GAME

ULLETINAPRIL 1963

BOREGON STATEGAME COMMISSION

uLLETIN

APRIL, 1963Number 4, Volume 18

Published Monthly by theOREGON STATE GAME COMMISSION1634 S.W. Alder Street P.O. Box 3503

Portland 8, OregonMIRIAM KAUTTU SUHL, Editor

H. C. SMITH, Staff ArtistMEMBERS OF COMMISSION

Rollin E. Bowles, Chairman PortlandJoseph W. Smith Klamath FallsJohn P. Amacher WinchesterTallant Greenough CoquilleWayne E. Phillips __Baker

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFFP. W. Schneider DirectorC. B. Walsh Assistant DirectorJohn McKean _ _ Chief of Oper., Game DivisionC. J. Campbell Chief of Oper., Fishery DivisionR. C. Holloway Chief, Inf. and Educ.H. J. Rayner Chief, Research DivisionW. D. DeCew ControllerJohn B. Dimick Chief, Supply and PropertyWilliam E. Pitney__Chief, Basin InvestigationsA. V. Meyers Chief, Lands SectionGeorge Kernan EngineerH. R. Newcomb Personnel OfficerRoy C. Atchison Attorney

REGIONAL SUPERVISORSLeslie Zumwalt,

Region I Route 1, Box 325, CorvallisJ. W. Vaughn, Region II Box 577, RoseburgL. M. Mathisen, Region III _Parrell Road, BendW. H. Brown, Region IV __Box 339, La GrandeW. V. Masson, Region 8, Hines

Second-class postage paid at Portland,Oregon.

Please report promptly any change of ad-dress. Send in address label from a recentissue with notice of change.

At the present time the Bulletin is circu-lated free of charge to anyone forwarding awritten request.

The CoverGame Commission habitat improvement

crew loading ammonium sulphate into planefor annual fertilization of elk range on theNorthrup Creek burn near Birkenfield inClatsop County. Last month six tons of am-monium sulphate were scattered over therange from the air. (Photo by Ron Shay)

BULLETIN

HUNTER SAFETYTRAINING PROGRAM

Instructors ApprovedMonth of February 16Total to Date 3,441

Students TrainedMonth of February 618Total to Date 53,297

Firearms Accidents Reported in 1963Fatal 0Nonfatal 1

Page 2

EEL LAKEIN THE LATE 1930s personnel of theGame Commission were making some in-vestigations of coastal lakes and of cut-throat trout. One of the recommendationsresulting was that the Commission ac-quire a coastal lake to develop and useas a brood lake for coastal cutthroat anda source of eggs of this species. As a re-sult of this recommendation, Eel Lake,located partly in Douglas and partly inCoos Counties in southwestern Oregon,was purchased for $10,500 in 1939 and1940.

Eel Lake is about 350 acres in area,and approximately 1,900 acres of sur-rounding land were obtained. The lakewas very badly cluttered with floating,submerged, and partly submerged logsfrom past lumbering operations.

Pilot cutthroat egg collecting opera-tions at Ten Mile Lake soon indicatedthat taking eggs from wild fish wouldhave to extend over several months. Thefish under wild conditions ripened overa long period and only a few at a time.This situation did not lend itself well toa hatchery program.

Also during the same time period,techniques were finally determinedwhereby the coastal cutthroat, previouslya recalcitrant subject for artificial prop-agation, could be handled successfully inthe hatchery. Brood stock could be heldand sufficient eggs obtained in more ef-ficient manner. Consequently, shortlyafter World War II the Commission de-cided to sell the lake and authorized acall for bids in July 1947. A bid fromthe city of Reedsport was accepted, butafter long negotiations the sales contract

was canceled in June of 1950 when thecity disclaimed further desire to com-plete the purchase.

By this time the value of the propertyfrom the standpoint of maintaining pub-lic fishing was becoming obvious, andno further effort to dispose of it wasmade. On the contrary, various methodswere employed to clean the lake byremoval of logs and debris to improve itfor angling and recreation.

In recent years the Parks Departmentof the Highway Commission expressedinterest in developing part of the areabordering Eel Lake as a state park. Ne-gotiations between the two Commissionsculminated in 1962 with 481 acres beingtransferred to the Parks Department forthis purpose. It was given by means ofa reversionary deed that provides for itsreturn to the Game Commission at anytime it is no longer used for public rec-reational purposes.

The Parks Department has almostcompleted its development which in-cludes a large graveled parking area andboat launching ramp, swimming, and san-itary facilities. These should be ready bythe 1963 summer season.

For the foreseeable future this beau-tiful lake and its immediate surround-ings will remain available to Oregon'sanglers and recreationists and their vis-itors, thanks to its acquisition by a pub-lic agency almost twenty-five years ago.C. J. CAMPBELL.NOTEThis is first of a series of short

articles describing various physicalfacilities maintained by the GameCommission throughout the state.

Eel Lake as it appeared some years ago before logs and debris were cleaned out of the lake. Thisangler appears happy with his catch.

By DAVE LUMAN, Chief Biologist, Big Game

OREGON HUNTERS HARVESTEDover 150,000 big game animals in ap-proximately 1,787,000 man-days of hunt-ing in 1962, the analysis of hunters'reports indicates. The harvest of approxi-mately 140,000 deer is the fourth higheston record, and the elk kill of over 10,000is the third highest. A total of 263,838deer hunters reported the harvest of139,712 deer, making the tenth year thatover 100,000 deer have been taken inOregon. The 52,983 elk tag holders re-ported taking a total of 10,176 elk.Deer Seasons

The 1962 general deer season extendedfrom September 29 through October 21,with permits for antlerless deer by unitbecoming valid on October 6. Unit per-mits totaled 135,100 for 59 of the 66 geo-graphic management units in the state.In addition to this, 26 controlled deerseasons offering the opportunity of tak-ing an additional 24,850 deer were ineffect.

Immediately prior to the late Septem-ber opening of the general deer season,much of Oregon received heavy rainswhich continued through the early partof the season and culminated in the Co-lumbus Day windstorm. Agents reporteddeer wary and scattered and a generallylight hunting pressure on the openingweekend except in some northeasternOregon units.

The general season harvest is re-ported by units in Table I. Table II pre-sents the results of the extended seasonsheld predominantly in western Oregon.

fr--- The general and extended season harvestof 131,638 deer gave a hunter success of50 per cent as compared to 60 per cent

GAME BULLETIN

in 1961. In western Oregon, the McKen-zie unit was again the highest producerwith almost 10,000 deer taken duringgeneral and extended seasons. The Inter-state unit in Klamath and Lake Counties,with a total of 4,184 deer harvested,again led the eastern Oregon units. TableIII shows a general season comparisonof harvests and hunter success for thepast 15 years. The greatest apparent de-cline in the general season harvest wasin mule deer, with a decrease of 22,000animals from 1961. The decline in har-vest on some mule deer units was theresult of a reduction in the number ofantlerless permits authorized.

As noted in Table I, the greatest de-clines in the mule deer take appeared inthe central and southeast regions, wheregeneral season hunter success was 42per cent and 57 per cent respectively as

compared to 55 per cent and 67 per centin 1961 for the same regions. This re-duced hunter success on southeasternOregon ranges was predicted in early1962 after forage measurements and herdcomposition studies had shown the nega-tive results of three years of drought.The poor fawn crops of 1961 and thewinter losses of 1961-62 were apparentin the dearth of yearling deer in the 1962bag. Northeastern Oregon units had alsoexperienced low forage production andsubstantial winter losses, especially inthe Imnaha and Snake River units. Theharvest in the northeast region was ap-proximately 4,000 deer under the 1961season total.

The black-tailed deer harvest was rela-tively stable, differing in that the ex-tended seasons contributed a higher

(Continued on Page 5)

TABLE III

SUMMARY OF GENERAL DEER SEASONS*

YearTags

Issued

HARVESTMule Deer

Bucks AntlerlessBlack-tailed Deer

Bucks Antlerless Total

Per Cent ofHunters

Successful

1948 166,618 23,141 16,644 39,785 241949 163,628 36,865 20,395 57,260 351950 173,429 26,471 17,580 44,051 251951 171,252 37,850 19,312 57,162 331952 188,250 32,366 20,426 19,657 5,210 77,659 411953 204,808 39,916 24,652 27,623 13,045 105,236 511954 215,047 54,357 22,384 27,702 8,043 112,486 521955 230,585 51,933 35,570 30,203 13,385 131,091 571956 233,842 47,155 32,309 26,937 13,340 119,741 511957 221,960 54,829 26,044 25,282 8,360 114,515 521958 233,885 51,715 18,863 29,566 15,220 115,364 491959 248,701 65,179 22,190 36,562 20,000 143,931 581960 259,739 67,569 24,445 41,117 19,900 153,031 591961 265,326 67,162 27,251 40,562 23,216 158,191 601962 263,838 50,842 21,127 39,376 20,293 131,638 50

Controlled seasons not included.

Page 3

TABLE 1 1962 DEER HARVESTUnits

byRegion

Antler lessPermits

TotalHunters

HARVEST DaysHunted per

Deer Harvested

Per CentHunterSuccess

(1) ExtendedSeasonTotals

*ControlledSeasonTotals

GrandTotalsBucks Does Total

Alsea 10,000 9,252 2,569 1,364 3,933 13 42 2,222 841 6,996 ----\Clatsop 1,500 3,904 1,278 665 1,943 13 50 1,943McKenzie 12,000 14,222 4,173 1,858 6,031 15 42 3,853 520 10,404Nestucca 2,000 1,328 384 367 751 11 57 751Polk 4,000 3,588 1,175 613 1,788 10 50 347 179 2,314Santiam 12,000 13,842 2,905 2,030 4,935 15 36 2,361 520 7,816Siuslaw 4,000 4,638 1,399 735 2,134 14 46 850 86 3,070Trask 2,000 7,504 2,676 1,102 3,778 9 50 555 274 4,607Willamette 7,000 3,852 910 473 1,383 14 36 1,667 87 3,137Wilson 2,500 5,158 1,892 1,016 2,908 9 56 87 154 3,149NORTHWEST 57,000 67,288 19,361 10,223 29,584 13 44 11,942 2,661 44,187Applegate 800 2,020 893 192 1,085 4 54 209 1,294Butte Falls 1,200 2,680 1,084 454 1,538 12 57 1,538Chetco 800 1,774 680 297 977 12 55 977Coquille 1,000 1,627 528 211 739 14 45 739Douglas 5,000 6,426 2,555 1,068 3,623 10 56 3,623Evans Creek 1,000 1,313 544 123 667 12 51 214 881Green-Springs 1,000 5,166 1,802 630 2,432 14 47 2,432Powers 2,000 2,453 717 594 1,311 12 53 75 1,386Sixes 2,000 2,812 1,239 489 1,728 10 61 1,728Tenmile 400 600 225 156 381 9 63 381Umpqua 2,500 2,219 838 366 1,204 11 54 1,204SOUTHWEST 17,700 29,090 11,105 4,580 15,685 10 54 498 16,183Deschutes 1,000 8,108 1,929 491 2,420 24 30 66 2,486Fort Rock 4,000 6,465 1,612 1,034 2,646 18 41 2,646Grizzly 1,000 3,061 1,070 491 1,561 11 51 1,561Hood River none 920 274 274 17 30 190 464Klamath 1,000 7,500 3,415 578 3,993 12 53 365 4,358Maupin 200 1,070 509 123 632 8 59 632Maury 500 1,343 262 262 524 14 39 524Metolius 1,400 3,026 596 596 1,192 13 39 1,192Ochoco 1,000 7,072 2,348 525 2,873 12 41 106 2,979Paulina 1,800 4,754 1,210 614 1,824 17 38 65 1,889Sherman 400 1,669 855 122 977 7 59 977Sprague none 2,852 1,502 1,502 11 53 1,502Wasco 500 2,686 873 140 1,013 12 38 157 108 1,278CENTRAL 12,800 50,526 16,455 4,976 21,431 14 42 347 710 22,488Baker 1,000 4,592 2,395 489 2,884 8 63 362 3,246Catherine Cr. 1,000 2,146 998 456 1,454 8 68 1,454Chesnimnus 1,600 2,052 980 403 1,383 7 67 428 1,811Columbia Basin 400 318 107 72 179 8 56 179Desolation 700 1,461 737 193 930 8 64 930Heppner 3,000 5,545 1,908 1,191 3,099 9 56 134 3,233Imnaha 2,000 2,315 1,169 488 1,657 7 72 290 1,947Keating 1,500 2,713 1,242 629 1,871 7 69 1,871Lookout Mtn. 1,500 2,301 944 665 1,609 6 70 199 1,808Minam none 872 572 572 6 66 615 1,187Murderer's Cr. 1,500 3,771 1,364 734 2,098 10 56 106 2,204Northside 5,500 6,847 2,254 1,870 4,124 9 60 135 4,259Sled Springs 3,000 3,630 1,946 807 2,753 7 76 375 3,128Snake River 1,500 2,159 1,017 473 1,490 7 69 595 2,085Starkey 700 2,212 1,015 332 1,347 9 61 1,347Ukiah 1,500 2,551 714 418 1,132 12 44 1,132Umatilla 1,200 2,867 1,189 420 1,609 10 56 1,609Walla Walla 1,000 970 229 176 405 13 42 157 562Wenaha 2,000 1,097 437 314 751 7 68 207 958Wheeler 2,500 6,383 2,399 1,296 3,695 9 58 600 4,295NORTHEAST 33,100 56,802 23,616 11,426 35,042 9 62 157 4,046 39,245Beulah 4,000 5,589 2,256 1,522 3,778 7 68 3,778Hart Mtn. none 94 36 36 20 38 36Interstate 3,000 6,630 2,784 1,400 4,184 11 63 159 4,343Juniper none 94 48 48 13 51 48Malheur River 3,000 4,491 1,769 841 2,610 10 58 2,610Owyhee 500 632 223 51 274 9 43 274Silver Lake none 4,648 1,764 1,764 16 38 1,764Silvies 2,000 3,724 1,420 666 2,086 9 56 2,086Steens Mtn. 1,000 1,932 1,105 158 1,263 9 65 1,263Wagontire none 280 107 107 15 38 107Warner 500 2,270 703 263 966 15 43 966Whitehorse 500 472 299 35 334 7 71 334SOUTHEAST 14,500 30,856 12,514 4,936 17,450 10 57 159 17,609General Season TOTALS 135,100 234,562 83,051 36,141 119,192 11 51 119,192Extended Season TOTALS 29,276 7,167 5,279 12,446 6 42 12,446 12,446 ,--N.Controlled Season TOTALS *11,875 2,685 5,389 8,074 68 8,074 8,074GRAND TOTALS 263,838 92,903 46,809 139,712 53 139,712

*Reporting Hunters (1) All controlled seasons prorated into units.

Page 4 APRIL, 1963

Big Game Harvest(Continued from Page 3)

percentage of deer than in previousyears. In the northwest region the ex-tended season harvest made up 29 percent of the general season total.

Hunters reported an average of 11days of hunting per deer killed duringthe general season as compared to 8.5days for the previous season. The gen-eral and extended seasons provided atotal of 1,410,870 man-days of recreation.

Table IV presents an analysis of ap-proximately 12,000 controlled season re-port cards, indicating a harvest of 8,074deer and a hunter success of 68 percent. These figures are conservative sinceapproximately 50 per cent of the par-ticipating hunters reported their expe-rience. Hunter reports also show that 26per cent of the controlled season tagholders exercised the privilege of usingtheir general season tag during the con-trolled seasons. Actually, the 11,875 re-porting hunters averaged almost one deerper hunter when both tags are considered.

Of the total deer taken during thegeneral season, 55 per cent were muledeer as compared to 60 per cent in 1961.Although over 135,000 free antlerless per-mits were issued for 1962 general sea-

sons, only 41,420 or 32 per cent of thedeer taken were antlerless.Elk Season

The harvest of 10,176 elk is approxi-mately 2,000 animals below the 1961 takebut still ranks third highest in the num-ber of animals taken.

The general elk season opened Octo-ber 27 and extended through November9 in western Oregon and through No-vember 25 in the Cascades and in east-ern Oregon. Bag limit was one bull elkwith antlers longer than the ears. Eithersex of elk were legal during the generalseason on southeastern Oregon ranges.

Table V presents the 1962 harvest.Hunter success was the highest in theMinam unit where 42 per cent of thehunters filled their tags.

Analysis of hunter return cards andthe random survey bore out earlier fieldobservations that the October windstormhad interfered considerably with thecoastal elk season, dispersing some herdsand greatly limiting hunter access. Thehighest hunter success in western Ore-gon was on the Tioga permit season inthe Coquille unit with 39 per cent ofparticipating hunters successful.

For the second year, Clatsop elk hunt-(Continued on Page 7)

TABLE IV

Shrub planting trials on a burn in theOchoco national forest.

SUMMARY OF 1962 CONTROLLED DEER SEASONS

Areas By Region TagsIssued

BagLimit

ReportingHunters

Controlled Tag Harvest General Tag Harvest TotalReport ofHarvest

AverageNumber ofTrips Made

Deer PerHunterBucks Antler less Total Per Cent

Success Bucks Antler less Total

Edwards Creek 400 deer 257 74 114 188 73 16 22 38 226 1.4 .88*Fall Creek 150 deer 119 20 31 51 43 4 2 6 57 1.4 .48Muesel Creek 400 deer 266 68 86 154 58 3 10 13 167 1.3 .63

*North Fork Siletz 300 deer 232 43 49 92 40 4 2 6 98 1.4 .42Waldport-Mapleton 1,000 deer 558 237 206 443 79 143 75 218 661 3.5 1.18Willamette Valley 5,000 deer 2,549 886 847 1,733 68 552 411 963 2,696 4.5 1.06

NORTHWEST 7,250 3,981 1,328 1,333 2,661 67 722 522 1,244 3,905 3.7 .98Rogue Valley 2,000 1 deer 839 272 226 498 59 137 125 262 760 3.4 .90

SOUTHWEST 2,000 839 272 226 498 59 137 125 262 760 3.4 .90Alfalfa 200 i doe 131 65 65 50 14 14 79 3.8 .60Jordan Creek 100 1 doe 68 60 60 88 22 22 82 1.3 1.20Klamath 800 1 deer 430 158 207 365 85 85 67 152 517 3.2 1.20Pine Grove 100 1 deer 67 28 20 48 72 4 11 15 63 1.8 .94Sisters 200 1 deer 137 18 48 66 48 1 2 3 69 2.8 .50

CENTRAL 1,400 833 204 400 604 72 90 116 206 810 3.0 .97Bridgeport 500 1 doe 42 33 33 78 13 13 46 1.8 1.01Chesnimnus 1,000 1 deer 573 118 310 428 75 72 123 195 623 1.0 1.09Dayville 500 1 doe 288 212 212 74 51 51 263 1.1 .91Durkee 500 1 doe 267 199 199 75 23 23 222 2.1 .83Elkhorn 400 1 doe 143 106 106 74 26 26 132 2.2 .92Huntington 1,500 1 doe 336 223 223 66 58 58 281 1.9 .84Imnaha 750 1 deer 396 82 208 290 73 50 69 119 409 1.5 1.03John Day River 3,000 1 doe 1,411 869 869 61 239 239 1,108 1.8 .78Minam Pack 1,500 1 deer 389 168 104 272 70 50 16 66 338 1.5 .87Sled Springs 750 1 deer 461 96 279 375 81 92 121 213 588 1.8 1.27Snake River 1,500 1 deer 814 180 415 595 73 79 90 169 764 1.6 .94Wallowa Area 1,000 1 deer 527 166 177 343 65 42 43 85 428 1.7 .81Wenaha 1,000 1 deer 334 71 136 207 62 35 42 77 284 1.9 .85

NORTHEAST 13,900 5,981 881 3,271 4,152 69 420 914 1,334 5,486 1.6 .92*Cox Creek 300 1 doe 241 159 159 66 13 13 172 1.5 .77

SOUTHEAST 300 241 159 159 66 13 13 172 1.5 .77TOTALS 24,850 11,875 2,685 5,389 8,074 68 1,369 1,690 3,059 11,133 2.5 .94Checking station data

GAME BULLETIN Page 5

Game Commission and Forest Service cooperative bifterbrushre-seeding project in the Deschutes national forest.

TABLE V

Outrigger deer proof fence surrounds plot seeded with bitter-brush in the Aspen Flat burn.

1962 ELK SEASONS

GENERAL SEASON PERMIT SEASONS GRAND TOTALSUnits

byRegions

Numberof

Hunters

HARVEST Per Centof HuntersSuccessful

Per CentSpikeBulls

PermitsIssued

ReportedHarvest Hunters HarvestBulls Antler less Total

Alsea 458 79 79 17 45 458 79Clatsop 5,750 649 5,750 649McKenzie 1,146 141 141 12 36 1,146 141Santiam 111 8 8 7 67 111 8Trask 50 18 50 18Willamette 104 8 8 8 104 8Wilson 800 119 800 119NORTHWEST 1,819 236 236 13 40 6,600 786 8,419 1,022

---\Butte Falls 66 15 15 23 17 66 15Coquille 1,913 244 244 13 57 300 86 2,213 330Douglas 50 19 50 19Siuslaw 50 6 50 6Powers 325 28 28 9 55 325 28Tenmile 590 127 127 22 50 590 127Umpqua 1,738 208 208 12 56 100 23 1,838 208SOUTHWEST 4,632 622 622 13 54 500 134 5,132 756Deschutes 71 10 10 14 71 10Grizzly 74 3 3 4 74 3Hood River 10 3 3 30 10 3Ochoco 602 30 38 68 11 25 602 68Wasco 183 17 17 9 29 183 17CENTRAL 940 60 41 101 11 26 940 101Baker 1,308 272 272 21 40 550 91 1,858 363Catherine Creek 451 94 94 21 43 451 94Chesnimnus 2,558 645 645 25 71 250 115 2,808 760Desolation 2,758 472 472 17 41 400 109 3,158 581Heppner 2,363 218 218 9 57 350 78 2,713 296Imnaha 562 160 160 28 51 100 19 662 179Keating 726 76 178 254 35 50 726 254Lookout Mountain 53 5 10 15 28 100 53 15Minam 528 223 223 42 41 200 41 728 264Murderer's Creek 755 70 90 160 21 43 755 160Northside 1,484 120 266 386 26 21 1,484 386Sled Springs 2,380 645 645 27 71 300 126 2,680 771Snake River 472 173 173 37 43 472 173Starkey 5,296 655 655 12 66 600 178 5,896 833Ukiah 3,459 490 490 14 57 400 96 3,859 586Umatilla 3,764 848 848 23 67 300 110 4,064 958Walla Walla 1,154 284 284 25 69 350 126 1,504 410Wenaha 2,059 713 713 35 62 100 21 2,159 734Wheeler 375 18 28 46 12 375 46NORTHEAST 32,505 6,181 572 6,753 21 59 3,900 1,110 36,405 7,863Beulah 1,157 114 186 300 26 24 1,157 300Malheur River 729 61 40 101 14 29 729 101Silvies 201 15 18 33 16 201 33SOUTHEAST 2,087 190 244 434 21 26 2,087 434TOTALS 41,983 7,289 857 8,146 19 57 11,000 2,030 52,983 10,176

Page 6 APRIL, 1963

Big Game Harvest(Continued from Page 5)

ing was by permit only with 5,000 per-mits available. The unit opened at 9:00a.m. October 27, and 2,810 reportinghunters indicated a kill of 487 bulls ofwhich 322 or 66 per cent were spikes.Hunter success averaged 17 per cent, andthe known illegal kill dropped to 10 ant-lerless elk as compared to 22 in 1961 and38 in 1960. Five years of spike harvestson the Coos-Douglas County area haveshown a substantial increase in the yieldof bulls and have not had a detrimentaleffect on calf production. This is thesecond year that spikes were legal in theClatsop and other north coast units.

General season harvest returns for1962 show a total of 8,146 elk taken by41,983 hunters, with a hunter success of19 per cent as compared to the 1961 gen-eral season harvest of 9,233 elk and 23per cent hunter success. Permit seasonharvests of 2,030 elk by 11,000 permitholders gave a hunter success of 18 percent. Total harvest was 10,176 animalsby 52,983 hunters. Permit hunts areshown in Table VI.Archery

Out of the return of 17,763 question-naires, 496 or 2.8 per cent of the huntersindicated that they hunted with archeryequipment. Prorating this percentage

(--"" into total license sales indicated a bowhunting population of 8,597 archers whobagged an estimated 780 deer and 35elk.

Checking station returns from theMalheur Refuge archery season indicatedthat 21 deer were taken by 184 huntersfor a success ratio of 11 per cent.Antelope Season

The 1962 antelope season extendedfrom August 25 through August 29 witha bag limit of one buck having hornslonger than the ears. Continued low pop-ulations and a poor fawn crop, coupledwith another year of drought in 1962,prompted the Game Commission to re-duce the number of antelope tags from900 to 600. As shown in Table VII, 516reporting hunters harvested 277 antelopefor a hunter success of 54 per cent. High-est success was experienced in the White-horse unit, Area VI. The only area withunder 50 per cent success was Area IVwhich includes Juniper, Hart Mountain,and Steens Mountain.Summary

The 1962 big game seasons, althoughnot on a par with the previous season,provided 1,787,000 man-days of recrea-tion for Oregon's 307,918 licensed huntersand a harvest of over 150,000 big gameanimals.

In comparison with the exceptional(Continued on Page 8)

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TABLE II

1962 EXTENDED DEER SEASONS

Units byRegions

HARVEST Total Days Per CentHunterSuccess

TotalHunters Bucks Does Total

Hunted PerDeer Harvested

Alsea 4,649 1,423 799 2,222 5 48McKenzie 7,971 2,412 1,441 3,853 6 48Polk 1,035 208 139 347 7 34Santiam 6,227 1,180 1,181 2,361 7 38Siuslaw 1,978 451 399 850 7 43Trask 1,104 278 277 555 5 50Willamette 4,484 868 799 1,667 7 37Wilson 275 17 70 87 9 32NORTHWEST 27,723 6,837 5,105 11,942 6 43Hood River 848 138 52 190 11 22Wasco 376 87 70 157 6 42CENTRAL 1,224 225 122 347 9 28Walla Walla 329 105 52 157 5 48NORTHEAST 329 105 52 157 5 48

EXTENDEDSEASON TOTALS 29,276 7,167 5,279 12,446 6 42

TABLE VII

ANTELOPE SEASON-1962(86% return)

AreaTags

IssuedReportingHunters Harvest

Per CentSuccessfulHunters

I Ochoco, Maury, Silvies 75 62 31 50II Paulina, Wagontire, Fort Rock,

Silver Lake 75 64 32 50III Klamath, Interstate, Warner 100 80 44 55IV Juniper, Hart Mountain, Steens 175 148 69 47V Beulah, Malheur, Owyhee 100 94 55 58

VI Whitehorse 75 68 46 68TOTALS 600 516 277 54

TABLE VI

1962 PERMIT ELK SEASONSUnitor

AreaNumber of

Permits

HARVEST

Per CentSuccess

BullsAntler less

TotalHarvestAdult Spike

Baker 250 71 71 28Chesnimnus 250 115 115 46Desolation 400 109 109 27Heppner 350 78 78 22Imnaha 100 19 19 19Minam 200 41 41 20Sled Springs 300 126 126 42Starkey 600 178 178 30Ukiah 400 96 96 24Umatilla 300 110 110 37Walla Walla 250 75 75 30

Unit HuntSUBTOTALS 3,400 1,018 1,018 30

Clatsop Unit 5,000 165 322 487 17 (1)Clatsop Agri. Area 750 12 20 130 162 22Coquille Agri. Area 150 1 3 23 27 18Douglas Unit 50 8 11 19 38

*Lake Creek Area 100 3 5 15 23 24Mill Creek Area 100 15 8 28 51 51Shaw Mountain Area 300 3 4 13 20 7Siuslaw Unit 50 3 3 6 12

*Tioga Area 150 1 58 59 39Trask Unit 50 9 9 18 36Troy Area 100 5 7 9 21 21Wilson Unit 600 18 70 88 15Wilson Agri. Area 200 4 27 31 15

Permit HuntSUBTOTALS 7,600 242 467 303 1,012 13

GRAND TOTALS 11,000 242 467 1,321 2,030 18(709)

*Checking Station data. (1) Based on 2,810 hunter return cards.

Page 7

This angling scene on the Clackamas River will be a typical sight in many parts of the state onApril 20, opening of the general trout season.

TROUT ANGLERS GET READYTo many anglers there is still a spe-

cial thrill to the opening day of the gen-eral trout season, which this year fallson Saturday, April 20, for most sectionsof the state. Major exceptions are streamsin Zones 1 (coast area), 3 (Umpquawatershed), and 4 (Rogue watershed),

and lakes, reservoirs and their tributar-ies in the national forests of the Cas-cades. General opening date for thesewaters is May 25. Individual exceptionsto the general season openings are listedin the 1963 angling synopsis now avail-able for distribution at all license agen-cies.

NOTICE OF HEARINGS ONBIG GAME REGULATIONS

The Oregon State Game Commissionwill hold a hearing relative to regulationspertaining to hunting big game animalson Friday, May 24, at its Portland head-quarters, 1634 S.W. Alder Street. Inter-ested individuals and organizations areinvited to attend. Following this hearing,tentative regulations will be announcedand publicized. Final regulations will beadopted when the hearing is reconvenedon June 7. The next regular meeting ofthe Game Commission will be on April 17.

Big Game Harvest(Continued from Page 7)

1961 deer season, a modest decline inboth the number of hunters and the num-ber of deer taken occurred for the firsttime in ten years. A total of 263,838hunters took 139,712 deer in 1962. In1961 a yield of 164,000 deer was takenby 265,326 hunters. The decline occurredprimarily on mule deer ranges and waspartially traceable to a reduction in the

number of antlerless permits and tagsauthorized on some units.

The number of persons hunting elkincreased from 51,349 in 1961 to 52,983in 1962 but the harvest of elk declinedfrom 12,091 in 1961 to 10,176 in 1962. Alack of snow in eastern Oregon andstorm-blocked access roads in westernOregon contributed to the reported de-cline in the yield of elk.

Continued low production in Oregon'santelope herds gave cause to reduce thenumber of antelope tags authorized. The600 antelope hunters reported taking 277buck antelope.

Although the 1962 big game seasonsfailed to set a new record in terms ofhunter success, comparison with otherstates will reveal that Oregon continuesto be the leading big game state and theconditions which affected the 1962 sea-sons in Oregon also prevailed in otherwestern states.

The current status of Oregon's biggame herds and the opportunities for biggame hunting in 1963 will not be knownuntil the spring inventories are com-pleted in April.

Chukar hunters had their best seasonon record last fall with an approximateharvest of 125,000 birds, according to re-sults of the questionnaire sampling con-ducted by the Game Commission. Thisspecies has become firmly established asa popular and important game bird.

The total number of upland gamehunters participating in the various 1962seasons totalled 97,542. Number of birdstaken was 925,981. The number of hunt-ers was 8 per cent less than 1961 and theharvest 15 per cent less.

Waterfowl hunters had their poorestseason since 1950, with 47,185 hunterstaking 408,578 birds. The number ofhunters, as well as the number of birdstaken, has been declining since 1958.

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The Tillamook-Clatsop County areawill be the scene of some active streamclearance work this spring with theawarding of contracts last month by theGame Commission for the removal oflarge log jams and debris in the more im-portant salmon and steelhead streams.

Recent major stream clearance proj-ects include the renovation of the NorthFork Coquille River in 1961-62 under a60-40 financing program, the Commissionpaying 60 per cent of the cost and therest contributed by Coos County, Co-quille Chamber of Commerce, timbercompanies and others. Giant log jamsand debris were taken out.

Last summer work was done on sev-eral important tributaries of the UmpquaRiver and portions of Smith River and itstributaries. Attention was then directedto the Siuslaw drainage last fall and win-ter. Local cooperation was received forthe clearance of these streams also.

Oregon State GameCommission Bulletin

1634 S.W. ALDER STREETP.O. BOX 4136

PORTLAND 8, OREGON

titEGON STA re

GAME COMMISSION