No accidents in unusual year.Byline: INSIDE THE OUTDOORS By Mike Stahlberg The Register-Guard More than 4,800 hunters logged nearly 12,800 hours at Fern Ridge Wildlife Area during the 2005-06 waterfowl waterfowl, common term for members of the order Anseriformes, wild, aquatic, typically freshwater birds including ducks, geese, and screamers. In Great Britain the term is also used to designate species kept for ornamental purposes on private lakes or ponds, while in season and took home 2,462 game birds game birds, a term used variously for all birds of the order Galliformes (gallinaceous, or chickenlike, birds), for certain quarry species within this order, and for a variety of quarry birds of several other orders. . And they did it all without a single hunter being "peppered" with birdshot bird·shot n. A small lead shot for shotgun shells. fired by another hunter. "No Cheney-isms here, that we heard of," said Wayne Morrow, the wildlife area's manager. Bird hunters at the wildlife area are typically very safe, notwithstanding the impression Vice President Dick Cheney's recent quail hunting accident may have created. While safety is the norm at the wildlife area west of Eugene, this was an unusual year in many other respects, however. The drawdown Drawdown The peak to trough decline during a specific record period of an investment or fund. It is usually quoted as the percentage between the peak to the trough. Notes: of Fern Ridge Lake to allow repairs to the dam meant there was no water available for wetland maintenance, field flooding or crop irrigation irrigation, in agriculture, artificial watering of the land. Although used chiefly in regions with annual rainfall of less than 20 in. (51 cm), it is also used in wetter areas to grow certain crops, e.g., rice. . As a result, the hunt program at the area had to be changed to compensate for the lack of waterfowl habitat early in the season. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) is an agency of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon responsible for programs protecting Oregon fish and wildlife resources and their habitats. added 19 days to the fee pheasant hunt program and cut back on the waterfowl "reservation" hunts. A record 1,172 pheasants were taken, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the area's annual hunter statistics report, but the number of ducks taken on the wildlife area dropped to 1,121 - less than half of the recent 15-year average. That figure is misleading, however, because many ducks that normally would have been hunted on the wildlife area were instead taken on Fern Ridge Lake, which is outside the boundaries of the wildlife area and not included in its permit program. "A lot of hunters had great success out on the lake," Morrow said. "And that does not show up in our statistics." Copies of the annual report are available by calling (541) 935-2591. Hunters can also use that number to be placed on a mailing list for copies of a revised management plan for Fern Ridge Wildlife Area, which is due to be issued later this year. Meanwhile, in other hunting news: Oregon's bighorn sheep Bighorn sheep a tall (up to 3 ft), heavy (up to 300 lb body weight) wild sheep that lives in inaccessible mountain country where it exercises its principal achievement of prodigious leaping and climbing. Called also Ovis canadensis. Several regional varieties, e.g. O. c. tag drew a high bid of $120,000 at an auction conducted earlier this month at the Foundation for North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. Wild Sheep convention in Reno. John Amistoso of Deer Park, Wash., was the winning bidder. The tag went for $10,000 less than last year's, which set an Oregon record of $130,000. Amistoso, who owns a chain of appliance stores in Washington state, reportedly paid $180,000 for Idaho's sheep tag last year. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife receives 90 percent of the auction price, with the money earmarked for bighorn sheep management. The foundation gets the other 10 percent for its sheep program. The first Access and Habitat Program auction tag of 2006 produced a record-breaking $25,000 bid on a statewide elk tag. The tag sold at a Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) is a conservationist organization, founded in the United States in 1984 by four hunters from Troy, Montana (Bob Munson, Bill Munson, Dan Bull and Charlie Decker) with the mission of ensuring the future of elk, other wildlife, and their banquet on Feb. 4. The previous high bid for an Oregon elk tag was $19,500, in 2000. The statewide elk tag is one of five elk tags and five deer tags the A&H Program receives each year from the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission. Last year, those auction tags generated $217,000 for habitat and hunter access programs, according to program coordinator Nick Myatt. "I expect 2006 to be another record-setting year for the auction program," Myatt said. The A&H Program also receives five elk tags and five deer tags for its raffle program. Raffle tickets are currently on sale at hunting license agencies. Winning auction bidders and raffle ticket-holders are allowed an extended deer or elk hunting season, from Sept. 1 through Nov. 30 over multiple management units. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is trading mountain quail from Douglas County to Idaho in exchange for some Columbia sharp-tailed grouse grouse, common name for a game bird of the colder parts of the Northern Hemisphere. There are about 18 species. Grouse are henlike terrestrial birds, protectively plumaged in shades of red, brown, and gray. . It's the latest move in an effort to boost rare fowl numbers in both states. Sharp-tailed grouse were extirpated in Oregon in the 1960s, and the ODFW ODFW Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife began trying to reintroduce the birds in the late 1990s. No new sharp-tailed grouse have been released here since 2002, but this year's quail-for-grouse trade is expected to jump-start the effort. Grouse releases are planned for Wallowa County this spring and again next year. Oregon's quail will eventually be released in the lower Hells Canyon. Mike Stahlberg can be reached at mstahlberg@guardnet.com. |
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