BIG GAME CENSUS COUNT HELPS SET TAG ALLOTMENTS

Dick Mason

The Observer

When making their annual deer and elk counts from airplanes, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists fly coach.

No stewardesses serve them meals, and there are no in-flight movies.

Biologists do get window seats — ones that give them illuminating views of nature.

What did ODFW biologists see during this year's census counts?

Higher elk numbers in Union and Wallowa counties, and a deer population that is down slightly.

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission will take these findings into consideration before approving recommended tag allotments for deer and elk hunts later this year.

Following is a summary of the census counts, the information for which is also collected via helicopter and on foot.

Elk

In Union County, biologists were encouraged to find that the elk population in the Starkey Unit is on the upswing. Starkey has an estimated 6,500 elk, up 1,200 from a year ago. The increase reflects that virtually no anterless elk hunting has been allowed in the unit since 2004, said ODFW Biologist Leonard Erickson.

The restriction was imposed because of low calf survival rates in Starkey. In recent years the rate has fallen to as little 16 calves per 100 cows. This is far below the rates the unit had more than a decade ago when they were in the high 20s and low 30s.

This year's calf survival rate was 21 calves per 100 cows, up from 18 in 2005.

It is not known why the calf survival rate in the Starkey Unit remains low. It appears, though, that in the last two years weather has not been a major factor. Erickson noted that the calf survival rate went up this year even though the winter of 2005-06 was much harsher than that of 2004-05.

Elk numbers are also up in the Catherine Creek Unit. The east Union County unit has an estimated 800 elk, up from 650 a year ago. Catherine Creek's calf survival rate was 24 per 100 cows, down from 28 a year ago.

ODFW biologists are planning to propose that the number of tags available for elk hunts in Union County remain about what they were a year ago.

One significant change, though, is planned in proposed tag numbers. Biologists are planning to propose that the number of muzzle loader tags for the anterless elk hunt on agricultural land be increased from 83 to 160. The hunt runs from August through early December.

Wallowa County, meantime, sports an elk population of about 14,500, up 650 from a year ago, said ODFW Biologist Vic Coggins. The increase can be traced to better calf survival rates. The rate for this year is 27 calves per 100 cows. Although down from last year's rate of 29 per 100 calves, the rate is much better than it has been in recent years, Coggins said.

The rate declined dramatically in the mid-1990s and reached a low of 18 calves per 100 cows in 2000.

The Wallowa County bull ratio is an excellent 14 bulls per 100 cows. In 2005 the ratio was 12 bulls per 100 cows.

Coggins credits the stronger elk population to an increase in the number of cougars killed in recent years.

An average of 35.25 cougars a year have been killed in Wallowa County over the past four years, most by hunters. Cougar kills had declined significantly in the mid-1990s after Oregon voters in late 1994 passed Measure 18 prohibiting hunters from using dogs to track cougars.

In 1995 there were just 13 cougar kills in Wallowa County.

The number increased after the cougar hunting regulations were liberalized and the season extended. This made it easier for people to take cougars they encounter incidentally while hunting deer, elk, bear and other game.

Most cougars are killed by hunters who encounter them by chance, Coggins said.

Deer

Deer populations are down in both Union and Wallowa counties but not dramatically.

In Union County the Starkey Unit has 4,300 deer, down 200 from a year ago. The Catherine Creek Unit, meantime, has 1,700 deer, down 300 from a year ago.

Over winter fawn survival was between 60 and 75 percent in Union County. This is down from a year ago. One reason is that the region experienced a harder winter in 2005-06.

"We did lose some fawns, but the loss does not appear to be major,'' Erickson said.

Tag recommendations for deer in Union County will be about what they were in 2005 except for the Starkey Unit. Biologists will recommend that 1,000 tags be allotted for Starkey, 200 less than a year ago.

The Wallowa County deer population, meanwhile, is 27,000, down slightly from a year ago. Coggins attributes the decline to the dry summer and fall the region experienced. This reduced fawn survival rates because many were not able to build up the fat reserves they needed to get through the winter.

The fawn survival rate in Wallowa County was 30 per 100 adults, down from 50 per 100 a year ago.

Because more of them live in grasslands, and dry conditions significantly reduce the food supply, deer are harder hit by a dry summer and fall than elk.

The Wallowa County deer population is the most dense in farm and timber land. The population density is lowest around in back-country wilderness areas, where predation is highest and more deer are taken deer by cougars, coyotes and bears. Because they are smaller and do not travel in large herds, deer are more vulnerable to predators than elk, Coggins said.

No major changes in deer tag recommendations for Wallowa County are planned by ODFW biologists.

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission will decide in June on tag allotments for fall big game hunts.

The tag sale deadline for hunters is May 15.