Bonus BIRDS.

Byline: Mike Stahlberg The Register-Guard

Upland game bird hunters at Fern Ridge Wildlife Area west of Eugene are enjoying their best pheasant season ever, thanks to the rebuilding of Fern Ridge Dam.

Drawing down Fern Ridge Lake to allow workers access to the dam left much of the wildlife area high and dry. That, in turn, led Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) officials to reduce waterfowl hunting opportunities at the wildlife area and expand the "fee pheasant hunt" program.

"We added 19 days onto the hunt at Fern Ridge this year to take advantage of the dry conditions," said Wayne Morrow, the wildlife area's manager. Normally finished by now, the pheasant hunts this year will run through Oct. 31.

The ODFW also provided a bonus allotment of more than 500 birds this year. Last year, 895 pheasants were released on Fern Ridge's East Coyote, West Coyote, Fisher Butte and Royal-Amazon units. This year's releases will total 1,450 pheasant roosters.

The fee pheasant hunt program is like a feathered version of the ODFW's trout stocking program for anglers - a "put-and-take" affair designed to provide more recreational opportunity than would naturally be available.

To participate, hunters must purchase a special tag (in addition to all the other licenses, permits and tags required of upland bird hunters). Fee pheasant tags cost $11.50 and entitle the holder to take two roosters. Hunters are allowed to buy multiple tags during the season.

Birds are released on Fridays, Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays weekly during the hunt. Releases occur after 5 p.m., when shooting hours for the fee hunt end. That allows the birds a chance to scatter. Morning shooting hours are the same as listed in the game bird regulations book.

The fee pheasant hunt is now in its 16th season at Fern Ridge. The Oregon Legislature authorized creation of fee pheasant hunts at state-owned wildlife areas in Western Oregon to help offset a decline in wild pheasant populations.

In recent years, rooster pheasants have been purchased from Mortensen's Purple Sage Game Bird Farm in Caldwell, Idaho. The ODFW pays $10.75 per bird delivered to the E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area north of Corvallis, where they are held in pens until distributed among the three Willamette Valley state wildlife areas. The agency pays $12.50 for birds trucked from Idaho to the Denman Wildlife Area near Medford.

The ODFW sells about 4,000 tags a year for the four fee pheasant hunts, making the program almost self-supporting, according to Dave Budeau, the agency's upland game bird program manager. The program provides an average 7,500 hunter trips per year, about 2,000 of those at Fern Ridge.

Success rates "average about 0.4 bird per person per visit," Budeau said. "It's amazing how close it comes to that figure every year."

The vast majority of pheasants released are harvested by hunters; the remainder probably fall victim to coyotes, raptors or other predators.

"Last year we released 3,281 pheasants and 2,792 were reported taken by hunters, so that's 86 percent," Budeau said. At Fern Ridge, the number of pheasants harvested has generally ranged from 75 to 82 percent of the number released.

The state tracks participation and success rates through self-issuing permits that hunters are required to fill out and turn in on each visit to one of the wildlife areas.

Because the fee hunts begin a month before the statewide general pheasant season opens, they are popular with hunters eager to get their dogs "in shape" for the regular season, although some tag-holders complain that they were unable to locate any pheasants.

` `Where are the birds?' We hear that constantly," said Kevin Roth, one of the wildlife area employees who helps release the birds.

Nonetheless, the program gets raves from regulars.

"I think it's a great program, a tremendous program," Don Long of Eugene said. "We hunt there every day, except when it rains."

Many people assume that farm-raised birds, having been frequently exposed to humans, lack wariness and are too easy to hunt. That's not necessarily the case, Long said.

"In a way, they're harder to hunt," he said. "I hunt in Eastern Oregon and Montana and these birds behave just like wild birds, except they don't have an established pattern.

"Wild birds have certain spots they roost and certain spots to eat. ... These birds are more or less wandering around aimlessly and you can't pattern them. They're difficult to find."

Once located, however, game farm birds are "a little easier to shoot," Long said. "They're fed with grain so they're a little heavier and don't fly as fast."

Another Fern Ridge regular, Byron Myles of Eugene, agrees that the fee pheasant program is challenging.

"I love it. I think it's fun," he said. "I guess the neat part about it is you know there's birds out there, you just don't know where. It's just like hunting the wild ones," Myles said.

And the close proximity to Eugene and Springfield can't be beat.

"And I'd rather drive nine or 10 miles across town and get that experience than drive nine or 10 hours across the state to get that experience," Myles said.

The game farm birds "can run circles around some of the best dogs," he said. "A lot of the time you'll see the grass moving and the dog chasing, and sometimes the bird wins."

Myles said some days he's taken his two-bird limit before he could walk 200 yards. "Other days I've walked around for hours and never jumped one."

Myles said the low-water conditions at Fern Ridge has been "a real plus" for the pheasant hunt because it's provided more dry land area for pheasants and hunters alike to use.

Fee pheasant hunt tags may be purchased at any ODFW license agency and utilized through Oct. 31.

CAPTION(S):

Gary Wills of the Fern Ridge Wildlife Area staff releases several game farm-raised pheasants late Friday afternoon. About 1,450 pheasant roosters will be released in this season's expanded "fee pheasant" hunt at Fern Ridge. Three upland game bird hunters discuss their next move at Fern Ridge Wildlife Area. Mike Stahlberg / The Register-Guard Tim Mausen of Sweet Home reaches for a pheasant dropped at his feet by Sadie, a German shorthair that helped him hunt Tuesday at Fern Ridge Wildlife Area west of Eugene.