Friday, March 29, 2024

The Washington Outdoor Report - week of October 3

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With several bird hunting seasons opening up this month it’s time to take a look at what the season ahead has in store for us in Central and Eastern Washington.

WATERFOWL: Year in and year out, Grant County has offered the highest waterfowl harvests in the state. Last year, hunters took home 56,487 ducks and 18,167 geese. The reason for this is habitat. Potholes Reservoir, Moses Lake and surrounding waste water ways and ponds offer ample places for both resident and migrating waterfowl to loiter and abundant grain fields in the area provide a steady food source.

Last year a drought resulted in several long-time ponds drying up. This year, despite a cool, wet spring, there was once again very little rain over the summer months. Couple this with a 23-foot drawdown of Potholes Reservoir and the majority of these ponds remain dry or at very low levels.

Because of this it will be difficult to access traditional hunting areas at the north end of Potholes Reservoir and there is a strong possibility the ponds in the North Potholes Regulated Access Area will be dry again this year. On the other hand, public lands along both Frenchman and Winchester Wasteway, as well as along Lower Crab Creek and Royal Lake, should hold ducks when the season begins. As the season progresses and birds come into the area from the north, hunting along the Columbia River and the Pend Oreille River from Newport to Usk will provide hunters with good opportunities.

One other species to consider is the snow goose. Rarely seen in the past, the Columbia Basin has been discovered by these birds and thousands of them can be now found on Potholes Reservoir and in the surrounding grain fields during hunting season.

PHEASANT:  Pheasant hunting in Eastern Washington used to be as popular as duck hunting but changing agricultural practices and loss of habitat have resulted in a serious long-term decline for these birds. Now, WDFW does approximately three releases every season of farm raised pheasants on to wildlife areas as part of their Eastern Washington Pheasant Enhancement Program. These releases usually occur in conjunction with the youth opener, the opening day of pheasant season, and a week or two prior to Thanksgiving. Because of rising costs fewer birds have been released in recent years and hunters tend to be jam packed in the wildlife areas following a release, making for a hunting experience that is anything but idyllic.

An option to this is to pay to hunt on lands not accessible to the public. The Yakima Tribal Nation offers this opportunity near Toppenish for both duck and upland bird hunters. You can find out more about purchasing a permit to hunt there at www.ynwildlife.org/permits/.

In addition to this, the Royal Youth Booster Club sells hunting passes out of MarDon Resort that allow you to access up to 25,000 acres of private land to include areas where pheasant are planted every week until Thanksgiving. You can purchase either a three-consecutive-day pass or a season pass. There are only a limited number of these passes available so you will want to contact MarDon Resort sooner than later if you are interested. The telephone number to call is 509-346-2651. One other thing, the proceeds from these hunting passes goes to youth programs in the Royal City area.

QUAIL & CHUKAR: Whereas pheasant populations have been facing a long-term decline, quail populations have grown dramatically in some areas. WDFW biologists in the Columbia Basin state, “Quail hunting is expected to be good again this year with reports from the field painting an optimistic picture.” Grant County has lots of public land with good habitat for quail and last year hunters there harvested 11,000 birds.

Chelan and Douglas County (District 7) generally offers good quail hunting too, with a five-year average harvest of 9718 quail. However, those harvest numbers have significantly declined the last two years despite hunter numbers staying stable. Biologists believe wildfires in the area, along with prolonged drought, have knocked back quail numbers in this region. These same conditions have also brought down chukar numbers in this district which in the recent past, has had the highest harvest rate in the state. 

Another place that traditionally holds good numbers of quail on state wildlife areas and public land is Okanogan County, especially in the lower elevations. Unfortunately, harvest declined here last year as well, for the same reasons it did in District 7.

On the other hand, Okanogan County should offer good opportunity for both chukar and Hungarian partridge this year. According to WDFW, “Hungarian partridge populations are widely distributed and locally abundant throughout the district’s shrub-steppe habitats. Scattered groups of chukar are found in the rocky areas in lower elevations. The steep hills along the Similkameen River in the north part of the Okanogan Valley and the rocky areas of the Pateros and Indian Dan Wildlife Areas typically hold good numbers of birds.”

John Kruse – www.northwesternoutdoors.com and www.americaoutdoorsradio.com


 

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