for another statewide deer tag. The change was adopted Friday by the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission. Oh, how far the mythical monster bucks of Hart Mountain have fallen. When the first Access and Habitat tag for Hart Mountain deer was offered for auction during a February 1999 banquet in Medford, it drew enormous interest and excitement from hunters. Not since 1961 had a rifle hunter been allowed in the antelope refuge to hunt its expansive mule deer, which have been shot at with bows and muzzleloaders. Tales of huge bucks that have remained out of bow or muzzleloader range made many hunters believe whoever bought a Hart Mountain tag would have a great chance to shoot his way into the mule deer hunters� record book. Stephen Walker, of Santa Barbara, Calif., called the Hart Mountain tag the West�s best when he bought the first one for a record $27,000. But Walker never saw a buck whose antlers rivaled the refuge�s reputation, so he never fired a shot and went home empty-handed and disappointed. Walker, and a legion of sportsmen living a trophy hunter�s version of a Walter Mitty life through him, were expecting more out of Hart Mountain than it had to offer, Beck believes. "Early on, the Hart Mountain hunt was definitely touted as being the primo thing," Beck says. "They were looking for something, I believe, that didn�t exist." The refuge is loaded with bucks sporting excellent antler racks. But, like most myths of the woods, the muley to end all muleys was more fable than fact. "There�s certainly a lot of quality animals on that mountain," Beck says. "I think most trophy hunters, and other hunters, would be happy with what�s there." Word of Walker�s experience sent hunters scurrying away from the February 2000 auction, which netted only $11,000. Similarly, the Hart Mountain raffle tag drew 17,803 tickets in 1999, but just 4,972 tickets this year. "We�re definitely surprised," Beck says. "We always felt it was a quality area." ODFW officials now believe they can generate more hunter interest � and money � by offering another statewide deer tag in the 2001 raffle and auction. And it stands to reason. Typically, the Access and Habitat Program sells its raffle and auction tags during sportsmen�s banquets across the state. The agency takes 90 percent of the money each tag generates, and 10 percent goes to the group hosting the raffle or auction. In the case of the Hart Mountain tag, the sportsmen�s group got its regular 10 percent, but the ODFW split the remaining money evenly with refuge managers. When the new statewide auction and raffle tags are offered next year, Beck says the ODFW will take its regular 90-percent cut to fund wildlife habitat programs as well as programs designed to improve hunter access. 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