Fall means game on for hunters

YAKIMA, Wash. — Although some of the hunting seasons in Washington started in September, or even in August, the bulk of the general hunting seasons open in October. The general modern firearm hunting season for deer opens on Oct. 17, followed by the Oct. 31 opening of the general elk hunting season.

Other seasons open in October as well, including upland bird hunting for quail and pheasant, and waterfowl hunting for ducks and geese.

With all of those popular seasons quickly approaching, hunters are looking forward to another good year. But just what can hunters expect when they head to the forests and fields in the days and weeks ahead?

According to local wildlife biologists, hunters in Central Washington will find a few more birds, but fewer deer and elk than in years past.

“We’re not expecting a banner year at all,” said Jeff Bernatowicz, biologist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, of the upcoming deer-hunting season. “Last year deer harvest was still going down and it’s still not looking good.”

A whitetail deer buck stands on a ridge overlooking the Missouri River south of Great Falls, Mont., in December 2007. (Robin Loznak/Associated Press file)

Mule deer and blacktail deer throughout Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties have been affected by exotic lice that cause the deer to scratch and lose their hair, giving them no protection to fight the cold temperatures during the winter months.

Bernatowicz said the parasite is still spreading and is pretty much throughout Eastern Washington. It also has been detected in Idaho, Wyoming and North Dakota.

He said the biologists still don’t have a handle on the problem and hunters working the typical deer holding areas in the region will not see many animals, or at least not near the numbers we had a decade ago.

According to harvest data, hunters are taking about half the number of deer they did in 2003, and the numbers are down 70 percent to 80 percent from the 1990s.

“We’ve hopefully bottomed out,” Bernatowicz said. “But we’ve not turned the corner yet.”

Deer numbers in other parts of the state, particularly in northeast and southeast Washington, are actually still doing well. In the far eastern counties of the state, there are good numbers of whitetail deer and the lice don’t seem to affect the whitetail like they do the mule deer.

“There are still some deer out there,” Bernatowicz said of the prospects here in the south- central part of the state. “But we have a long ways to go to get back to where we were.”

A hunter works the breaks of the Klickitat River looking for deer. Outdoorsmen around the state are gearing up for the start of buck season Oct. 17. (Photo courtesy of Rob Phillips)

Unfortunately, it is looking like this year’s elk season is going to be tougher, too. The general rifle season allows hunters to take spike elk only, and because of lower calf production the past couple of years, there will be fewer of the yearling spikes out there for hunters to hunt this year.

“The trend in the elk harvest is matching deer,” Bernatowicz explained. “Since about 2000 the elk harvest is down 50 percent.”

He said last year’s calf crop was the lowest biologists had seen in a long time, and while the Yakima elk herd is still around 9,500 animals, the yearling recruitment is just not there, meaning fewer spikes available to hunters.

And, he said, biologists don’t know what the reason is for the lower calf production.

Branch-antlered bull elk hunters, who have received special permits via a drawing earlier in the year, will still have a decent opportunity, because many of those bulls are five years old or older, from good calf crops earlier in the decade.

The other unknown factor in all big game hunting will be the weather. Snow and rain always help hunters, but can never be counted on. Hunters will just have to wait and see on that one.

There is better news on the bird-hunting front. According to biologists for the Yakama Nation, both the quail and pheasant populations are up this year based on their brood count surveys done in August.

“We’re looking better,” says Yakama Nation biologist Nathan Burkepile. “Finally, Mother Nature has helped us a little and the birds responded.”

While pheasant numbers in Central Washington have been declining, or at best, staying even over the last decade, it looks like this season may be the best in some 13 years. The biologists found their pheasant brood counts are up to the levels of 1996. That year they counted one pheasant per two miles traveled, and that is right where they were earlier this year. In between those years, the brood counts dropped as low as one bird per every five miles traveled. Last year the count was one pheasant per four miles traveled. So, based on those numbers, pheasant hunters should find twice as many birds as last year.

Burkepile said the California quail in the area are also doing well. Their brood count surveys show quail populations are at an all time high. This year’s count showed almost four quail per mile. Last year’s survey showed only one quail for every two miles, so this could be a fantastic quail year.

Bernatowicz concurs.

“There seems to have been a decent hatch of quail and chukar,” he said. “It is way better than last year.”

One challenge for upland hunters will be the abundance of standing corn. More unfarmed fields have been planted in corn this year, giving the birds plenty of sanctuary until the corn is cut.

It will make the hunting more difficult early in the season, but should help hold some birds until the later part of the season.

The quail hunting season opens Saturday, throughout Eastern Washington, but does not open on Yakama Nation lands until Oct. 17. That is when pheasant season opens on the reservation as well, which is a week earlier than the general pheasant hunting season throughout the rest of Eastern Washington. The general pheasant opener is Oct. 23 elsewhere in the region.

Waterfowl hunters are in for what should be an average year. Local goose production was off some, causing the WDFW to do away with the early goose season that has occurred the past several years throughout the region. But, there are still plenty of ducks and geese around.

And, with more corn in the Valley, the birds that migrate to and through the area later in the season should have plenty of feed to keep them hanging around.

Many of the general hunting seasons will be upon us shortly. Big game hunters wanting to hunt close to home will most definitely be in for a tougher year, but bird hunters should find more pheasants, quail and chukar than last year.

October is almost here. Let the hunting begin.

• Rob Phillips is a freelance outdoor writer and partner in the advertising firm of Smith, Phillips & DiPietro. He can be reached at rwphillips@spdadvertising.com.