Hunting, 2020

A special publication of OUTDOORS SECTION | FRIDAY, SEPT. 25, 2020 SUPPLEMENT TO THE MOSCOW-PULLMAN DAILY NEWS

ON THE REBOUND ï‚£ IN IDAHO, MULIES AND WHITETAIL NUMBERS ARE BOUNCING BACK / PAGE 2

WASHINGTON ELK, DEER OUTLOOK

NEW BOOKS LOOK AT IDAHO HISTORY

GPS COLLARS A BOON TO HUNTERS

BIGHORN MAKE A COMEBACK

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> I D AHO O U TL O O K

A hunter uses his binoculars to try to locate deer and elk in a mountainous part of Idaho.

Officials offer up a hopeful forecast for deer, elk seasons Mild winter, no outbreaks of disease mean hunters should have plenty of whitetail to pursue; elk are less plentiful in the region, but herds are holding steady

By ERIC BARKER OF THE TRIBUNE

Idaho Fish and Game officials are painting a mostly rosy picture for deer and elk hunters this fall, saying mulies are bouncing back, and whitetail and elk are thriving.

But that’s a statewide assessment and doesn’t take into account regional differences or differences within and between regions.

In the Clearwater Region of north central Idaho, the agency reports deer benefited from a relatively mild winter, and wildlife managers did not detect significant outbreaks of epizootic hemorrhagic disease or blue tongue this summer that can hammer local whitetail herds. Those two factors should have combined for good white-

Roger Phillips/Idaho Fish and Game

tail survival and a fair number of mature bucks.

Whitetail deer can be found throughout the region, with units 8A and 10A being among some of the best in the state. Last year, hunters harvested 1,664 deer in unit 8A, of which 98.8 percent were whitetail and about 70 percent were antlered bucks. Of the bucks, about 22 percent had five points or better. Unit 10A saw a harvest of 2,222 deer last year, of which 98.2 percent were whitetail and about 70 percent were bucks. Of the overall harvest, about 20 percent were bucks with five or more points.

According to a report from the agency, it expects whitetail hunters to experience a fall harvest similar

> See HOPEFUL, Page 4

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A successful hunter poses with a bull elk he harvested.

HOPEFUL

> Continued from PAGE 2

to those of the recent past. Last year, hunters harvested 21,540 whitetails in Idaho, with a success rate of 38 percent. The 10-year average for whitetail harvest is 24,568.

The report did not include a prognosis for mule deer hunting in the region. The Clearwater’s best mule deer habitat is along the breaks of the Snake and lower Salmon rivers and is largely within controlled-hunt areas that require special tags.

On a statewide basis, the agency predicts the possibility of the start of a mulie rebound. That is based on an uptick in fawn survival last winter, following three harsh winters with low survival. According to its report, that will mean more young bucks available to hunters this fall, compared to the recent past.

Last year, hunters in the Gem State harvested 23,679 mule deer, for a success rate of 29 percent. The 10-year harvest average is 27,964.

Elk

Elk City zones are in better shape but still failing to meet objectives.

The Palouse, Dworshak and Elk City zones have produced good hunting of late, according to the state’s report. In the Elk City Zone, harvest has been up in unit 14 but down in units 15 and 16.

The Palouse Zone is the only one in the region that is not capped or managed via controlled hunt. The Hells Canyon Zone is covered by controlled hunts; the sale of B tags is capped in the Dworshak Zone; and A and B tags are capped in the Lolo, Selway and Elk City zones. Hunters harvested 585 elk in the Palouse Zone, 298 in the Hells Canyon Zone, 537 in the Dworshak Zone, 132 in the Lolo Zone, 257 in the Selway Zone and 342 in the Elk City Zone last year.

Statewide, hunters harvested 20,532 elk. The 10-year average is 19,758. Last year’s harvest ranked 14th all time and was the sixth in a row to exceed 20,000.

“We are in the second golden age of Idaho elk hunting,” said Rick Ward, deer and elk program manager. “The distribution of elk has definitely changed since the ’80s and ’90s, when there was that first pulse of high elk numbers, and the Lolo Zone was leading the way. That’s not the case anymore, but now our elk populations in the front country — particularly in southern Idaho — are doing fantastic.”

The herds in much of the Clearwater Region have been stable, but those in places like the Lolo and Selway Barker may be contacted at ebarker@ zones continue to struggle and are well below the state’s population ob- lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273. jectives. Herds in the Dworshak and Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.

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> W ASHIN G TO N O U TL O O K

Herd numbers linger below 5-year average Poor survival rates during recent severe winters blamed for declines in ungulates

By ERIC BARKER OF THE TRIBUNE

Elk numbers in Washington’s Blue Mountains continues to trend below the recent five-year average, according to data compiled by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

This spring, biologists counted 4,614 elk during helicopter surveys. That compares to a recent average of 5,062, according to the agency’s annual Hunting Prospects report.

The most recent population survey also showed a calf-tocow ratio of 22-to-100 and 22.1 bulls for every 100 cows. The five-year average of calf-tocow ratios is 27.4-to-100 and the average bull-to-cow ratio is 30.6-to-100 Biologists believe the dip is because of poor calf survival during the winters of 2016-17 and 2018-19, combined with predation, and the decline in bull ratios can be linked to the same harsh winters, summer drought and predation.

Add it all up, and it likely means tough hunting for spike and branch-antlered bulls this fall.

“The 2020 general season is expected to be similar to the average during the past four years. Harvest since 2016 has been the lowest in the past 20 years,” according to the report.

“Hunter numbers also typically do not change substantially from one year to the next, but a slow decline has been observed with the declining population. The weather during hunting season does change from year to year, which will influence success rates.”

Hunters can pursue spike or yearling bulls in the Blues

of 2019 was especially tough on deer herds in the area “Although the deer went through January in presumably good condition, we observed significant winter kill across the district, with many ranchers along the Snake and Grande Ronde rivers reporting emaciated and dying deer. A substantial number of the dead deer investigated were yearlings and, with deer herds still recovering from the harsh winter in 2016-17, the combined effects were seen in the low 2019 harvest and are expected to carry over into the 2020 hunting season,” according to the report.

Last winter was much more mild, and deer likely survived better. However, the report notes it will take some time for young bucks to mature to become available to hunters under the state’s three-point regulation.

“We wouldn’t expect whitetail deer harvest to significantly improve until the 2021 season, and mule deer harvest by 2022,” according to the report.

The agency did not receive many reports of summer time die-offs of whitetail deer because of epizootic hemorrhagic disease and blue tongue.

However, Oregon reported significant mortality in units along the state line.

“We may see some effects of this large die-off in (game management units) that border Oregon,” according to the report.

Mule deer numbers in the southeastern corner of the Brett Panting/Idaho Fish and Game state appear to be stable or A mule deer buck stands in a field. Late snow in the spring of 2019 was hard on mule and decreasing. However, the whitetail deer populations in southeastern Washington, leading state wildlife officials to report says a drop in private agricultural land acres comproject low numbers available to hunters this year. mitted to the federal Conserwith a general permit but and whitetail deer in south- cent, compared to 26 percent vation Reserve Program may must draw a branch-antlered eastern Washington. State a year earlier and a five-year lead to a slow decline in mule bull tag to go after older, big- biologists monitor deer pop- average of 27 percent. How- deer abundance. ulations by tracking harvest ever, the agency noted that ger bulls.

Barker may be contacted trends, weather and habitat the number of deer hunters Deer at ebarker@lmtribune.com or conditions. Deer hunting suc- declined in 2019.

The late snow in the spring at (208) 848-2273. Follow him It’s a similar story for mule cess in 2019 was about 25 per-

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> BOOKS

New titles cover history of state Fish and Game entities, research on Lochsa elk

By ERIC BARKER OF THE TRIBUNE

A couple of new titles are available for folks who like to stuff a book in their pack and get in a little reading at hunting camp.

Both are written by retired wildlife professionals, and offer detailed insight on the critters of Idaho and the complex forces that shape them.

——— The first, “Idaho Wildlife: History, Exploitation, Politics and Management,” was written by Jerry Thiessen, of Lewiston. Many will recognize Thiessen as the former supervisor of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game’s Clearwater Region. He retired in that post in 1995 following a 31-year career with the agency.

During an interview, Thiessen said experiences early in his career in which he was exposed to the human forces that weigh on management of big game herds sparked an interest in the origins of the agency he worked for, and the Idaho Fish and Game Commission.

The commission, created by a 1938 citizens initiative, was designed to insulate fish and wildlife management from rank political influence. It was willed into being by hunters and anglers and against the desires of the state’s politicians.

Thiessen started collecting documents and kept it up for three decades. After he retired, he started to put it all together.

The book covers the state’s fish and wildlife literally from the beginning and “the formation of the earth.” It includes chapters on Idaho’s iconic native and some nonnative species like mule deer, whitetail deer, elk, pronghorn, moose, bighorn sheep, bison, pheasants and wolves.

Thiessen also covers the evolution of wildlife management in the state, including conflicts between livestock and wildlife, formation of early game preserves, the state game warden system that predated the existing department and formation of the commission.

“I started writing not with a book in mind necessarily — chapter by chap-

Courtesy photo

The cover of Jerry Thiessen’s book “Idaho Wildlife: History, Exploitation, Politics and Management.”

ter — but ended up with a sizable manuscript,” he said.

He spends a fair amount of time on the early management of fish and game, the creation of the Fish and Game Commission and the enduring, and he says critical, relationship between hunters, anglers, the commission and the agency.

“It was strictly a sportsmen’s effort and as a result, the commission has a virtual contract with sportsmen that they will do what is scientifically correct based on the best information available, and they will communicate with the sportsmen,” he said. “It’s incumbent on the commission to remember they have this contract with the sportsmen. It’s really, I think, (impossible) to have a functioning fish and game department without the sportsmen.”

The 500-page book is self-published and available through www.alibris. com for $29.95.

——— The second book, “The Lochsa Elk Herd: History and Future,” is a joint effort by retired University of Idaho wildlife professor Jim Peek of Moscow, and retired Fish and Game biologists Mike Schlegel, of Grangeville, and Thomas Leege, of Coeur d’Alene.

The herd is one of the most studied groups of wildlife in Idaho, if not beyond, Schlegel said.

“There has been an elk research project there probably every year since 1965,” he said.

Peek planned to pull all of that research together in the 1990s but decided he should wait. Wolves had just been reintroduced to central Idaho, and he surmised the predators would play another important chapter in the evolution of the herd that was once the envy of the West but has since fallen on hard times.

The book covers the rise and fall of the herd, including how huge fires that shaped the habitat of the upper Lochsa Basin set the stage for elk to thrive by the creation of open brush fields mixed with timber. That habitat, combined with a campaign to suppress predators and World War II dramat-

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TITLES

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The herd is now limited by both habitat and predation by wolves, mountain lions and black bears.

“So the prognosis doesn’t look really good unless wolf numbers can be significantly reduced to allow the elk population to recover itself,” Schlegel said. “At the same time, looking at it from a habitat perspective, those decadent seral brush fields need to be rejuvenated. It’s going to take a combination of increases in predator take and increases in habitat.”

He contends north central Idaho’s small communities have paid a steep price. Schlegel figures hunters once spent almost $11 million annually in the area.

“The thing that trips my trigger is we have two management agencies, Idaho Fish and Game and the U.S. Forsest Service, and we are 20 years out (from the collapse of the herd) and you can not point to one thing they have done to try to correct that. And to me that is just an atrocity,” he said.

The hardback book, published

by Cambridge Scholars Publishing, might be one best to check out from a library because of its hefty price.

It is available through Amazon.com for $119. 95.

ically reducing hunting pressure as young men headed to the battlefield, allowed the herd to boom.

Peek recalls interviewing the late George Hatley, of Moscow, and being told that elk were so plentiful in the 1950s, hunters sometimes filled their tags while setting up camp.

“It just wasn’t any problem getting an elk at that time,” Peek said.

In the 1980s, there were 18,000 elk in the Lolo Zone. Now there are fewer than 2,000.

Over the years, habitat slowly closed in and became less supportive of huge numbers of elk. Predator populations also climbed. Schlegel’s research established the role that black bears have on elk numbers. Black bears feed on elk calves during their first few weeks of life, when the wobbly-legged animals aren’t nimble or athletic enough to escape the bruins.

As elk numbers declined, human hunting also played a role. Peek describes how Gov. Cecil Andrus helped Barker may be contacted at ebarker@ to shut down either-sex elk hunters and move to a bulls-only hunt. The harsh lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273. winter of 1996-97 took another toll.

Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.

STILL MISSING ~ FALL 2020

The cover of “The Lochsa Elk Herd: History and Future,”

by Jim Peek, Mike Schlegel and Thomas Leege.

Courtesy photo

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> TECHNOL O G Y

GPS collars allow hunters to keep tabs on their dogs

LEFT: This transceiver shows the direction and distance of two dogs, both on point.

BELOW: A hunter fits a GPS collar on his dog prior to a day in the field. The collars allow hunters to track their dog’s location and determine if they are on point.

Seth Bynum

Collar devices track canines’ movements, giving their owners some peace of mind

I

’m working with a new bird dog pup this year, and she’s just about ready for her first off-leash, real-life hunting excursion into the chukar hills of north central Idaho.

June, an 8-month old Drahthaar, is eager, and I’m excited to watch her start to figure things out and for the two of us to begin developing the trust and teamwork that will pay dividends over many years. But I’m also more nervous than I have been with my previous dogs. There always seems COMMENTARY to be a point when the exuberance and inexperience of youth sends pups over a ridge and out of sight. It’s happened to me more than once, but the dogs have always reappeared after a tense 10-15 minutes.

Like a lot of bird hunters, I use e-collars, commonly known as shock collars, on my dogs. They allow long-range communication and correction between

Eric Barker

dog and handler. Most of the time when I push the button on the transceiver, it’s just to send a vibration to get the dog’s attention.

But with the new pup and my worry about her tendency to cover ground quickly, I became curious about GPS collars that track a dog’s

movement. To learn more, I consulted Seth Bynum, a Moscow veterinarian specializing in breeding.

Bynum is also an avid bird hunter with a big Instagram following under the handle @birddogvet and is a contributor to the MeatEater hunting and fishing news and

entertainment platform.

He runs a Garmin Alpha that combines e-collar functions with tracking. Some years ago Garmin, a leader in GPS devices, acquired Tri-Tronics, one of the top makers of dog-training collars. The sophisticated Alpha comes with a hand-held,

touch-screen transceiver/ receiver that the hunter can use to follow his dogs and send corrections. Like many GPS devices, it has detailed, preloaded digital maps.

Bynum started using it for much the same reason that

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COLLARS

A pair of Garmin Alpha dog tracking and training collars. The collars allow hunters to track the location of their dogs and to see if they are on point.

> Continued from PAGE 8

is drawing me toward a GPS collar for June — temporary loss of a dog.

“These animals are living in our homes, and they are family members. There is just pain in the pit of my stomach that was out of control. You are scared you are going to lose your animal.” he said. “That woke me up and (I thought) I would really like a means to track this dog.”

His system tracks the miles and elevation logged by his dogs River and Shine, which he said is interesting to look at after his hunts.

But the core function of the collars is letting him know where his dogs are and what they are doing. The collars communicate, via satellite, every few seconds with the hand-held device. When the dogs stop moving, it shows them as being on point.

“They are really great in thick cover,” he said.

Seth Bynum

“If it tells me 55 yards, and the dog has not moved in 15 seconds. That is probably a situation where I need to get a shell in the chamber and get moving.”

The communication

satellite, hand-held device and collar work well in most places. In some of the more complex terrain, signals can be lost for a time.

“If I’m on one side of a draw, and the dog is over

the ridge on the other side, I will lose signal. But it will tell me where the last signal was,” he said.

The Alpha has a range up to 9 miles. Garmin also has a less sophisticated model,

the Pro 550 Plus. It has a range of about 2 miles and a hand-held controller device with a much smaller screen that just shows the direction of the dog or dogs and the distance. It’s billed as being slimmed down and much easier and quicker to operate.

Other e-collar companies like Dogtra also have combo GPS and training collars.

“It’s really just about peace of mind and that feeling I hope never to experience again of it getting dark, and the coyotes are starting to fire off and the dog having to stay out overnight,” Bynum said.

Barker is the outdoors editor of the Lewiston Tribune. He may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune. com or at (208) 848-2273. Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.

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> W ILDLIF E MA N A G EM ENT

Headed for

HEALTH Longtime researcher says removing carriers of deadly pneumonia is helping iconic Hells Canyon bighorn herds recover

By ERIC BARKER OF THE TRIBUNE

Frances Cassirer has been working to recover bighorn sheep in Hells Canyon for more than two decades.

During that time, she wondered if it was possible to find a cure, a vaccine or a management protocol that would protect the wild sheep from a deadly and highly contagious respiratory disease.

“There were times where I was like ‘I don’t think I can pick up any more dead lambs.’ It’s too depressing,” she said. “On the other hand, it also sort of motivated me — ‘I have to do something about this. This is terrible.’ ” It appears she and a team of other researchers, wildlife biologists and game managers from Idaho, Oregon and Washington have found a way to help infected herds in the greater Hells Canyon region regain their health.

“Where we are now is that we have healthy populations almost everywhere in Hells Canyon and the Blue Mountains. It’s awesome,” said the wildlife researcher for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game at Lewiston and Washington State University at Pullman. “There is no pneumonia. There is no mycoplasma. It’s not present.”

The exception is a herd in the Wallowa Mountains of northeastern Oregon that has yet to shed the chronic and deadly illness. But the fact that the rest of the herds are free of

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OUTDOORS / HUNTING 2020

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: A lamb and her ewe stand on a rock outcropping at Charley Creek in the Asotin Creek drainage. More lambs are surviving to adulthood thanks to a program that helped eliminate pneumonia from bighorn sheep herds in the Hells Canyon area.

A helicopter delivers a captured bighorn sheep to reseachers who then tested it for pneumonia. The capture was part of a program designed to help rid bighorn herds of the devastating disease.

Wildlife biologists test a bighorn sheep for the Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae bacteria that causes pneumonia.

Bighorn sheep herds in Hells Canyon are healthier these days, following the program.

Frances Cassirer/IDFG

pneumonia and the bacteria that causes it is quite remarkable.

The iconic animals are loved by sightseers and hunters alike.

The males grow massive horns that make full curls in front of their heads. During mating season, the males smash their horns together in contests of dominance that produce riflelike cracks.

Many hunters spend their adult lifetimes trying to draw the once-in-a-lifetime tags that give them the right to hunt the animals. But there are many more hunters than tags, and the odds of drawing are steep. Wealthy hunters sometimes spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to purchase tags at auctions that raise money for disease research.

Bighorn sheep are found in many of the West’s steep and arid river canyons and mountain ranges. And almost everywhere they are found, so is pneumonia.

Introduced by domestic sheep and goats, the disease, along with habitat degradation and overhunting in the early part of the 20th century, has taken a heavy toll on the native species.

The greater Hells Canyon region, with a wild sheep population between 800 and 900 animals, once had many thousands of bighorns, perhaps 10,000 or more, according to some estimates. Those numbers dropped dramatically after settlers began using the canyon’s grassy slopes to graze their domestic animals. The animals were eventually extirpated from the canyon and reintroduced, starting in the1970s.

However, the threat of the disease had not gone away, and pneumonia swept through many of the Hells Canyon herds in 1996, killing about 300 animals. Since then, mortality from the illness, while less dramatic, has persisted and prevented the herds from growing.

Cassirer said sheep that survive the disease become immune.

Meaning an infected herd can eventually work its way through the illness. However, she and other researchers said that rarely happened. Instead, they were finding that years after outbreaks, the disease continued to take a toll.

She theorized that there were carriers within the herds, likely ewes, that were infecting their own lambs, and then those lambs would pass the illness to other lambs through play. If they could test the herds and remove the carriers, perhaps they could stop the spread.

She likened it to New York health authorities identifying a cook named Mary Mallon, bet-

ter known as Typhoid Mary, as a carrier of typhoid in the early 1900s. Mallon was quarantined as part of an effort to halt the spread of the illness.

Wildlife officials from Idaho, Oregon and Washington, who work collaboratively to manage sheep, tried the same thing, starting with the Asotin herd that lives along Asotin Creek. It worked, so they expanded to other herds.

“We had some different approaches in different populations, but in general we tested and we defined a carrier as an animal that was positive over two years on two tests,” Cassirer said.

Those that met the definition were removed.

“We just kept testing, and everywhere,” she said. “Except for one population, even though we had animals testing positive, when we came back the next year, they weren’t positive anymore. So there weren’t any carriers, and eventually we weren’t finding any positives at all.”

Finally, some of the herds are showing signs of growth, with more and more lambs surviving.

“People going up the river have been telling me they are seeing a lot more sheep and a lot more lambs,” she said. “I think there is a big enough difference for people to detect casually.”

Cassirer said preparations are underway to expand the testing and removal strategy to herds along the Salmon River above Riggins. At the same time, wildlife managers are working diligently to prevent the disease from being reintroduced to the Hells Canyon herds. That could happen from domestic animals or from infected wild sheep, such as those from the Wallowa Herd, visiting other herds.

“We are really concerned about that and it getting back into the rest of the sheep,” she said.

“That is a really high priority.”

The three states have developed an outreach program in which they contact owners of domestic sheep and goat herds near occupied bighorn habitat.

They offer to test the domestic herds so the owners know if their animals carry the disease.

“If they do have sheep or goats test positive, we talk to them about what options they might have to clear it from their herds, and if they don’t have it, that is good to know too.”

Barker may be contacted at ebarker@ lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273.

Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.

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> UPLAND G A M E F O W L

OUTDOORS / HUNTING 2020

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Burgeoning

BIRDS A setter holds a Hungarian partridge after a successful shot from its hunting partner.

Idaho Fish and Game

had the biggest jump. Biologists counted 86 adult pheasants during the surveys and 13 broods of young birds, representing a 258 percent increase for adults and a 333 percent increase for broods.

Last year, they counted 24 adults and three broods

By ERIC BARKER and in 2018 they only saw 13 adults and no young OF THE TRIBUNE birds. Biologists counted an average of five chicks Pheasant hunters could see more birds than they per brood during the 2020 survey. have in several years, according to surveys conThis year’s pheasant count also exceeded the longducted by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. term trend. The 10-year survey average for pheasThose pursuing other upland game birds like ants is 40.4 adult birds and 4.8 broods. However, this gray partridge and valley quail should also find year’s results are far from a high-water mark. That was set in 2005, when 199 pheasants were counted. more birds this fall.

Game bird populations can fluctuate dramaticalResults from recently completed surveys, in which biologists drive predetermined routes around ly from year to year based on weather, habitat condawn to count the number of birds and broods they dition and predation. According to a report accomobserve, were up across the board compared to 2019. panying survey routes, the winter of 2019-20 was Pheasants, one of the most prized bird species, relatively mild and did not produce conditions that

Surveys show pheasant, gray partridge and valley quail numbers up over 2019

would be expected to lead to higher-than-normal levels of winter mortality. Spring weather can also make or break bird populations. The birds depend on ample moisture in the spring that prods healthy growth of grasses and shrubs and produces abundant insect populations that serve as a food source.

But spring rains can also be deadly. If the moisture, coupled with cool temperatures, overlaps the time when game bird chicks are hatching, it can lead to hypothermia in the young animals and failed hatches. When this happens, adult birds often renest and produce a second clutch of chicks.

Overall the spring of 2020 was wetter and cooler than normal.

Quail also saw a bump this year. Surveyors tallied 239 in 2020, compared to just 85 last year, for an increase of 181 percent. The 10-year average is 152.3.

Gray partridge, also known as Hungarian partridge

F R I D A Y, S E P T E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 2 0 or simply Huns, saw a modest bump. Surveyors counted 75, a 23 percent increase of the 61 counted in 2019. The 10-year average for Huns is 102.6 Biologists also saw 133 large raptors that can prey on upland game birds, an increase of 105 percent. But they counted only six coyotes, down 33 percent of last year’s nine.

The agency doesn’t survey chukar or forest grouse populations, and wildlife officials in southeastern Washington don’t conduct game bird surveys.

In other upland hunting news, the Idaho Fish and Game department is asking bird hunters in some places, like the Craig Mountain Wildlife Management Area, to donate a fully feathered wing from each bird they harvest.

The agency has placed “wing barrels” at several locations on the wildlife area were hunters can deposit them. The collected wings help the agency track bird populations and harvest levels.

Idaho Fish and Game is expanding its put-and-take pheasant program. The agency has plans to stock 34,000

OUTDOORS / HUNTING 2020

provide that opportunity.”

Hunters 18 or older must have an upland game bird permit to hunt properties where pheasants are stocked, even if those areas are not on the state’s wildlife management areas. In the Clearwater Region, that includes the Palouse Youth Access Yes area west of Potlatch, Petersen Loop Access Yes area north of Juliaetta, the Genesee Access Yes area near Genesee and the Red Bird portion of the Craig Mountain Wildlife Management area south of Lewiston.

The permit is only required if a person hunts pheasants on properties where pheasants are stocked and allows a hunter to take up to six pheasants per permit, but only two per day. Additional permits may be purchased.

Each property where a permit is required will be clearly Idaho Fish and Game marked with signs designating A pair of pheasant roosters fly away after being released at a wildlife management area. it as an upland game bird permit release area.

Hunters must also register pheasants at 22 locations, popular game bird species “Hunters and supporters of including some in the Clear- for upland game hunters in pheasant hunting asked us to online to hunt the Clearwater water Region. Last year, the the state,” said Jeff Knetter, expand the pheasant stocking Region’s pheasant release aragency released 21,000 birds. upland game and migratory program to include additional eas by visiting idfg.idaho.gov/ “Pheasants are the most game bird coordinator at Boise. properties, and we now hunt/pheasant/stocking.

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F R I D A Y, S E P T E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 2 0

A northern pintail sets its wing as it glides to a landing.

> W AT ERFO W L

Idaho Fish and Game

COVID-19 forces cancellation of waterfowl breeding survey The Canadian Wildlife Service and several state agencies that normally parThe annual Waterfowl ticipate in the counting of Breeding Population and breeding ducks also opted Habitat Survey conducted out this year. by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife It is the first time since Service was canceled this 1955 the survey has been year, another victim of the nixed.

COVID-19 pandemic.

“Decisions to cancel the The survey gives water- May survey and other mifowl managers valuable data gratory bird monitoring this used to set hunting seasons spring were based on our priand gives hunters an idea of ority of protecting the health what to expect as they head to and safety of the American fields and marshes each fall. public, our partners and our

By ERIC BARKER OF THE TRIBUNE

employees,” said Ken Richkus, chief of the USFWS Division of Migratory Bird Management.

According to a news release from the conservation and hunting group Ducks Unlimited, the cancellation does not immediately hamper the ability of federal and state wildlife managers to set harvest levels for this fall.

They used data from the 2019 survey to set hunting seasons and will use long-term data to set seasons in 2021.

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“These surveys are the bedrock of effective harvest management in North America and have helped sustain waterfowl populations and abundant hunting opportunities for over 60 years,” said Ducks Unlimited Chief Conservation Officer Karen Waldrop. “Although we will miss the anticipation and excitement that comes with the annual release of the May survey results, we don’t expect the cancellation of

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F R I D A Y, S E P T E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 2 0

15

OUTDOORS / HUNTING 2020

> O U TDOO R EXP L O R A TI O N S

A family’s dependable red canoe Simple watercraft has booked decades of adventures on region’s lakes and rivers

By RICH LANDERS

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

We were still miles from the Pack River takeout at Highway 200 north of Lake Pend Oreille when a crack of thunder prompted an emergency bivouac.

A gale of nasty clouds was blitzing over the near horizon in a surprise assault on the Landers family’s canoeing trip.

We quickly paddled to shore as white streaks of hail were being unleashed from the sky. While our two gradeschool-age daughters scrambled up the bank, my wife and I hauled the boat out of the river and bucked the wind to flip it upside down. The pelting hail stung our bodies like a swarm of bees and chased the four of us under the canoe.

We plugged our ears to muffle the pounding the Royalex hull was absorbing to spare our noggins from a brutal beating.

Crammed together like quadruplets in a womb, we were wide-eyed and speechless. Crackling flashes of lightning strobed the landscape. The summer tempest had transformed a previously placid stretch of northern Idaho river into a violent froth. The 16 feet of red canoe sheltered us from 5 minutes of hell on earth.

The hailstorm passed as fast as it began, and we emerged shell-shocked but giddy to have survived unscathed from another great outdoor experience.

Recently, the bow line to my memories got a tug as I watched the red canoe and its boatload of adventures drive away on the roof of

Rich Landers/For the Spokesman-Review

Jean and Kevin Dragon paddle the red canoe to the Palouse Falls plunge pool, the turnaround point in a 13-mile roundtrip on the lower Palouse River. The 1995 outing started and ended at the Snake River. another paddler’s pickup.

I showed the new owner a photo of my oldest daughter and me in the canoe on her 15th birthday. The image was snapped by a friend as we eddied out in the Spokane River, helmets and PFDs on and faces wet after running Flora and Sullivan rapids.

“This canoe took me fishing down the Elk River before Fernie (British Columbia) became overrun with fly shops and guides,” I bragged.

I also pointed out that the

cover of my regional guidebook features the red canoe in the capable hands of Jean and Kevin Dragon, who volunteered as models for my research of the lower Palouse River. I’d teamed with river runner Brian Burns in another canoe for that 1995 outing to photograph and document the epic 13-mile round trip. The four of us paddled and sometimes got out and tracked our boats past rock gardens, poison ivy and rattlesnakes from the Snake River upstream to the

plunge pool — the roar, spray, wind and rainbow — at the base of 180-foot Palouse Falls.

I climbed to both rims above the falls for photo angles for the book’s frontispiece before we headed back downstream.

I found the perfect cover photo scene as the Dragons powered the red canoe over the lower river’s flatwater in evening light. Based on how good the beer and barbecued burgers tasted at our camp along the Snake River that

night, it was a five-star trip.

Dozens of past adventures on the region’s lakes and rivers flashed through my mind as the new owner strapped the red canoe onto his roof rack. I told him of close calls the trusty boat had with a startled moose on the Little Pend Oreille lakes chain and a snoopy black bear at Upper Priest Lake.

I noted the boat was accustomed to being on-call in February for the sudden

> See CANOE, Page 16

16

CANOE

OUTDOORS / HUNTING 2020

F R I D A Y, S E P T E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 2 0

we had three boats launching for the icy excursion.

“Sometimes you forget about the beauty of having a river running through your town,” one man said > Continued from PAGE 15 as he thanked me for inspiring him to idle his skis rain-on-snow event needed for a sunny winter day and for the flush of ideal paddling get his canoe off the sawflows on Hangman Creek. horses and onto the water.

I mucked up the inside of The Legend, howevthe canoe with bluegill slime er, was well acquainted at Hutchinson Lake in the with the virtues of having Columbia National Wildlife the Spokane River minRefuge. On the other hand, utes away from home.

I washed it out once with My daughters, Brook and spray from Peewee Falls near Hillary, each took their turns Boundary Dam during an in the bow over several years overnighter through Z Canyon to celebrate Father’s Day on the Pend Oreille River. in the Spokane River Canoe A colorful history adds Classic. Over time, the red cavalue to a canoe, the buynoe floated nearly the entire er agreed. He also seemed 111 miles of the river from its pleased that the experiences source at Lake Coeur d’Alene had not resulted in patches to its confluence with the on the hull. Its closest call Columbia at Lake Roosevelt. was avoided with a dicey The St. Joe River also gave last-second portage exit to the Legend tastes of both avoid going down the throat flatwater and whitewater. of the Narrows, a boat-eatThe accessible portions of ing Class 4 stretch of the the St. Joe’s 134-mile course Grande Ronde River. from the Bitterroot Divide Oh yeah, and the time I Meredith Heick/For the Spokesman-Review to Lake Coeur d’Alene give forgot about the canoe on Hillary Landers celebrates Father’s Day in 2006 by joining her dad in the red canoe for the boaters options ranging from top of the van and started Spokane River Canoe Classic starting at Corbin Park in Post Falls. challenging rapids at Tumble to drive into the garage — Down Falls and Skookum another disaster averted and the Inland Northwest.”

1980s, the Spokane County friends or family couldn’t Canyon to serene lower river by last-second panic.

Other boats in the Landers Parks Department negotiated join my research trips. stretches and bordering lakes.

I bought the Dagger Legend fleet also played roles in the a deal to take over 7.5 miles On my first visit to the The red canoe got lots of in the 1990s as Dan Hansen field research. The 17-foot of the Little Spokane River Granby River near Grand pampering with UV proand I were researching our Mad River Explorer often to create a natural area from Forks, British Columbia, I tectant on the hull and light guidebook “Paddle Routes of was the loaner boat to friends St. George’s School nearly to found a local club of canoeists sanding and oiling of its the Inland Northwest.” Spowho joined us. The 18.5-foot the Spokane River. The effort and kayakers playboating at handsome wood bow plate kane Canoe and Kayak Club Wenonah Odyssey lightweight fended off looming private a wave feature they called and gunwales. But the nicest outings had opened our eyes Kevlar canoe was the choice ownership so a natural area Spit Wally’s Hole. When things I did for the boat into many of the flatwater and for researching long flatwacould be preserved and public I said I needed a partner volved scouting and occasionwhitewater trips in eastern ter trips such as the scenic access to that prized river to explore 12 miles of the ally chickening out of running Washington, northerm Idaho, 23-mile length of Slocan Lake stretch could be guaranteed. river, I hit the jackpot. An questionable river stretches. western Montana and southalong British Columbia’s The Legend also made experienced local couple I didn’t just ditch the trusty ern British Columbia, and we Valhalla Provincial Park. trips up the serpentine mile immediately volunteered.

Legend last week. I sought a were eager to explore more.

The high-volume Legend, of Rock Creek into the basalt “My wife will go with new owner who would treat Both of us had young however, was an all-round canyon of Bonnie Lake. you and I’ll paddle solo,” it like a puppy and give it families. The kids were too boat for a generalist like Whitman County officials in a man said in a moving a good home. I’m pleased young to shoulder a backpack me. I rigged it with flotation 1983 supported boaters in a moment of trust. to have found the perfect but just the right size for bags and kneeling pads for challenge by a sportsmen’s Similarly, I showed up in family, although I apparently tucking into a canoe with a whitewater, but I often took group that had leased the Winthrop one late-winter day couldn’t hide my struggle cooler of food and sometimes advantage of its huge capacsurrounding private land. with a plan to meet a local with seller’s remorse. with overnight packs for ity for coolers, kids, fishing The hunters didn’t argue paddler and lodge owner to The day after the new ownfamily outdoor adventures. tackle, a dog and camping that the lake was public accompany me down 11 miles er left with the Legend, I reAs long as we were spendgear for multiday trips on water, but they contended of the Methow River to Twisp. ceived a text message: “You ing so much time paddling, rivers such as the Missouri. they could keep the public off When we met at the Duck seemed a little sad about the Hansen and I decided to The fascinating central the creek, which is the only Brand restaurant, several canoe going away,” he wrote. take notes and compile our Washington desert stream way to access the lake from a people wondered why I had a “There’s nothing about this information to help others named the Winchester public road. Officials discanoe on my roof rack instead deal that can’t be undone if find their way to primo caWasteway often beckoned the agreed. Thanks to that ruling, of Nordic skis for the abunyou change your mind.” noeing and kayaking waters. red canoe for a fix of beaver Bonnie Lake has become a dance of snow that still blanWhen he added that he The resulting book is now sightings, sand dune camppopular undeveloped destina- keted the banks of the river. A couldn’t wait to launch repackaged with two other sites and coyote serenades. tion for paddlers and anglers. woman said she would shutter the boat with his wife and books into a tome called Some of the Legend’s most Having a handsome her real estate office for the explore some new waters, “Paddling Washington: 100 frequent destinations wouldn’t tandem boat on my roof afternoon. A man said he I was at peace. They would Flatwater and Whitewater have been possible without rack opened paddling could put off his chores for a only add to the red boat’s Routes in Washington State the foresight of others. In the opportunities even when bulging cargo of memories. few hours. And just like that,

F R I D A Y, S E P T E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 2 0

OUTDOORS / HUNTING 2020

17

My aim: to get nonhunters to embrace hunting M INNEAPOLIS — Attempts to get a handle on the many ways and the speed at which the world is changing is a bit like trying to grab smoke: You can see it, but you can’t quite get hold of it.

So it is also with hunting.

In some quarters, the world’s oldest “sport” is immutable, providing as it always has opportunities for individuals to immerse themselves in oftentimes physically demanding natural environments while employing a wide range of skills that lead to unpredictable but ultimately self-satisfying conclusions.

In psychobabble terms, hunting (though not only hunting) offers its participants unique, multidimensional opportunities to “self-actualize,” meaning (the Cliff’s Notes version here) chances to leverage their creative and other abilities to their full potential measured by internal goals and achievements, rather than by external motivators such as money or professional or societal prestige.

So it was the other day when our older son, Trevor, called after returning to his home from a mountain goat hunt in the Rockies.

A friend of his had drawn a hard-to-get permit, and Trevor had hiked into a makeshift, high-altitude camp to help as necessary.

“It was epic,” Trevor reported, recalling the challenging conditions (snowy), equipment used (Seek Outside backpacking tipi with titanium stove) and outcome (a billy shot on a cliff and successfully recovered and packed out).

Such illustrations notwithstanding, it’s also true hunting is nothing like its former self.

Participation, for example, has declined because of changing societal demographics (single-parent families are common), time constraints (work, school and team sports can be all-consuming) and fewer opportu-

at their own pace,” Norquist said. “Then they can move into our private social media groups, or what we call hunting camp communities, where questions can be asked and answers provided by knowledgeable mentors.”

Ryan Monaghan was living in New York City in February when the coronavirus threat arose. Able to work remotely, he sought relative safety at his parents’ home in New Hampshire.

“I’d never spent any considerable amount of time outside the city during spring, and I wanted to take advantage of the hunting, fishing and foraging opportunities around me,” Monaghan said by telephone this week.

New Hampshire’s turkey season would soon be open, he said. But he had never hunted turkeys. Searching the internet, he found Dreamstime via MCT Modern Carnivore’s webinar Hunting offers its participants unique, multidimensional opportunities to “self-actualize,” series on the subject.

After scouting, patterning a meaning chances to leverage their creative and other abilities to their full potential measured by internal goals and achievements, rather than by external motivators such as mon- shotgun and practice-calling as instructed by the tutorials, ey or professional or societal prestige.

Monaghan went afield with nities (urban hunters so self-fulfilling that blogs, stories, videos, recipes his father, and in a storybook ending to what had begun as are challenged to find many of its pracand podcasts, all related an online information quest, rural places to hunt). titioners naturally to the hunting, fishing both men harvested toms.

Into this conwant others to benefit and foraging lifestyle.

As a capstone to the founding matrix of from the experience.

This fall, Norquist has long-standing-traIn that respect, doubled down in his efforts to experience, Monaghan prepared and served a dition-strives-forit’s kind of like yoga, educate prospective hunters Sunday appetizer of turkey modern-day-releexcept with guns. wherever the internet vance marches Mark “About eight years reaches, by introducing a liver mousse with a charred Norquist, confidently. ago I was doing a lot separate learning portal ramp-apple-maple chutney.

COMMENTARY of marketing work The founder of called Hunting Camp Live.

All well and good. a website/digital in the organic and “The course we’re present- But not every novice platform called natural foods indusing this fall on Hunting Camp hunter has a relative or Modern Carnivore, try,” Norquist said.

Live focuses on upland bird friend to hunt with.

Norquist is a mar“I was in California hunting,” Norquist said. “In “That’s why in these keting and media looking at all of these addition to blogs, videos and lessons, such as those on pro whose goal is to new food products, podcasts, we’re featuring a huntingcamp.live, we partner introduce non-huntand I realized very six-lesson course introducing with conservation groups ers to hunting. few involved animal-based newcomers to various types such as the Ruffed Grouse Norquist’s evangelism protein. The premise was that of upland bird hunting.”

Society, Pheasants Forever isn’t unique among hunters, to be healthy you had to be a Addressing topics rangand others,” Norquist said. which is weird in a way bevegetarian. I disagreed, and ing from gear selection to “I call myself a solo entrecause hunters often compete it was then I created Modern field-dressing, ethics and preneur. But I couldn’t do for opportunity, measured Carnivore, which among oth- laws, the 12-month program it without partners who usually by places to hunt. er things advocates a lifestyle (price: $180) is intended believe in the mission — our So the idea that an expeof hunting, fishing, foragnot only to educate and food bloggers, video prorienced hunter would ining — and healthy living.” inform plugged-in novice duction people, mentors and tentionally recruit others to Norquist describes hunters, but to get those organizational partners.” compete for a finite number modcarn.com as a digital people into the field. of opportunities afield would engagement platform whose “With our videos and Anderson is a columnist for seem counterproductive. goal is to intrigue, entertain downloadable study guides Yet hunting is, or can be, and inform its visitors with the Minneapolis Star Tribune. a person can view and read

Dennis Anderson

18

OUTDOORS / HUNTING 2020

Local briefs

Steelhead passage: 2020

101,256

2016

2017

100,397

82,106

63,714

2018

2019

2020

0

3

5

146,648

98,880 75,841

69,083 56,696

2016

2017

2018

40,544 2019

2020

John Day 150 135 120 105 90 75 60 45 30 15 0

IN THOUSANDS

IN THOUSANDS

The Dalles 150 135 120 105 90 75 60 45 30 15 0

6 108,477

77,054 48,930

2016

2017

43,503 2018

52,161 26,976 2019

2020

skulls dried.

More information, including a list of states and provinces that have the disease, and full carcass importation rules are available at idfg.idaho.gov/cwd.

50 40 30 20 10 0

7

94,242

63,019 31,553 2016

2017

43,112

36,207 21,776 2018

2019

2020

Ice Harbor

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

8 61,309

41,367 17,720 19,102 2016

2017

2018

24,953 9,829 2019

2020

Lower Monumental 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

IN THOUSANDS

149,719

McNary 100 90 80 70 60

9 54,801

37,212 15,488 2016

2017

19,462 2018

8,630 2019

IN THOUSANDS

60 40 20

4 IN THOUSANDS

IN THOUSANDS

200 180 160 140 120 100 80

202,766

IN THOUSANDS

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game is reminding hunters who travel out of state to pursue game that there are rules about bringing carcasses back into the state.

The rules are designed to help stop the importation of chronic wasting disease, a debilitating illness that has not yet been detected in Idaho. z It is illegal to import the whole carcass of a deer, elk, moose and caribou into Idaho from any state, province or country that has chronic wasting disease, which includes Wyoming, Utah, Montana and 23 other states. z Deer, elk, caribou and moose transported into Idaho from states or provinces with the disease must be butchered with meat cut and wrapped, or cut into quarters, or deboned with no brain matter or spinal tissue remaining. z Whole heads cannot be imported from states with chronic wasting disease. Antlers should be removed and

Bonneville

IN THOUSANDS

Hunters who travel out of state reminded of rules regarding carcasses

Counts updated Sept. 24

10-YEAR AVERAGE

20,736 2020

“For new hunters, getting started in the sport can be intimidating. From firearm safety, seasons and rules, where to find game and processing meat — it’s a lot to take in,” said Ian Malepeai, marketing manager for the New hunters can learn agency. “This website is a sort of onestop shop where new hunters can easskills at IDFG web site ily find all the information they need.”

BOISE — Idaho Fish and Game The site includes information on officials have launched the website the licenses and tags people need to gohuntidaho.org, to help new hunters hunt, the species available to hunters acquire skills they need to be and where people can pursue various huntable species, with an emphasis on successful and safe in the field.

IN THOUSANDS

Citizens can use hotline to report wildlife violations BOISE — Idaho Fish and Game officials are encouraging hunters and others to report wildlife violations to the Citizens Against Poaching hotline.

They even suggest people program the number, (800) 632-5999, into their cellphones.

“The public plays a critical role in catching poachers stealing game and fish from Idaho citizens,” said Chris Wright, the agency’s chief of enforcement. “Those who ‘make the call’ help us detect and solve cases that, in many circumstances, we wouldn’t otherwise be able to.”

Callers can report wildlife law violations anonymously, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. People can also report poachers online at idfg.idaho. gov/poacher.

Cash rewards are available to those who provide information leading to the citation of suspected wildlife law violators. Rewards are: $200 for birds, fish and general violations; $300 for most big game animals and wild turkey; and $600 for trophy species such as bighorn sheep, mountain goat, grizzly, moose and caribou. In special circumstances, reward amounts can be higher.

Each year, the hotline receives an average of 600 calls from the public, which results in an average of 150 citations issued and $20,000 paid in rewards. In 2019, Citizens Against Poaching paid out $21,300 in rewards.

F R I D A Y, S E P T E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 2 0

Little Goose

50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

44,186

29,576 10,557 2016

2017

17,702

15,042 5,977 2018

2019

2020

Lower Granite 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

38,016 25,423 15,307

13,325 7,241 2016

2017

5,727 2018

2019

Priest Rapids 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

2020

10,811

4,941

2016

4,514 3,184

3,789

2017

2018

2,475 2019

2020

upland game.

According to a news release from the agency, 39 percent of Idaho residents are interested in hunting, and of that group, 34 percent have never hunted. Historically, hunting has been a tradition passed down through family mentors, but Malepeai said not all people come from hunting families.

“While we know we cannot replace family mentors, our hope is to be a surrogate mentor and provide as much information as we can to set new hunters up for success,” he said.

F R I D A Y, S E P T E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 2 0 “We know that there is a demand, and we are really trying to reach this audience and provide this new resource.”

The site includes video tutorials on skills such as finding places to hunt, scouting, field dressing and butchering. There are also short “Maiden Hunt” videos that follow new hunters on their first trips afield.

“Our surveys have shown that the biggest hurdle for new hunters is figuring out where they should go to hunt,” Malepeai said. “These videos will teach new hunters how to use the tools at their disposal to answer that question themselves.”

IDFG offers gun safety tips The Idaho Department of Fish and Game is offering some gun safety tips to help the state’s hunters stay safe this fall.

Firearm accidents are rare but when they happen are usually traced to human error or inattention, according to a news release from the agency.

“Although there are very few firearm-related hunting accidents, especially relative to the number of hunters we have every year in Idaho, one of the most common causes of the accidents we have is a firearm being loaded when it shouldn’t be, such as putting it into or removing it from a vehicle or while navigating through rough terrain,” said Brenda Beckley, hunter and angler recruitment manager at the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. “These types of accidents are easy to avoid if you adhere to basic firearm safety principles.”

Safety tips from the agency include: zzTreat every firearm as if it is loaded. When another person hands you a firearm, assume it is loaded even if you are told it is not. Ask anyone handing you a firearm to open the action before they hand it to you. zzAlways control the muzzle of your firearm. As long as the muzzle is pointed in a safe direction, nobody is likely to get hurt, even if the firearm discharges unexpectedly.

A safety is a mechanical device that can fail, so there is no instance where you can disregard where the muzzle is pointing simply because the safety is on. zzNever touch the trigger until you are ready to shoot. Keep your fingers away from the trigger while loading or unloading. Never pull the trigger on any firearm with the safety on or anywhere in between “safe” and “fire.” Again, the gun’s safety serves as a supplement to proper gun handling but cannot serve as a substitute for common sense. zzNever point a firearm at anything you do not intend to shoot. Carry and use binoculars to check out the hill-

19

OUTDOORS / HUNTING 2020

F I S H COU N T S Daily counts of chinook adults and jacks, coho and sockeye salmon, and steelhead crossing Columbia and Snake River dams: THURSDAY, SEPT. 17 Dam Chnk ChJcks Bonn

7,084 1,198 TDals

4,690 850 JDay

5,833 942 McNary 6,875 791 IcHrbr

779 260 LwMon

606 370 LtGoos

351 139 LwGrnit 1,125 411 PRpds 1,097 92 FRIDAY, SEPT. 18 Dam Chnk Bonn TDals JDay McNary IcHrbr LwMon LtGoos LwGrnit PRpds

9,414 6,092 5,128 5,609 631 736 1,103 530 1,305

SATURDAY, SEPT. 19 Dam Chnk Bonn TDals JDay McNary IcHrbr

5,634 6,740 5,883 5,577 745

ChJcks

2,019 1,518 888 605 260 391 709 300 194 ChJcks

Coho 3,836 2,372 2,258 1,170 173 122 10 55 297

Coho 4,130 3,239 1,916 1,912 262 146 102 67 193

Coho

1,322 2,513 1,173 3,737 949 3,021 814 2,160 180 308

Soky 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0

Sthd 1,029 1,144 1,734 931 542 633 332 715 122

Soky

Sthd

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0

2,123 1,409 1,961 1,581 733 643 1,517 739 87

Soky

Sthd

0 0 0 0 0

2,513 3,737 3,021 2,160 308

side. Never look through your scope at something you cannot identify. zzBe certain of your target and what is beyond it. A safe hunter makes certain that movement or sound is a game animal that is in season before pointing a muzzle. Before taking a shot, a hunter must check the background for other people, livestock, buildings, equipment or roads to make sure there is a safe backstop. zzMistaking a person for game is one of the most common causes of hunting accidents in Idaho, which can be serious or fatal. One way to make sure every other person in the field can clearly identify you is by wearing hunter orange. While recommended for safety for those on both sides of the gun, Idaho is one of only a few states where hunter orange is not required, except for hunters on wildlife management areas where pheasants are stocked during the pheasant season. A hunter orange hat meets this requirement. zzBe sure the barrel is clear of obstructions before shooting. Make a habit to check your barrel often. Even a small obstruction in the bore can cause the barrel to bulge or, worse, explode. The same can happen by placing a smaller gauge or caliber cartridge into a gun, such as a 20-gauge shell in a 12-gauge shotgun. This can result in the smaller cartridge acting as an obstruction when a cartridge of proper size is fired. Always pay close attention to each cartridge you insert

LwMon

LtGoos

LwGrnit PRpds

952 626 1,196 1,029

SUNDAY, SEPT. 20 Dam Chnk Bonn TDals JDay McNary IcHrbr LwMon LtGoos LwGrnit PRpds

5,153 7,445 5,952 6,575 884 739 830 987 834

MONDAY, SEPT. 21 Dam Chnk Bonn TDals JDay McNary IcHrbr LwMon LtGoos LwGrnit

7,694 4,798 6,186 5,844 773 771 616 680

TUESDAY, SEPT. 22 Dam Chnk Bonn TDals

564 292 367 104 468 88 102 353 ChJcks 1,021 2,000 1,089 989 215 451 569 503

73 ChJcks 1,566 1,178 1,480 844 405 460 330 352 ChJcks

Coho 2,273 3,387 3,944 2,860 267 317 262 177 373

Coho 2,999 1,900 3,564 1,875 352 312 212 174

Coho

4,544 800 2,084 3,233 800 957

0 0 0 0

292 104 88

71

Soky

Sthd

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

1,182 3,462 2,974 2,874 1,613 1,106 1,389 1,554 112

Soky

Sthd

0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0

1,317 2,430 3,266 1,727 1,577 1,231 1,094 1,117

Soky

Sthd

0 832 0 1,388

into your firearm and only carry the correct ammunition for the gun you’re carrying. zzNever cross a fence, climb a tree or do anything potentially hazardous with a loaded gun. There will be times when common sense and the basic rules of firearms safety will require you to unload your gun for maximum safety. Never pull or push a loaded firearm toward yourself or another person. zzStore firearms and ammunition separately. While most gun owners consider this most of the year, many leave guns and ammunition in their vehicles during the hunting season. Firearms should be unloaded for safety when in the vehicle.

Ammunition should always remain inaccessible to children. zzAlcohol and guns don’t mix. If there is alcohol in your hunting camp, make certain all firearms are put away before the alcohol comes out. zzDon’t be timid when it comes to gun safety. Don’t hesitate to let your hunting partners know when you think they are putting themselves or others at risk. Gun safety starts with you.

JDay

McNary IcHrbr

LwMon

LtGoos

LwGrnit

3,983 5,333 592 678 580 648

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 23 Dam Chnk Bonn TDals JDay McNary IcHrbr LwMon LtGoos LwGrnit

4,532 3,337 2,454 5,671 459 256 602 453

928 588 338 474 256 299 ChJcks

2,345 2,031 441 301 163 189

Coho

641 1,220 798 802 733 1,544 844 3,838 263 411 410 350 348 264 210 265

CUMULATIVE (STEELHEAD SINCE JULY 1) Dam Chnk ChJcks Coho

0 1 0 0 1 0

2,593 1,585 1,870 1,221 827 1,083

Soky

Sthd

0 0 0 3 0 0 1 0

639 1,056 1,489 2,796 1,506 1,304 1,438 1,099

Soky

Sthd

Bonn 474,761 63,737 94,229 341,739 100,397 TDals 311,502 49,412 56,640 295,776 75,814 JDay 259,195 36,414 41,555 309,959 52,161 McNary 236,051 28,356 29,682 284,921 43,112 IcHrbr 54,7,34 9,947 4,203 2,325 24,953 LwMon 53,360 13,129 2,688 1,248 20,736 LtGoos 50,190 12,677 1,316 826 17,702 LwGrnit 48,742 11,974 1,072 633 15,307 PRpds 95,432 7,427 5,098 291,106 4,514

news release from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

Disturbance to hunters and anglers should be minimal, however work crews will be accessing the area via the Madden Corrals Road. Work is expected to be finished by Oct. 10.

Eagle Creek Road to be closed for transmission line repairs

WAHA — Work to rebuild transmission lines along the lower Salmon River on the Craig Mountain Wildlife Management Area near here will lead to the temporary closing of a portion of the Eagle Creek Road.

Avista Corp. plans to rebuild some of its 230-kilovolt transmission line in the area. To allow for heavy equipment access, the company will repair the Eagle Creek Road between China Creek and Wapshilla Creek prior to the work.

The road will be closed for one week between Eagle and Wapshilla creeks.

The road was damaged in storms last winter and spring. The repairs are expected to start late this month and take one to two weeks to complete.

Installation of fiber-optic cables Most of the work will take place near the Hermit Springs Cabin. During the should not disturb hunters road repair and transmission rebuild WAHA — The telecommunications work, hunters, anglers and others in company TDS is installing fiber-optic the area can expect increased traffic lines to existing power poles along the on Eagle Creek Road and some heliSnake River between Captain John copter traffic.

FROM STAFF REPORTS Creek and Bill Creek, according to a

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OUTDOORS / HUNTING 2020

F R I D A Y, S E P T E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 2 0