Northwest Sportsman Mag Oct 2019

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Northwest Sportsman 9

Sportsman Northwest

Your LOCAL Hunting & Fishing Resource

Volume 12 • Issue 1 PUBLISHER James R. Baker EDITOR Andy Walgamott THIS ISSUE’S CONTRIBUTORS Scott Brenneman, Jason Brooks, Scott Haugen, Sara Ichtertz, MD Johnson, Randy King, Jim Pex, Buzz Ramsey, Troy Rodakowski, Dave Workman, Mark Yuasa EDITORIAL FIELD SUPPORT Jason Brooks GENERAL MANAGER John Rusnak SALES MANAGER Katie Higgins ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Mamie Griffin, Mike Smith, Paul Yarnold DESIGNERS Celina Martin, Lesley-Anne Slisko-Cooper PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS Kelly Baker, McKenna Boulet OFFICE MANAGER Katie Aumann INFORMATION SYSTEMS MANAGER Lois Sanborn WEBMASTER/DIGITAL STRATEGIST Jon Hines ADVERTISING INQUIRIES ads@nwsportsmanmag.com CORRESPONDENCE Email letters, articles/queries, photos, etc., to awalgamott@media-inc.com, or to the mailing address below.

ON THE COVER Chad Hurst bagged this spike last fall in Eastern Washington on a special permit.“Elk hunting is more than inches of antlers. The meat is the true prize,” buddy Jason Brooks writes. (JASON BROOKS) DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS The August story on the John Day River described an unlawful fishing method, setting and leaving a line unattended. We regret not catching that violation of Oregon’s angling rules.

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and get daily updates at nwsportsmanmag.com.

MEDIA INDEX PUBLISHING GROUP WASHINGTON OFFICE P.O. Box 24365 • Seattle, WA 98124-0365 14240 Interurban Ave. S., Suite 190 Tukwila, WA 98168 (206) 382-9220 • (800) 332-1736 • Fax (206) 382-9437 media@media-inc.com; mediaindexpublishing.com

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CONTENTS

VOLUME 12 • ISSUE 1

OREGON ELK PROSPECTS From the Coast Range to the Cascades to the Chesnimnus, Troy Rodakowski looks at how this year’s centerfire and controlled rifle elk seasons stack up, as well as shares some of his best hunting tips.

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(JASON BROOKS)

FEATURES

79

SPICE UP YOUR PUMPKIN PATCH SUCCESS It feels like more and more riflemen are being crowded onto less and less public land, making it more frustrating to hunt deer and elk. But the movements and blunders of the orange-clad army can actually help you tag out, if you work the pumpkin patch right. Jason Brooks shares some tips.

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WASHINGTON RIFLE DEER SEASON FORECAST After 2017’s lowest harvest in 20-plus years, Washington modern firearms hunters bagged about 1,000 more blacktail, whitetail and mule deer bucks last year, and there are some good signs out there for this fall. Andy Walgamott casts his roving eye across the Evergreen State in search of top opportunities, as well as where the herds are still struggling and hunting might be tougher.

137 CRYSTAL BALLS AND ORANGE FEET

With Alaskan and Canadian ducks and geese poised to wing our way, MD Johnson checks in with Washington’s and Oregon’s waterfowl managers for their thoughts on how the 2019-20 season could shape up in the Northwest.

147 YOU’LL DIG THIS CLAM NEWS!

Get out your shovels, things are looking really good on the Washington Coast where there’s been a “nice uptick in razor clam populations,” especially at super-popular Long Beach. Mark Yuasa checks in with state shellfish manager Dan Ayres for this fall, winter and spring season’s best bets for clam diggers.

155 ROUGH SEAS SERIES: FIRST TRIPS OFFSHORE

Jim Pex is an old salt these days, but his initial trips onto Oregon’s briny blue are among his most memorable.

He shares tales from he and his father’s first – and last – ocean trip together, as well as eagerly taking his own boat out years later for its maiden cruise with two friends.

163 THE SUMMERS OF FALL

As the leaves turn and rivers rise and cool in fall, Southern Oregon’s summer steelhead bite is rekindled – as is Sara Ichtertz. Facing a world of hurt, she heads for the water and finds healing through sand shrimp and catches of hatchery and wild fish.

SUBSCRIBE TODAY! Go to nwsportsmanmag.com for details.

NORTHWEST SPORTSMAN is published monthly by Media Index Publishing Group, 14240 Interurban Avenue South, Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168. Periodical Postage Paid at Seattle, WA and at additional mail offices. (USPS 025-251) POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Northwest Sportsman, 14240 Interurban Ave South, Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168. Annual subscriptions are $29.95 (12 issues), 2-year subscription are $49.95 (24 issues). Send check or money order to Media Index Publishing Group, or call (206) 382-9220 with VISA or M/C. Back issues may be ordered at Media Index Publishing Group offices at the cost of $5 plus shipping. Display Advertising. Call Media Index Publishing Group for a current rate card. Discounts for frequency advertising. All submitted materials become the property of Media Index Publishing Group and will not be returned. Copyright © 2019 Media Index Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be copied by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording by any information storage or retrieval system, without the express written permission of the publisher. Printed in U.S.A.

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GUN DOG:

50 Shades Of Gray … Squirrels With apologies to the Midwestern, Southern and East Coast transplants among us, squirrel hunting is just not a big deal in the Northwest, but according to Scott H., we’re missing out on not only tasty game but a great species to pursue with our gun dog.

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(SCOTT HAUGEN)

COLUMNS 63

NORTHWEST PURSUITS: Elk: Worth The Chase “Out of all of the big game animals,” writes Jason, “elk is one of the finest in both the chase and the harvest.” He shares tales from his years spent successfully chasing wapiti across our region.

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BUZZ RAMSEY: Hunting Washington’s Late-season Whitetail One of the Inland Northwest’s most popular hunts is for rutty whitetail bucks in November and in recent years Buzz has put down his salmon and steelhead rods to chase them. He details the best ways to pursue flagtails.

119 CHEF IN THE WILD: Close Call With A Cougar

“Don’t get eaten by a lion!” was the advice Chef Randy got before going on a hunt where he indeed was charged by one and had to shoot it. The encounter serves as the stimulus for his street taco-inspired pulled cougar recipe.

129 ON TARGET: Fall’s Forgotten Delights

Backstrap and antlers are the focus for many Northwest sportsmen this time of year, but Dave knows there’s much more to fall than deer and elk. Though not as numerous as in decades past, pheasant and chukar are still great fall prizes, he counsels. Dave also details new rifle and bullet offerings.

169 THE KAYAK GUYS: Kokanee Search Turns Up Trout At Lake Roesiger

It was kokanee that called Scott B. to fish Lake Roesiger, in the foothills of Snohomish County’s Cascade Mountains, but another species answered.

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27

(WDFW)

NEWS: New Culprit Eyed In Lake Washington Chinook Losses Quick, name the nonnative species most responsible for consuming Chinook smolts trying to make it to the Ballard Locks and Puget Sound? If you said bass, you’re wrong.

DEPARTMENTS

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THE EDITOR’S NOTE Thoughts on Curlew Lake yellow perch

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THE BIG PIC A photographic welcome to the best season of all

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PHOTOS FROM THE FIELD Kokanee, albacore, browns and more!

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PHOTO CONTEST WINNERS Yo-Zuri, Hunting

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THE DISHONOR ROLL OlyPen men charged with poaching; Yakama trafficker sentenced; Kudos; Meet OSP wildlife K9 Buck; Jackass of the Month

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THEEDITOR’SNOTE Kiran Walgamott, the editor’s youngest son, holds up one of many yellow perch he caught at Curlew Lake, where the nonnative species was illegally introduced.

(ANDY WALGAMOTT)

I

’m not sure the perplexed expression on my face was noticeable to Kiran. My youngest son was sitting on his knees and facing forward in my one-man kayak, too busy catching perch after perch. I was happy for him, but also struggling.

We were camping at Curlew Lake, enjoying fishing, sightseeing, wildlife watching, and bike and horse riding during a wonderful summer week spent in Washington’s beautiful Ferry County.

Along with my 12-foot sit-inside ’yak, I’d brought trout and largemouth gear, but turned to yellowbellies because the other two species weren’t very cooperative. Probably it was time of year – mid-August – that had the lake’s rainbows hunkering in deeper water than the relatively shallow basin off our glorious campsite.

As for the bass, there were tons of stunted ones, but it’s hard to be like Ike while lipping a half-footer.

I DON’T THINK it mattered to Kiran what was biting, just that something was. He’d been struggling to connect at Curlew, but it started to come together as our week wore on. I was especially proud when he came up with his own theory about how to get more bites.

That’s what it’s all about, right? More bites, more fish caught, more smiles. Right?

His idea was to ditch the small plastic baits I was adorning our jigs with and just use a chunk of worm on a baitholder hook, so on our last afternoon we paddled out to our hot spot to test it. I handed him his no-frills setup and then tagged a bit of a ’crawler on my chartreuse curltail and promptly caught a perch. I rebaited, handed my rod to Kiran and he went to town, theory forgotten.

Don’t get me wrong, it was great to see him succeed and outfish me. But somehow it felt slightly off. Until some jackass bucket biologist came along earlier this decade, there were no perch in Curlew. They threaten its regionally known trout fishery, which had been improving as tiger muskies reduced pikeminnow numbers (the sterile hybrids don’t prefer spinyrayed perch).

At first state managers were horrified, but with limited management options at the large lake they now seem resigned to the fact. They even pimped the winter fishery on Facebook.

Perch might be a great starter fish for kids and for those after tasty meals where salmonids don’t or can’t thrive, but are a problem at Curlew, in the past at Oregon’s Phillips Reservoir, and in Lake Washington’s Ship Canal, as our News story (page 27) shares.

As for what to do about them – and the mindset of those who feel they can plant fish wherever – that also perplexes me. –Andy Walgamott

nwsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019

Northwest Sportsman 21

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PICTURE

WELCOME TO THE BEST SEASON OF ALL Enough said.

A deer hunter glasses for bucks in a roadless area of Northeast Washington’s Colville National Forest. (CHASE GUNNELL) nwsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019

Northwest Sportsman 25

NEWS

New Culprit Eyed For Ship Canal Smolt Losses Editor’s note: This is part two in a series that looked at gillnetting studies of fish species in the Lake Washington system. In July we focused on Muckleshoot Tribe operations in Lake Sammamish; this looks at state efforts in the ship canal between Lake Washington and Puget Sound.

Q

uick, name the nonnative fish species you think is most responsible for chowing down on Chinook smolts trying to make it through a bottleneck near the Ballard Locks?

You’re wrong.

Well, you are if you said either smallmouth or largemouth bass, and if some preliminary work by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife’s lead Lake Washington fisheries biologist holds water.

“We are finding that large perch are responsible for most of the predation on juvenile Chinook smolts, at least across the few sites we are monitoring,” says the agency’s Aaron Bosworth.

He says that yellow perch and

burgeoning populations of recently illegally introduced rock bass are “doing way more damage” than bass are in the Lake Washington Ship Canal.

That’s based on netting Bosworth and his crews have been doing this and the past two years.

They’ve been setting and tending nets in the Montlake Cut, Portage Bay, Fremont Cut and Salmon Bay to figure out roughly how many piscivorous fish are in that stretch, and how much of their diet is comprised of young salmon trying to get

State district fisheries biologist Aaron Bosworth (left) and two coworkers lift a net full of yellow perch caught off Seattle’s Gasworks Park, on the Lake Washington Ship Canal which outmigrating Chinook, coho and sockeye smolts transit to reach Puget Sound and the North Pacific. (WDFW) nwsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019

Northwest Sportsman 27

NEWS

Rock bass are a relatively new predator in the Lake Washington system, but are increasing in the ship canal. (WDFW) to Puget Sound each spring.

One perch they caught this spring was digesting three Chinook smolts. That fish might have been an outlier, and there’s clear evidence that smallmouth also prey on salmon.

But between those stomach contents and the fact yellowbellies and rock bass make up a surprising 50-plus percent of the net catch, it’s pointing towards unexpected culprits that may be strong and increasing factors depressing salmon survival and thus state and tribal fisheries, as well as available forage for orcas.

“This is an important – and preliminary – finding, and is slightly different from many existing ideas about which nonnative species are responsible for most of the smolt predation in the Lake Washington system,” Bosworth says.

Where yellow perch were introduced into the watershed a century ago, rock bass are a recent entrant and are originally from the Midwest. Bosworth says they were “virtually nonexistent” in the ship canal 10 years ago, but are now “very common” at sampling sites.

THIS ISN’T THE only effort trying to gauge predator populations in the basin. In July we reported here on the Muckleshoot Tribe’s warmwater test fisheries in Lake Sammamish, also meant to figure out if directed gillnetting on spinyrays could be 28 Northwest Sportsman

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a “commercially viable” enterprise there.

It wrapped up in mid-June and according to catch data obtained by Northwest Sportsman, a total of 4,751 fish were netted. Just under 54 percent were native largescale suckers, followed by introduced smallmouth bass at 18.7 percent and fellow transplant black crappie at 8.2 percent.

(It’s circumstantial, but the mid-May Lake Sammamish Perch Derby catch of just 94 compared to 686 last September may have been related to the flood of young salmon available for the species to eat instead of anglers’ baits.)

The state’s study in the ship canal and the Muckleshoots’ in Sammamish are both included in what’s known as the LOAF, the 2019-20 List of Agreed Fisheries signed by WDFW and Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission coming out of the annual North of Falcon salmon-seasonsetting process.

“The comanagers believe that many of the salmon smolts produced at our hatcheries and in natural spawning grounds around the basin are eaten by piscivores as they migrate through the Lake Washington system to marine waters,” states Bosworth.

According to Larry Franks of the Friends of Issaquah Salmon Hatchery, or FISH, just 8 to 10 percent of Chinook make it from the facility’s outlet above Lake Sammamish to Shilshole Bay.

To a degree that’s natural as the young of any species are the most vulnerable to getting eaten, but low numbers of returning finclipped adult Chinook are also increasingly constraining the fishing seasons we can have in Puget Sound and the lakes.

That’s leading to fewer days on the water and growing discontent among anglers.

Bosworth calls the ship canal a “predation gauntlet” filled with “lots of over-water structures that attract a number of piscivorous fish species.”

He says its warm waters may also boost the metabolic rates of the predators, meaning they eat even more young Chinook, coho and sockeye as the little fish head for the salt.

Bosworth does allow that not all known salmon snarfers show up in the nets. Set for an overnight soak near the bottom, with all the traffic in the ship canal, they are limited to shoreline areas, not the offshore waters where cutthroat trout may lurk.

Cutts are a strong predator of salmon smolts, as are northern pikeminnow.

They’re the primary bane of Lake Washington sockeye smolts.

Again, these are initial results but it builds on a City of Seattle paper citing a 2000 U.S. Geological Survey study that listed pikeminnow, smallmouth and largemouth as the primary predators in that order in the ship canal back then.

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BOSWORTH VIEWS THIS new effort as “an important monitoring program that may help us get a better understanding of why we are seeing such low return rates for salmon in the Lake Washington watershed.”

“I’d really like to expand this type of work in the future to see if this is happening in other areas of the lake as well,” he adds.

The only problem? You guessed it.

Money – it’s tight and getting tighter these days around the biologist’s office.

WDFW had hoped that state lawmakers would approve both its license fee increase and General Fund request this past session for a big $60 million infusion, but in the end there was no hike, it received less than it needed to even maintain fishing and hunting opportunities – and was also saddled with added costs without matching funds.

It also must honor commitments it has made with the tribes through past North of Falcons, like continuing the ship canal predator study this year, and hiring more staff “to produce more timely catch estimates from catch record cards,” according to Nate Pamplin, the agency’s policy director.

It has all led to a budget shortfall in the coming two years, even for monitoring Puget Sound’s hugely important salmon fisheries, but WDFW hopes legislators will fix that this coming session with a large General Fund request they’ve asked be included in the supplemental budget.

So that leaves Bosworth and his project gauging abundance of Lake Washington piscivores and what they’re eating in a bit of limbo.

“I need to figure out how to get other people to help me with the money part.

We’ll see how far I get with that idea,” Bosworth says.

Ideally in his mind, it involves a “regional partnership” with other governmental entities and groups with a stake in improving salmon survival.

Hell, it could also include anglers.

While there is a consumption advisory out, it sounds to me like Gasworks Park is a pretty damned good place to fish for fat and sassy yellow perch. –Andy Walgamott

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READER PHOTOS Iylee Belisle, 9, and brother Nate, 6, put the smackdown at Lake Pend Oreille this past summer. They were running corn behind Smile Blades. (YO-ZURI PHOTO CONTEST)

Hunter Fullerton and Jayce Wilder show off a nice Oregon German brown trout, one of several they caught mostly using a Floating Rapala.

(YO-ZURI PHOTO CONTEST)

The Newberry Caldera lakes were pretty hot for Rhonna Schnell this past kokanee season. This late-season buck was among the bigger ones she caught there; hubbie Tom calls her “by far one of the best kokanee fisherwomen I have seen.” (YO-ZURI PHOTO CONTEST)

Marvin Holder enjoyed a productive salmon fishing trip out of Alaska’s Lake Creek Lodge with his angling buddies from Forks. (YO-ZURI PHOTO CONTEST)

For your shot at winning great fishing and hunting products from Yo-Zuri, Ontario Knife Co. and Northwest Sportsman, send your full-resolution, original images with all the pertinent details – who’s in the pic and their hometown; when and where they were; what they caught their fish on/weapon they used to bag the game; and any other details you’d like to reveal (the more, the merrier!) – to awalgamott@media-inc.com or Northwest Sportsman, 14240 Interurban Ave S, Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168. By sending us photos, you affirm you have the right to distribute them for use in our print and Internet publications. nwsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019

Northwest Sportsman 33

READER PHOTOS Preston Pedeferri, 12, enjoyed a pretty good day on the Brewster Pool with his grandparents after part of the Upper Columbia reservoir opened for summer Chinook. Super Baits in lemon lime served up limits.

(YO-ZURI PHOTO CONTEST)

Albacore were just one of the species lighting up late summer action on the briny blue off the Northwest Coast.

A new state-record 90-plus-pound bluefin tuna was landed out of Ilwaco, while a 7-foot2 striped marlin was brought into Garibaldi.

Marlene and Gordy Yamaguchi show off one of 30 albies they landed 45 miles out of Westport with friends.

(YO-ZURI PHOTO CONTEST)

When Johann McCurdy asked to go fishing in the boat, that was all his “Grampy,” Michael McCurdy, needed to hear. They headed out on Lake Samish for perch and bluegill, and then something else bit. “Johann thought he had hooked bottom; Grampy checked and told him, ‘No, that’s a fish, reel it up.’ He did and we netted it. Rod and reel were an antique Zebco outfit I had kept all these years for him to use,” Michael reports. (YO-ZURI PHOTO CONTEST) Who is proud of his first-ever kokanee? Colton Dekker, that’s who! He hooked it on a lake near Olympia in late August. (YO-ZURI PHOTO CONTEST)

34 Northwest Sportsman

It turned out to be a better Puget Sound pink salmon run than initially expected, as swashbuckling Gombiski brothers Luke and Reed can confirm (YO-ZURI PHOTO CONTEST)

OCTOBER 2019 | nwsportsmanmag.com

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Brandon Jewett wins our monthly Hunting Photo Contest, thanks to this pic of he and his Eastern Washington bow black bear, taken this past summer. It wins him a knife!

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For your shot at winning hunting knives and Yo-Zuri fishing products, send your photos and pertinent (who, what, when, where) details to awalgamott@media-inc.com or Northwest Sportsman, PO Box 24365, Seattle, WA 981240365. By sending us photos, you affirm you have the right to distribute them for our print or Internet publications. nwsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019

Northwest Sportsman 37

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MIXED BAG

Trafficker OlyPen Sentenced Men Charged A With Poaching

T

wo northern Olympic Peninsula men are facing a raft of poaching charges for alleged illegal bear, deer and elk killings last year.

Jason Bradley Hutt, 29, of Sequim faces 16 counts in Clallam County, including a dozen in the first degree, and two more in Jefferson County.

According to Peninsula Daily News articles, between June and early September 2018, Hutt shot three bears and three blacktails and was involved in the killing of two elk.

“His personal goals and his greed precipitated the killing spree that gives rise to the charges in this case,” Clallam County prosecutor Mark Nichols told a superior court judge during an initial appearance in late August, according to the paper.

Hutt’s friend Wyatt James Beck, 24, of Port Angeles was hit with two charges in Jefferson County related to the elk.

One of the wapiti was the bull that was infamously found dead next to the fence of the Brinnon School, minus its head, quarters and backstraps. The other was discovered nearby a few days later and missing its head, but otherwise wasted.

Both were killed before elk season, and neither Hutt nor Beck had a license last year.

The paper reports that Hutt allegedly attempted to kill the second bull with a bow and arrow but resorted to using Beck’s .44-caliber handgun.

According to the Peninsula Daily News, Hutt has a previous conviction in 2016 for killing a number of deer with neither tags nor licenses.

South-central Washington man was sentenced last month to four years of probation and to pay nearly $5,000 in restitution after being convicted of trafficking in fish and game.

Federal prosecutors had wanted to put Simon L. Sampson, 71, of Toppenish in jail for six months, but U.S. District Court Judge Stanley Bastian did give the Yakama Nation elder twice as much supervised release time as his defense attorneys had requested.

He also warned Sampson of “severe consequences”if he didn’t stay out of trouble.

According to a news release from the U.S. District Attorney for Eastern Washington and a Yakima Herald-Republic story, Sampson sold 11 Chinook, 27 sturgeon, 200 pounds worth of smelt as well as five deer for $4,720 to an undercover Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife detective between August 2015 and November 2016.

The transactions, described by Sampson as “under the table” and “hush hush,” according to federal prosecutors, were not only Lacey Act violations but

By Andy Walgamott

contrary to tribal laws.

The fish were caught during C&S, or ceremonial and subsistence, fisheries, according to the paper. Smelt were listed as threatened in 2010.

According to the Herald-Republic, Sampson said he would “honor any sentence handed down. ... I’m here at the mercy of the court.”

The paper also reported he defended his 1855 treaty right to fish and hunt, which he will be allowed to continue.

Two years ago Sampson was also convicted in a Multnomah County Circuit Court for closed-season Chinook violations and was sentenced to two years of probation.

“Illegal trafficking of wildlife represents a serious threat to our critical ecosystems.

I commend the collaborative work of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Law Enforcement and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife-Police in investigating this matter,” said U.S. Attorney William D. Hyslop.

He vowed his office would keep after wildlife traffickers.

Flashback

On a #ThrowbackThursday in late summer, the Oregon State Police Fish & Wildlife Division tweeted out a pic of what troopers drove on patrol 50 years ago, in this case a 1970 Dodge Power Wagon. Trooper Bill Hart used his while checking fishing licenses. (OSP)

nwsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019

Northwest Sportsman 39

MIXED BAG Hey, buddy, you like dropshotting for Chinook or something? A weight hangs below a large, barbed hook, a typical snagging setup. (WDFW)

JACKASS OF THE MONTH

S

ometimes JOTM’s make it easy on us.

Take the spokesman for the three adults – mom, pop, unk – caught teaching two of their young’ns how to snag salmon on a Willapa Bay tributary in late summer.

They were using barbed hooks above weights while casting into Chinook moving up the North Nemah River, yarding in six salmon. No lures, no bait, no catch cards marked, no regard for limits.

Well, until WDFW Officer Todd Dielman arrived on the scene.

“I was fishing like an a**hole. You got me,” one of the adults told him.

The North Nemah sees runs of hatchery and natural-origin Chinook, coho and chums. Daily limit is two adult salmon (up to six jacks), release unclipped kings.

The adult anglers, including the selfadmitted a**hole, were cited for various violations, while the salmon were seized and donated to more deserving human beings.

G T

KUDOS Say hello to Buck, a 3-year-old yellow Labrador retriever that is helping Oregon state troopers solve fish and wildlife crimes. Since coming into service this summer, he’s already worked a couple cases. “He was able to locate a poached bull elk; he alerted me to the downed elk, which got that investigation up and going,” handler Trooper Josh Wolcott said in a news release. “Previously, we worked an antelope season down near Lakeview. He helped me work a case I would not have been able to put together without K-9 Buck.” The duo are the state’s only wildlife K-9 team, and their partnership began last fall when Wolcott chose Buck out of several dogs. Then they trained in Indiana with fellow game wardens. One of the pooch’s first cases was an officer-involved shooting, where his ability to sniff out guns and shells came into play.

Then there’s his public relations linkage, which was on full display in late summer as numerous Oregon TV stations told his story. “When people hear about our work, that’s more eyes and ears for us,” noted Wolcott. “Which means more people are likely to call something in that doesn’t seem right, more than they may have before.” Funding comes from the Oregon Wildlife Foundation, private contributions, and state General Fund revenues. Donations can be made to the Oregon State Police Wildlife K-9 Program, via myowf.org. (OSP)

40 Northwest Sportsman

OCTOBER 2019 | nwsportsmanmag.com

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'Strong Showing' At NSIA B10 Derby

By Andy Walgamott

A

21.80-pound Chinook that Wenatchee-based guide Austin Moser put angler Jim Johnson onto won this year’s Buoy 10 Salmon Challenge.

Put on by the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association and held in midAugust, the salmon was the largest of the 89 weighed in by nearly 200 fishermen and scored Johnson $1,000.

Coming in second was Jason Erickson with a 21.40-pounder, followed by Cameron Black (21.15), Tanner Morton (20.60) and Joe Depweg (20.45).

In the team division, guide Black and crew won with an average weight of 17.88 pounds, just barely nudging out fellow guide Blair Johnson et al, whose fish averaged 17.82 pounds. Josh Hughes and team were third with 14.68 pounds.

All weights were after the fish had been gilled and gutted.

NSIA termed the overall catch a “strong showing” for their biggest of five annual fundraisers, and which over the past two decades has yielded “hundreds of

Cameron Black (second from left) and crew won the team competition at the 20th Annual Buoy 10 Salmon Challenge on the Lower Columbia in mid-August, scoring fishing gear. (NSIA) thousands of dollars” for our cause.

“All funds will go toward protecting and restoring healthy river systems, defending hatcheries and the millions of smolts they release each year, as well as working to increase angler access to fisheries across

the Northwest,” stated Liz Hamilton, the association’s executive director.

Sponsors and prize donators included Yakima Bait, Tom & Jerrys, Master Marine, Northwest Sportsman and other businesses around the region.

Salmon Slayed At 2nd Lipstick Tourney

T

he Lipstick Salmon Slayers Tournament saw good Sherry Churchill and her growth in its second year, with nearly twice as many husband are all smiles lady anglers and guys attending the awards evening, after winning a combined $5,000 at the 2nd Annual where Sherry Churchill scored a total of $4,500 for big fish (a Lipstick Salmon Slayers reported 28.05 pounds) and the event’s grand prize.

Tournament held out of Organizers say that 330 people turned out at the Astoria Astoria in mid-August.

Armory after the day’s fishing in the Buoy 10 area, and that (LIPSTICK SALMON SLAYERS) more than 60 percent of participants weighed in a salmon.

The way prizes are set up is that first, second and third places are awarded to the female fishermen whose salmon come closest to random, predetermined weights.

Karissa Oliver took home $2,000 for second, thanks to her 12.15-pounder, while Darlene Crawford scored $1,000 for her 23.30.

Others won travel and fishing getaways to Mexico or Costa Rica, while firearms were also given away.

Churchill’s husband won $500 as skipper of the boat that the first-place fish was caught on.

“Inspiring and empowerment is what this tournament is about,” said organizer Del Stephens, who coined the term Lipstick Salmon Slayers for his wife Weddy and friend Megan Waltosz following an “exceptional” day of Chinook fishing several years ago. “If you don’t have a husband or boyfriend to support you, no worries, there’s plenty of other ladies that are right there to cheer you on.”

Next year’s third annual tourney has been set for Aug. 15, Stephens reports.

nwsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019

Northwest Sportsman 43

Jason Labato won the 26th Annual Fall Salmon Derby held on the lower Umpqua River over Labor Day weekend with this 24-pounder. It was the largest of 186 Chinook weighed in by nearly 200 participants, according to organizers, and scored the Eugene angler $650 in prize money. The derby is put on by the Gardiner-Reedsport-Winchester Bay Salmon Trout Enhancement Program. (RICK ROCKHOLT)

MORE RECENT RESULTS  14th Annual Slam’n Salmon Derby,

Aug. 29-Sept. 1, ocean off Brookings; first place: Brett McBee, 20-pound Chinook  Edmonds Coho Derby, Sept. 7, central Puget Sound marine areas; first place: Eric Peterson, 8.75-pound coho, $5,000; second: Gretchen Dearden, 7.78-pound coho, $2,500; third: Tad Kasvna, 7.03-pound coho, $1,000  Salmon for Soldiers 2019 Day of Honor, Sept. 14, central Puget Sound marine areas; first place Justin Wagner, 12-pound coho

ONGOING AND UPCOMING EVENTS  Now

through the end of season: Westport Charterboat Association Weekly Lingcod, Halibut, Chinook, Coho, Albacore Derbies; charterwestport.com  Now through Oct. 31: 2019 WDFW Statewide Trout Derby; fishhunt.dfw .wa.gov  Nov. 23-27, 29-Dec. 1, Lake Pend Oreille Idaho Club Thanskgiving Derby, Lake Pend Oreille; info: lpoic.org  Sundays in late fall/winter, Tengu Salmon Derby, Elliott Bay  Jan. 18, NW Ice Fishing Festival, Sidley and Molson Lakes, Molson, Wash.

For more Washington contests, see wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/contests.

44 Northwest Sportsman

OCTOBER 2019 | nwsportsmanmag.com

Team Long Shot indeed looked like they might have a slim chance at winning the Garibaldi leg of the Oregon Tuna Classic after grounding their boat on Big Fish Friday, but came in on Saturday with five albacore large enough to claim first place and $6,000. (OREGON TUNA CLASSIC)

Albie Arrival Powers Garibaldi Leg Of OTC

I

t was a story of yin and yang at this summer’s Oregon Tuna Classic, not to mention our region’s albacore fishery.

“We went from the fish barely arriving and in scarce numbers (at late July’s Deep Canyon Challenge) to lots of tuna (at the Garibaldi OTC), and in some cases within 25 miles of shore for most of August. What a switch, but that’s albacore fishing in the Northwest,” reports outgoing tournament organizer Del Stephens.

One participant in the latter event – who’d reportedly never fished albies before and was out alone on the briny blue – plugged his 15-foot boat and had to toss tuna back before he headed back to the port at the mouth of Tillamook Bay. (“Welcome to the dark side, Team Hard Chargin’,” Stephens congratulated.)

Team Long Shot won the Garibaldi event and $6,000, and even if their five-fish haul of 97.50 pounds was on the lighter side compared to past years’ winners, a total of 5,900 pounds of tuna was still donated to the local food bank.

Coming in second with 94 pounds was “perennial podium placer” Team Tuna Time, who plowed their $3,000 winnings right back into the tournament, followed

by Team TraySea Lynn with 89.8 pounds.

Team Fast Cat had enough points from both the Deep Canyon Challenge and Garibaldi OTC to win the series for the year, beating out Team FourTunate by five points, and will fish in next April’s Offshore World Championships out of Costa Rica.

By then there will be a new person in charge of the classic, as Stephens has announced that he’s stepping down after a decade and a half on the flying bridge.

“I have been proud to have brought together teams and individuals in an effort to help those less fortunate, creating donations in excess of 1.5 million pounds of food for local food banks,” he said.

At press time, Oregon’s 2019 recreational albacore catch was an estimated 96,919, far and away a new record over 2012’s 63,167, and roughly four and five times higher than 2018 and 2017, respectively. Eric Schindler, the state’s ocean sampling manager, says average catches are a new high as well, at 6.6 per angler, well above 4.4 in 2007.

Fish size is also down, his data show, an average of 25.66 inches coastwide compared to the average of 28.9 inches since 2004. It could be a sign of a large year-class out in the ocean.

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Astoria Fishing Charters and Guide Service offers salmon, sturgeon, bottomfishing and crab trips on the Columbia River and Pacific Ocean out of Astoria, Oregon. Gift certificates are available. Call (503) 436-2845. astoriafishing.com

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Northwest Sportsman 51

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OCTOBER 2019 | nwsportsmanmag.com

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54 Northwest Sportsman

OCTOBER 2019 | nwsportsmanmag.com

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Northwest Sportsman 55

DESTINATION ALASKA

DESTINATION ALASKA

DESTINATION ALASKA

DESTINATION ALASKA

DESTINATION ALASKA

DESTINATION ALASKA

COLUMN

Elk: Worth The Pursuit I

t wasn’t until I was 27 years old that I harvested my first elk. While heading back from getting water on a NW PURSUITS backcountry hunt in

By Jason Brooks Central Idaho a lone cow jumped up from her bed, startling my brother-in-law and myself. The cow stopped to look back and I was able to notch my tag.

Having eaten elk before I always wanted to hunt them, but growing up in mule deer country where no elk were found the opportunity never came up in my younger years as a hunter. Since that first cow, though, it seems like I have been bitten by the elk hunting bug. I’ve taken a handful of bulls and a few additional cows in two states since then.

Once I was home from that Idaho hunt elk consumed my mind. I watched Dwight Schuh and Larry D. Jones in the famed Elk Fever series over and over. Bugle battles between me and my neighbor, who was already a prolific elk hunter himself, resonated through our neighborhood. I learned to cow call to stop running elk, and that making noise while in the woods is OK. My early hunting years were spent learning how to sneak up on bedded mule deer and glass up bucks, but elk are a different animal. Now I was raking trees and stomping on the ground, making noise, bugles, chuckles, chirps and mews.

Elk hunting is a lot of fun, and they are excellent table fare.

Chad Hurst holds up the prize for many Northwest elk hunters, meat. It came from a spike he took on a coveted any bull special permit, which can take years to draw. (JASON BROOKS)

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Northwest Sportsman 63

COLUMN BUT I SOON learned that “talking elk” meant more than the rut. Or at least more than just late September and early October.

In 2017 I found myself on the same mountain where I killed that cow 16 years prior and where I had taken a few elk since then. It was Halloween and the elk should have been done with the rut. Locating a herd on an open hillside I knew how to get close to them. This same mountain had given up another bull to me three years prior in nearly the same spot. It would take me six hours to climb above the elk and have the wind in my face – and the

eyes of the perched elk looking downhill.

As I made my way down the knife ridge above the herd a lone bugle let out.

It came from the timber to my right and below where the main herd was. Picking apart the trees I located two mature bulls, one of which was still all worked up and screaming like it was late September instead of the eve of November.

The largest of the two bulls was laying down behind a dead snag. I could see his six-by-six antlers, thick and mahogany red with white tips. But the tree branches covered his vitals. Then the lighter colored

With the reluctance of wapiti to leave their high mountain pastures until snow drives them to lowland winter range, it takes a lot of dedication to get to where some herds are during open seasons. (JASON BROOKS)

64 Northwest Sportsman

OCTOBER 2019 | nwsportsmanmag.com

antlers of a five-point appeared from behind. The bull stood raking a tree, unable to get over the rut. At 325 yards he stood below me and I made the shot.

By no means do I think I am an expert on elk hunting, not at all, but I am an elk hunter and for most that is all that matters.

IN MY HOME state of Washington, where 57,452 fellow elk hunters took the field in 2018, the tags are separated by the Cascade Range. The eastern part of the state usually means a general spike-only season for Rocky Mountain elk, with the Yakima Herd being one of the most popular to hunt. Unless you draw a special permit for either cows or a branchedantler bull you are limited to juvenile spikes. Still, the idea of filling a freezer with the tender meat of a year-and-a-half-old elk is preferred by most hunters.

Last year my hunting partner Chad Hurst drew one of the coveted “any bull” permits for an Eastern Washington unit. I came along to help pack meat if he was so lucky, as well as just to be part of the hunt.

The first day allowed us to find several elk, including some nice bulls, but Hurst didn’t get one of the mature ones we found.

The next morning, as we were about to cross a clearing, I spotted a lone spike. Likely kicked out of the herd when the rut started, now he stood in solitude looking into the shadows of the tree line that we were using as cover. The young bull knew something was going on as Hurst moved towards a small pine tree to use as a rifle rest.

Most hunters might be upset that a coveted tag would be used on a spike, like Hurst did. But elk hunting is more than inches of antlers. The meat is the true prize.

Two weeks later I was on my own any bull hunt, a permit I had drawn after several years of applying for a Western Washington unit where Roosevelt and a locally recognized subspecies, the “Cascade” elk, which is more of a genetic mix of both Rocky Mountains and Roosevelts, roam. Opening day found me in the thick of a snowstorm 9 miles into the backcountry with two friends who came along to be meat packers, if I was so lucky. As we hiked down the mountain and back to the trucks rain started to fall.

COLUMN Elk hunting is perpetually long odds in Washington, but Chad Smith got it done last season on the opening day of rifle season. (HUNTING PHOTO CONTEST)

After a deflating day in the backcountry, author Jason Brooks downed this spike on an any bull permit, a welcome harvest for the lone hunter. (JASON BROOKS) Fresh elk sign was all over the hillsides but no elk were to be found. Putting my wet backpack into the rear seat of my truck I felt deflated. My two friends rode up the mountain together and left me to drive forest roads alone before last light.

Making my way to the edge of a clearcut I saw elk. A spike was among them and I filled my tag. Having killed mature bulls in the past the spike was welcomed as I worked on him alone. As it got dark I could hear other hunters heading down the mountain and I wondered if they were as lucky as me and had their own elk, or if they would be returning in the morning still trying to notch their tag.

A MONTH LATER I was with my 13-yearold son, who had drawn a youth cow permit. What we figured would be a one-day hunt turned into a week of trials and tribulations.

On the first day we found a nice bull and watched him feed along an open slope. Early one morning a cow crossed the road in our headlights and we were hopeful, though it ended up being the only elk we saw that day.

The final morning of his season started out drizzly and with fog. We saw an elk in the spotting scope, then another. Soon 12 66 Northwest Sportsman

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EVERGREEN STATE RIFLE ELK PROSPECTS

T

ake Jason Brooks’ advice to heart, that it’s “the pursuit of elk that makes one an elk hunter,” because if you’re hunting wapiti in Eastern Washington on a general season rifle tag, this may be a tougher year to bag one.

Elk in the South Cascades and Blue Mountains are all down due to past years’ drought, harsh winters and consequent reduced productivity. In the case of the Yakima Herd, a large 2015 cow harvest (nearly 2,000) removed many animals.

Both Yakima and Colockum elk are below objective and are down somewhat over 2018 numbers. Biologist Jeff Bernatowicz says that will amount to roughly five dozen fewer spikes for the former herd (“over that large of an area [it] won’t be noticeable,” but more like 70 for the smaller, latter herd. “Hunters are fairly concentrated, so might notice a lower harvest,” he says.

In the Blues, bios Paul Wik and Mark Vekasy are forecasting “another below average year for yearling bull harvest.” Coming years will likely see reductions in branchedantler tags due to poor recruitment.

In the South Cascades, the St. Helens herd has stabilized, albeit it at a lower level than objective or historical numbers, according to biologist Eric Holman. He’s expecting a “generally less productive elk hunting season,” but districtwide success rates were still twice as high last year as the aforementioned Eastside ones, with the winter-sheltered Ryderwood and Willapa Hills Units among the best.

Further west, March aerial surveys of the North River, Minot Peak, Fall River and Lincoln Units found “exceptionally robust” bull:cow and cow:calf ratios (23:100 for the former), “indicating a highly productive herd with great harvest opportunities,” per biologist Anthony Novack. Just don’t expect to kill a trophy here.

And on the Olympic Peninsula, the most productive unit, Clearwater, bounced back in 2018 after a two-year decline. –AW

bulls crossed a valley below. By the time we got done glassing the far fields we had spotted 27 bulls but not a single cow.

Snow had pushed them out of the high country and grouped up the mature bulls.

With nothing else to do we decided to

still-hunt a patch of alders. Elk beds were everywhere and as fresh snow fell I spotted a brown patch of fur through an opening in some fir trees. Confirming it was a cow Ryan made the shot and ended his season six hours before it was set to close. Of all of the

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COLUMN elk hunts I have been on, that has been the most frustrating and best one yet.

It is the pursuit of elk that makes one an elk hunter. Harvesting an elk is an added bonus that yields hundreds of pounds of meat. Since elk are grazing animals that

primarily feed on grass they are often compared to a very lean and organic beef.

With little fat content it seems that elk meat is best cooked to a medium rare with an open flame. It is hard to think about elk hunting and not mention the meat they

“Out of all of the big game animals, elk is one of the finest in both the chase and the harvest,” writes Brooks, whose son Ryan tagged out on a cow one recent season. (JASON BROOKS) 68 Northwest Sportsman

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give us. Out of all of the big game animals, elk is one of the finest in both the chase and the harvest.

WITH ROOSEVELTS INHABITING coastal areas of Oregon and Washington, and Rocky Mountain, or American, elk thriving in the eastern parts of these states, as well as Idaho, Montana and beyond, Northwest sportsmen have many options to hunt these majestic animals. Archery and muzzleloader hunters often get to hunt in the bugle, while rifle hunters can get in on the winter migration, if snows fall early. From dense rain forest and alpine meadows to arid sagebrush and deep timbered canyons, elk are found in terrain for every kind of elk hunter.

Most Western states offer over-thecounter tags, which make them available to most who pick up a case of “elk fever.”

By now you must have bought your tag or been drawn, though Oregon and Washington offer general tags for Roosevelts, and Washington also offers an uncapped amount of tags for Rocky Mountain elk with the spike restrictions in place. There are a few units in the state’s northeastern corner where you can chase after mature bulls with a general season tag, but this is mostly private property or rough and thick country.

You don’t need cow permits or special hunts to be a successful elk hunter. What you do need is perseverance and the right mindset. Notching your elk tag on a legal animal is a trophy in itself, especially on a general season, public land hunt, where success rates are often in the single digits.

Learning to call elk helps you understand them. A surprised cow can be stopped with a few mews. Locating a bull by bugling is one of the most exhilarating ways to hunt a big game animal, but bulls don’t always stop bugling just because the calendar changes pages. You can step on some branches, kick some rocks, and make some noise as long as you act like an elk.

Scrape some trees, stomp a few steps as you walk, and make a chirp along the way.

Most importantly, be sure to have friends along to help share the harvest.

Packing an elk out of the woods alone is not fun, but hunting them is. NS

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“When all you have is what you can carry, every ounce matters.”

HUNTING

Oregon Elk Prospects OK

From the Coast Range to the Cascades to the Chesnimnus, here is how centerfire and controlled rifle seasons stack up, plus some hunting tips.

By Troy Rodakowski

I

t’s that time of year again and for many Oregon hunters the long wait before they can try to fill their coveted elk permit is almost over.

For me it’s over-the-counter

time for either Cascade or Coast elk.

Regardless of whether I head east or west from my Junction City home, I’m looking forward to getting out, as well as crossing my fingers that I get a shot opportunity this season.

Success rates throughout the

Cascades vary from 4 to 15 percent, depending on the unit. Bull ratios average in the lower to midteens per 100 cows. The really good news is there are some bruiser bulls throughout the region, as elk have the ability to grow to maturity due to the large expanse of

Beaver State elk hunters can be generally optimistic about this season’s prospects, whether they’re hunting the general season or have a controlled tag, like author Troy Rodakowski did when he bagged this Eastern Oregon spike.

(TROY RODAKOWSKI)

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HUNTING It’s been said many times, but elk truly prefer to avoid areas with lots of traveled roads, so closed gates can actually be a good place to start your search for herds trying to escape hunting pressure. (TROY RODAKOWSKI)

range and thick cover, which enables them to escape both predation and hunters. To increase your odds of finding elk, a good rule of thumb to follow is that if it looks tough to hunt and agonizing to hike or traverse, you will likely find elk there. Believe me, there are plenty of spots like this throughout the region.

It is safe to say that elk are very attracted to locations with good forage. The lack of logging in higher elevations in recent years and aging of the trees has led to canopies closing up, not allowing as much sunlight to reach the forest floor. This causes less growth of desirable plants elk prefer to feed on. Grasses, wild legumes and many broad leaf plants tend to not do well in locations with little sunlight.

THIS IS WHY many elk are found on lands bordering ranches and farms throughout Western Oregon. They provide ample feed and usually have good cover bordering production fields and pastures. Oftentimes, private landowners are more than happy to grant permission to hunt since elk can become a nuisance and reduce feed for livestock.

Private timberlands are also a great option, whether you have an access permit or lease (for Weyerhaeuser lands, see wyrecreationnw.com), or they’re part of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Access & Habitat Program (myodfw .com/articles/hunting-private-landsaccess-habitat-program), which pays property owners to keep lands open for hunting. Millions of acres are 72 Northwest Sportsman

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available with varying degrees of drive- or walk-in access.

Both in the Cascades and on the Coast, old-growth timber tracts adjacent to reprod hold good numbers of elk, especially late in the season.

Hunters who venture deep into these locations will find increased success as they weave their way through the maze of wet brush. Freshly chewed shrub tops and grass shoots are an excellent indication elk are frequenting a particular location. Hunting slowly and stopping often to glass for bedded elk works quite well. They like to lay down on isolated benches above thick trees. I have talked to hunters who have done drives to push elk from stands of brush that are seemingly impossible to hunt. This does work well but can also be very tough, as elk can easily find various escape routes.

I also like looking at isolated locations near water or swampy areas that have good forage. Larger bulls will many times seek solitude

in locations where they can rest and recover after the rut. Carefully glassing underbrush in thick coniferous canopies on steep hillsides or draws can reveal bedded elk.

Playing the wind is so very important when hunting elk, as their nose is one of their biggest defense mechanisms. Needless to say, whether they are effective or not I personally like to use scent eliminators. (Please be mindful that Oregon will no longer allow the use of scents that originate from propagated animals starting in 2020.) When following moving groups of elk, try to get in front of them and set up an ambush as they move through openings. This can be difficult in thick cover but it works very well, especially on bigger groups of animals.

In the Coast Range, hunting will probably be best overall in the north.

ODFW reports that while herds are at “moderate levels,” the Wilson and Trask Units saw “good bull escapement” last fall, which should mean more antlers on the landscape for this season. The news is similar for those lucky enough to have drawn a Saddle Mountain tag.

Hedge your November bets to the west in the two general centerfire units. In the Scappoose, bull ratios are reported as lower than last year.

On the Central Coast, elk numbers are at or above the objective for Alsea and Siuslaw but below for Stott Mountain. ODFW notes that while the Siuslaw’s bull ratio varies year to year, it has been increasing, so you might put

Elk will gravitate towards thicker cover during the months of October and November. (TROY RODAKOWSKI)

HUNTING A nice Roosevelt bull checks that his surroundings are safe while grazing. (TROY RODAKOWSKI)

it on your list for the second season, when spikes are fair game (that’s also the case in Wilson and Trask).

To the south, bull elk ratios are described as “relatively good” in the Sixes, Powers and Tioga Units, which are all controlled hunts.

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IN EASTERN OREGON, elk numbers seem to be holding their own, depending on the unit.

“Elk numbers continue to grow slowly in the West Fort Rock, Upper Deschutes and Metolius Units,” reports Randy Lewis, assistant district

biologist in Bend. “Populations are at or near management objective in all units, but remain slightly under the bull ratio management objective of 10 bulls per 100 cows.”

They’re above the mark in the Keno and western Sprague units.

Favorable winter conditions resulted in good overwinter survival here.

“Periodic rain over the spring and summer is resulting in better vegetation and more available water in the lower elevations,” Lewis adds. “The West Fort Rock, Upper Deschutes and Metolius Units are managed under the general season ‘Cascade Elk’ hunt. Elk densities are moderate, but hunter densities are high in the portions of the Cascade units with road access. For solitude, seek more remote wilderness and areas away from high travel areas in the Cascades.”

To the north, in the western Biggs, Hood, Maupin and White River Units, which are open during both

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HUNTING general centerfire Rocky Mountain elk seasons, state biologists describe herds as “stable,” with bull ratios at the objective, 10 per every 100 cows.

ODFW reports bull ratios in the Ochoco Unit as above that mark but below it in Maury and Grizzly, and warn that calf numbers here are a bit lower overall due to winter’s late snows. These are controlled units.

Baker County has both general and controlled elk opportunities, and bulls are at objective and calves above in the Beulah, Keating, Lookout Mountain, Pine Creek and Sumpter Units. Just to the west in Desolation, Murderers Creek and Northside, another tag-split district, biologists say there are “good” bull ratios, though calves are slightly down. The story is similar in Heppner and Fossil.

In the state’s northeastern corner, the seclusion of the high country, not to mention the 2.3 million acres in the Wallowa-Whitman National

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Forest and the steep country of Hells Canyon, provide sanctuary for large bull elk as well as provides hunters with controlled or general tags a plethora of options. In addition, there are several travel management plans in effect throughout Wallowa County that restrict vehicle travel.

“This season I have seen more cows and younger elk than I have for many seasons,” avid elk hunter Jarrod Kelso told me. “For best success here make sure to get off the roads.”

State biologists say that the elk in the Chesnimnus, Imnaha, Minam, Sled Springs, Snake River and Wenaha Units are “doing well” and there are “good prospects for bull hunting in all units.”

Those are all controlled hunts, but to the west, in the eastern Heppner, Mt. Emily, Ukiah and Walla Walla Units, which are a mix of Rocky Mountain second season and permitonly units, calf survival this past

winter was good and elk numbers are on par with recent years.

“Both spike and branch-bull hunters should expect good potential for this year’s hunts throughout the district,” ODFW reports. NS

WHERE, WHEN

Top units/hunts: Saddle Mountain, Trask, Melrose, Sixes, Powers No. 2, Ochoco, SW Grizzly, Fossil, Murderers Creek, Northside, Heppner No. 1, Ukiah No. 1, Starkey, Catherine Creek, Mt. Emily, Walla Walla, Sled Springs Bow, Chesnimnus, Snake River, Minam, Imnaha, Keating, Beulah, Malhuer River, Silvies.

General centerfire seasons: Cascade Elk: Oct. 12-18 Rocky Mt. Elk First Season: Oct. 23-27 Rocky Mt. Elk Second Season: Nov. 2-10 Coast Elk First Season: Nov. 9-12 Coast Elk Second Season: Nov. 16-22 *For controlled season dates, see myodfw.com. –TR

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HUNTING

Carve Success In The ‘Pumpkin Patch’ How fellow orange-clad hunters (like this high-viz bozo) can help you notch your own deer or elk tag.

By Jason Brooks

C

rossing the ridgeline and hiking down the open slope it was hard not to notice the two orangevest-clad hunters on the far mountain.

The idea behind wearing “hunter orange” is to stand out for safety reasons. It works; simply put, wearing fluorescent orange allows others to see you in the woods. Some hunters embrace it, while others loathe it. Our camp falls in the first group because we can see where others are and use that to our advantage. Hunting the “pumpkin patch” can be frustrating, but it can also be productive.

After seeing the two other hunters heading to the far basin where we planned on hunting we sat down and took a break. That was when I spotted some deer far below us, in the shadows of the timber. Looking through a spotting scope revealed one was a nice buck and soon we were planning our stalk to close the distance. Three of us all wearing our own orange vests led others to believe that there was no need to hunt the hillside we were on, and that meant a stalk to the bedded buck without competition.

Since that hunt we have used other hunters to help us not only find game but also used them to our advantage, either by showing them where we were hunting or to see

As the “pumpkin patch” – concentrations of orange-clad riflemen on a landscape – seemingly grows thicker every year as what feels like more hunters are being crowded onto less land, the competition can be frustrating. But the movements and blunders of others can actually help you tag out, if you work the patch right. (BEN HOWARD) nwsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019

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HUNTING

Getting to a high point and glassing not only tells you where big game is but the locations of those who chase them. Author Jason Brooks says he’s amazed at “how hunters will walk right past deer and not even know they bumped them from their beds.” (JASON BROOKS)

where they were heading and how that would help us. Knowing where other people are allows you to either go in the opposite direction or use their location to your advantage.

More than once we have spotted deer fleeing from an area only to find a orange vest coming over the ridge, peering through binoculars and looking for the deer they spooked.

ESCAPE ROUTES ARE places that deer and elk will use to get away from a predator.

Most prey animals will bed down where they can see and smell any danger coming at them. When they need to flee, the animal will jump up and take off. The direction the predator is approaching from will determine which way the deer or elk will flee.

Knowing the escape routes is half the battle; knowing when a predator is approaching is the other half. And 80 Northwest Sportsman

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since the main predator during hunting season is the orange-clad hunter it is easy to spot them coming.

Saddles are a prime example of an escape route. Mule deer are notorious for stotting up a slope to a saddle, where they will cross and head to a far mountain. Sitting above a saddle that gives you a vantage point to watch the slopes, timber pockets and benches where deer often bed is using the first half of the equation to your advantage. Then when you see hunters approaching, you are ready as this is the second half. It always amazes me how hunters will walk right past deer and not even know they bumped them from their beds.

Just like the time we spotted two hunters on a far mountain and then looked below us to find a bedded buck, elevation is another way to use the pumpkin patch to your

advantage. Few hunters are in good enough shape to head up and over mountains and keep up with deer. If I am in an area where I know there are other hunters, I try to get as high as I can before first light. This allows me to see what is going on, as well as spot any fleeing deer or elk.

If you have ever watched a herd of elk feeding in the early morning light on a mountainside, you will notice that as the sun comes up they usually go one of two ways: either up and over the mountain to the shady side, or down into the bottoms. If you can’t be at the top of the mountain at first light, then being at the bottom is the next best thing. By nature, most hunters want to be on the open slopes as the sun rises because this is where the animals are. But they don’t take into account how the animals themselves really don’t want to be in

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HUNTING Watching as fellow hunters made a drive on a patch of Central Washington mule deer on private land, author Jason Brooks and family members made their way to public land nearby in hopes they would flush a buck towards them. Sure enough one did and Brooks’ nephew Chayse, here with his dad Troy, was able to bag it.

(JASON BROOKS)

the sunlight, so as the sun rises the animals move out.

Prey animals are much faster than a hunter and will move away from any scent the hunter carries. Early morning means downhill winds and if you are cutting across the hillside above the deer or elk, expect them to move down to the bottom. Afternoon winds are thermals and rise as the day heats up, so scent is carried uphill, which will push the animals away from the hunter who is below them. By being able to see where the hunters are working across a slope or mountain you can put yourself in a 82 Northwest Sportsman

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vantage point for moving deer or elk.

DEER DRIVES, BOTH intentional and unintentional, are good ways to push game to friends. But if you want deer driven to you, use the other hunters in the woods to do just that. Seeing the hunters and which direction they are heading allows you to move out ahead of them. This is a good way to hunt the open and arid lands of the Palouse, river breaks and sage flats.

Farm roads often crisscross these lands and allow you to get ahead of other hunters.

A few years ago while hunting

public land in Washington’s Douglas County, which is known for wheat and sagebrush, we spotted a group of hunters walking across a private field.

They were heading to a sage island, where rocks and brush provided cover for deer.

Knowing where they were heading we drove the county roads to the next section of land, which was public and mostly rolling, sage-covered hills and coulees. The hunters bumped the deer, which ran right at us and as a nice buck made it to the public land, my nephew made the shot and filled his tag. The other hunters eventually made their way to us and congratulated us on the buck, which they had been following for a mile. They knew there was public land at the end of the section they were working and that someone was going to get that buck.

MIDDAY HUNTS ARE one of my favorites.

This is because the woods are often void of hunters in the hours just before and after noon.

The morning brings on the excitement of moving deer and elk and hunters heading to the hills. Same with evening, but for some reason the middle of the day becomes quiet again as hunters head back to camp for lunch. The withdrawal of the orangevested army allows animals to relax, and by staying in the woods you are in place for when they let their guard down a hair or two.

Deer and elk often get up out of their beds and stretch or feed for a bit with the lack of hunters pushing them around.

One way to hunt the mid-day heat is to still-hunt on north-facing slopes, as well as in shaded timber patches.

Get off roads and trails to find more animals and fewer people. One thing the bright orange does is allow us to see where someone is. But roads and trails are what most use to get into and out of the woods. This means that there is a lot of activity along the corridors and prey animals

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HUNTING will quickly learn to stay away from these places.

Several years ago I was driving a Forest Service road the day before deer season, scouting out the camps and trailheads, and when I came around a corner I met three nice bucks. They took off quickly as they knew being beside the road was a bad place to be, especially since the hills were suddenly covered in camps, people and trucks.

Opening day led me to another

area and I spent it and the next few days hunting the backcountry. When I made it out without notching my tag I decided to go look for those three bucks. Driving back up that same road didn’t lead me to them, but once I got on top of the ridge I noticed a far basin. Parking the truck and hiking out a finger ridge to a vantage point where I could look down into that basin I found two of the three I’d spotted earlier in the week. They were taking refuge in some sage and

very content as nobody had bothered them until I snuck within shooting distance and filled my tag with the bigger of the two bucks.

SEEING BLAZE ORANGE behind every tree, along ridgelines and sitting on rocks can become very frustrating.

Each year I hear how someone’s “honey hole” was ruined by other hunters moving in. Though hunter numbers are down compared to the “good ol’ days,” it seems more are where I want to hunt. This is in part due to shortened seasons where we are crammed into a few days to chase deer or elk, as well as less land to hunt them on. But by knowing how to use other hunters to your advantage you can still fill your tag. Seeing the competition means knowing how they are hunting and you can adjust to make your hunt a success. NS

HUNTER ORANGE REGS

Saddles are one great place to set up and wait as bucks and bulls head back to escape cover in the morning from the pumpkin patch. (JASON BROOKS) 84 Northwest Sportsman

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Washington and Montana require modern firearm hunters pursuing deer and elk (and certain other sportsmen afield in the same units during rifle seasons; see each state’s regulations pamphlet) to wear at least 400 square inches of orange above the waist.

Idaho doesn’t require orange but in 2011 Oregon mandated it for youths 17 and younger when hunting with a firearm for deer, elk, other big game, upland birds and squirrel.

Earlier this year in the Evergreen State, legislators led by Sen. Lynda Wilson (R-Vancouver) changed state law to allow hunters to wear fluorescent pink instead of orange.

“Orange will always be the classic safety color, but I think our state’s hunters can appreciate something new and different,” she said in a press release, adding, “and because fluorescent pink doesn’t blend in with anything else in the forest or field, it also offers the excellent visibility we need for safety.” –NWS

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Hunting Washington’s Late-season Whitetail W

hen it comes to deer, I must admit the majority of my 40-plus hunting years have been spent chasBUZZ ing mule deer. But RAMSEY in recent times, I’ve made hunting the inland whitetail species in my home state of Washington a priority, spending a week in the state’s northeastern corner with a friend during the late general rifle season, which for Units 105, 108, 111, 113, 117, 121 and 124 runs from November 9 to 19 this year.

This hunt is appealing due to the availability of over-the-counter multiseason tags, and happens when the whitetail rut is in full swing. You see, the breeding sea-

son causes bucks to move a lot in their attempt to find hot girl deer, which makes harvesting any buck, and especially a big one, a lot more likely than at other times.

According to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist Annemarie Prince out of the agency’s Colville office (509-563-5493), the peak of the whitetail rut happens about a week later on average than with mule deer, which helps lessen crossbreeding and keeps whitetail bucks moving more than usual during this late-season hunt.

Here are some of the major hunting strategies employed by hunters.

DRIVES The strategy here is for several hunters to work through a selected area in an attempt to drive, or push, deer to known escape

routes where another member or two of your hunting group are waiting. If you try this, it’s important to allow adequate time for everyone, especially the standers, to get into position before starting.

The amount of available cover dictates how far apart each driver should be. They should be closer in heavy cover, farther apart in more open areas.

I’ve tried any number of ways to conduct drives but found the best success by having each driver use a stop-and-go (stop, look, listen, walk again) approach. Going slow works best for both drivers and standers as it gives the drivers a chance at a standing or slow-moving deer and the same opportunity for those watching the escape routes.

Escape routes, depending on the terrain, may include a thick corridor of brush or trees, well-defined game trail, ravine,

One of the Inland Northwest’s most popular hunts is for rutty whitetail bucks and in Northeast Washington, where fishing guide Bill Harris bagged this one in 2017, this year’s season runs Nov. 9-19. (BUZZ RAMSEY) nwsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019

Northwest Sportsman 87

COLUMN creek bottom, or the shortest route into the next canyon.

As a stander, remember to conceal yourself downwind, where you can watch one or more possible exits. Being familiar with the country can offer you a huge advantage in selecting your position, so preseason scouting can be beneficial.

Keep in mind that a savvy old buck may sneak out of the area long before the drive starts, so it’s a good idea to have the standers go in first, long before the drivers spread out. A slow stop-and-go drive can offer multiple encounters because deer usually move out slower and not as far when disturbed, as opposed to someone walking at a steady pace that will likely cause deer to move out so fast that no one gets a shot.

STILL-HUNTING Still-hunting can be a solo strategy that means just what it says, hunt slowly. The idea here is to move so slow that you spot the deer before he spots you. This means hunting with the wind in your face and moving along as quietly as you can while at the same time doing a lot more looking than walking. When you do walk, go slow and scan back and forth with your eyes while glancing at the ground as little as possible.

If you spot anything suspicious, freeze.

The deer of your life may be curled up on the ground, out of sight in the grass or bushes, 40 yards away. If he hears something out of place (you), he may wait, hoping you will walk by, or stand up ready to run once he makes a positive ID. The trick is to see what may be a buck before he identifies you. Keep in mind you will have the best success if you stand, look and listen more than you walk. Also, keep your rifle ready and not slung over your shoulder.

SPOT-AND-STALK If you’re hunting open country where bucks may bed in small brush patches or other sparse cover, this technique may work for you. It requires a quality pair of binoculars and/or a spotting scope. The idea is to spot deer that are either so far away they don’t consider you a threat or cannot see you at all.

Once you locate deer, the idea is to sneak to within shooting range using the terrain to your advantage. An example would be to stay out of sight by working your way along a parallel canyon and then popping your head over the ridge opposite the deer. While moving, make sure the wind is in your favor and once you get close, try staying invisible by concealing

There are a number of ways to hunt for flagtails, including organizing drives through likely deer habitat, sitting by yourself on a stand, still-hunting through the woods, or spotting and stalking a buck. (BUZZ RAMSEY) 90 Northwest Sportsman

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Whitetail stands don’t neccesarily have to be up a pine, larch or fir; they can also be set up at their base, like this one author Buzz Ramsey stumbled across, or placed in a tucked-away place on the ground that also offers good views of travel lanes. (BUZZ RAMSEY)

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Baiting is legal for deer in Washington, but the amount of corn, apples and other food that can be used in a single pile was reduced in 2016 to 10 gallons. The Fish and Wildlife Commission also limited bait stations to no closer than 200 yards apart. (BUZZ RAMSEY) yourself in whatever cover is available.

STAND HUNTING And while you might bag a whitetail by employing any of the popular hunting strategies listed above, you may find, like myself and many other sportsmen have, that you will be more successful for these deer if you just take a stand. After all, if you watch TV hunting shows (many of which are for white-

tail) you know that the majority of them depict hunters, even riflemen, taking a stand from an elevated position or ground blind.

And while a treestand might be the best option in heavy cover, in more open areas you can position yourself across from a facing ridge or any elevated spot where you can see well. That’s exactly the strategy that my hunting partner and fishing guide Bill Harris (509-985-8526) and I have used when

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hunting the late whitetail season in Northeast Washington the last several years.

All you need to do is find an area where does are hanging out, take a stand and wait for a cruising buck to come along looking for a hot doe. Given the right spot, it’s amazing how many deer you might see. Many hunters camped in the same national forest area as us talked about how after several days of no luck they were abandoning their traditional mule deer strategies and just taking a stand.

According to veteran Okanagan hunting guide Jarrod Gibbons (509-429-1714), taking a stand near where a buck has established a rub line, made scrapes, or where does are hanging, is what he often looks for when stand hunting whitetails during the rut.

“If I can find where a group of doe deer are hanging near an opening, like a clearcut or where trees have been removed due to a powerline corridor, combined with a scrape or rub line is what I look for, especially if I can get a hundred yards or more away and still see,” he tips.

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COLUMN Gibbons also suggested hunting the dark or darker part of the moon phase, as rutting bucks will be a lot more active during the day when there is a dark moon as opposed to a bright one.

BAITING Although I’ve never attempted it, baiting is legal for deer in Washington, but current regulations require that no more than 10 gallons of bait be used.

I ran across an unoccupied baiting site last season. There were a few apples and corn on the ground, and the hunter had an umbrella-covered place to watch from and a trail camera set up. The bait had not been disturbed when I saw it. If you try this, remember that although alfalfa is also popular for baiting deer, it must be certified pure if used on a national forest.

RATTLING Friend and expert Northwest hunter Dieter Kaboth has become so adept at rattling whitetail deer that he spends most days in

Ramsey harvested this late-season whitetail on a special permit for the Okanogan East Game Management Unit in 2015. While Northeast Washington is open in November for all deer hunters who haven’t tagged out yet, the tactics in this article may also be of use for those who’ve drawn whitetail tags for the Blue Mountains and northern parts of Idaho. (BUZZ RAMSEY)

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the season doing it. As he explains it, rutting bucks are reluctant to leave cover and will often stay in the timber and cruise trails within 100 yards or so from openings in an effort to intercept does moving from feeding to bedding areas. His strategy is to set up on a game trail that might parallel a clearcut about 100 yards in the timber and rattle.

Kaboth usually starts his rattling session with a few grunt calls, crashes his antlers together for about 30 seconds, grinds them together for another 30, all while kicking the ground, in an attempt to sound like a couple of fighting bucks. He then waits a minute and repeats this for about 20 minutes before moving a half mile and doing it all over again; he feels the rattling sound will travel about a quarter mile.

He claims that if there is a buck around, he will usually show up within the first five or 10 minutes of a 20-minute rattling session during the peak of the rut, when rattling works best. Kaboth also advises that whitetails will respond to rattling during the pre- and postrut periods but not as well, so he will give each session about an hour during those times. Keep in mind that you will want to have the wind in your favor, use cover scents, and if with a friend, look both ways as bucks will often circle in an attempt to catch your wind.

Kaboth advises to stay really still, as responding bucks will sneak in looking for any movement. When rattling he likes to sit on the ground or against a log, using a bush or tree to break up his outline. In order to get a shot the idea is to spot the buck before he spots you.

And finally, Kaboth prefers timbered areas where he can see 50 yards or so for his setups. He says that if the brush is too heavy, it might prevent you from seeing a responding deer.

Keep in mind that the late whitetail season in Northeast Washington is just that, it’s late with weather to match and does not include mule deer bucks. And while you may not see any mule deer during your adventure, make sure you know the difference and make a positive identification before shooting. NS Editor’s note: The author is a brand manager and part of the management team at Yakima Bait. Like Buzz on Facebook.

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HUNTING

Washington Rifle Deer Hunt Arrives After 2017’s nadir, harvest rose last year, and there are some good signs out there for this fall.

By Andy Walgamott

W

ith Washington’s general rifle buck season looming large in hunters’ minds, it’s time to take a look at what Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists are forecasting for districts spread across the state.

In some, the news is fair, as deer continue to bounce back from drought, harsh winters and/or disease outbreaks, as witnessed by rising harvest last season. But it’s not so good in others, especially where snowy, cold February and March weather impacted already weakened herds.

Regardless, fall springs loose eternal hope inside the hearts of Evergreen State deer hunters. Portents (and predators!) aside, it’s likely that somewhere around 77,000 of us modern firearms toters will head afield during Mother Nature’s best season to be outdoors. And if we build on last year’s harvest of 18,071 bucks – which was up nearly 1,000 antlered whitetails, blacktails and muleys over 2017’s 20-plus-year-low harvest – so much the better.

Here’s a look at how the 2019 hunt, which begins Saturday, Oct. 12, is shaping up in Washington’s most important deer districts.

NORTHEAST The big news in Washington’s deer

Tim Klink harvested this nice Whitman County buck in a public hunting area on October 2016’s opener. The Palouse was one of the brighter spots for Washington general rifle hunters last year as mule deer and whitetail harvests both rose.

(HUNTING PHOTO CONTEST)

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HUNTING Though there won’t be any inseason antlerless opportunity for youths, Northeast Washington is still a good bet for rifle hunters young and old alike. Last year it accounted for one out of every five general rifle bucks in the entire state. Aubrianne Homes, then 14, harvested her first deer in the Selkirk Unit in 2014 with a .270 Savage. (HUNTING PHOTO CONTEST)

basket might be the lockdown on general season antlerless harvest opportunities this fall as managers aim to protect the “reproductive element” of the whitetail herd, but bucks represent the bulk of the take here, and things aren’t looking so bad for this season, thanks to mild weather.

“Deer seem to have fared well this past winter and through the summer,” reports District 1 wildlife biologist Annemarie Prince in Colville. “I’ve also seen some really nice bucks while doing surveys.”

Preseason surveys show buck-todoe ratios through Ferry, Stevens and Pend Oreille Counties climbed from 25:100 in 2017 to around 32:100 or so last year, and they’re at that same level this season, a good sign. Fawnto-doe counts have also been stable.

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northerly units have been kicking out about the same numbers of antlered deer year over year for the past half-decade. Huckleberry, one of the top units across the entire state, saw its buck take stabilize last season after declining from 2015 and that year’s “retirement” of the four-point minimum. It yielded more than a third of the district’s rifle harvest, and its 31 percent success rate and 15 days per kill were second only to Douglas, just to the north, at 33 percent and 14.

Both those units rate highest in an analysis that measures size against harvest, hunter density and success rates, but Kelly Hill, in “the wedge” near the Canadian border, isn’t too far behind either. It also features the most public land of the trio, though good amounts of state and federal ground are in the other two as well. Prince’s

2019 hunting prospects also list tens of thousands of acres of Feel Free To Hunt lands in the Selkirk, 49 Degrees North and Huckleberry Units.

WDFW asks hunters to stop at the Clayton and Chewelah game checks.

EASTERN BASIN Passing stats from Gardner Minshew weren’t the only thing rising across the loess, basalt and aglands of the eastern Columbia Basin in 2018.

So too was the rifle deer harvest as it bounced back from a multi-year decline, and even if the Cougs’ QB has moved on to the Jags, the trend should generally continue as the herds recover from past years’ issues.

The strongest surge was enjoyed by Steptoe Unit hunters, as the southern Palouse produced increased numbers of both mule deer and whitetail

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HUNTING

Hunters skin out an Okanogan mule deer. Since 2015’s big harvest, this famed area has been less productive, but habitat and forage conditions are primed to help the herd recover. (ANDY WALGAMOTT) 102 Northwest Sportsman

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bucks and success rates rose from 25 to 35 percent, all in comparison to 2017. That year was probably the nadir after drought, a big blue tongue outbreak and a rough winter reduced deer numbers.

District 2 wildlife bio Michael Atamian reports muley populations are now stable, while whitetails are slowly recovering.

Buck ratios have been trending upwards since 2017 for the big-eared bounders that favor the scablands and Snake Breaks, while ratios are steady for those inhabitants of eyebrows and other wheatland habitat.

If there’s not-so-good news, it’s that the Mt. Spokane Unit’s general harvest continues to slide, from just over 2,100 in 2014 to 1,232 last year. Atamian says it’s partly a reflection of an actual decline in the area’s whitetails coming out of 2015, but also possibly landowner and hunter perceptions that there are fewer deer because of that. He says the population is actually “decent,” though not 2014 heyday-sized yet.

“I was expecting 2018 to be in line with 2017, but was surprised it was a couple hundred bucks less,” he says.

Mt. Spokane will be the only unit in Northeast Washington open for youths, seniors and disabled hunters to take any whitetail on an overthe-counter tag during select parts of October and November.

Bottom line is that whether you hunt the hobby farms around the Lilac City or the massive farms of the Palouse, or somewhere in between this season, you should “expect to have to put in more time to be successful,” Atamian advises.

That said, the average days per kill in recent years – 13 to nearly 14.5 (compared to 10s and 11s from 2013 through 2015) – would make hunters elsewhere in the state green with envy. It’s also a function of the overwhelming amount of private land here. Get permission and you’ve got pretty darn good odds, 30 percent or better most years.

But that isn’t to say the upper basin

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HUNTING Spokesman-Review outdoor reporter Eli Francovich last month. “It produces a lot of whitetail.”

Permit hunters – especially those after does – should also find receptive property owners through WDFW’s Private Lands Access Program.

BLUE MOUNTAINS

Predators like wolves, cougars and bears draw a lot of concern from sportsmen, but biologists say the most important drivers of deer populations are habitat and weather conditions. Past years’ droughts and harsh winters are factors in some herds’ numbers. (CHAD ZOLLER)

is one giant no-trespassing patch, as there are large areas of public land, especially in the Davenport-Odessa scablands, and Sprague and Revere areas. Also of note, Spokane County’s nearly 3-square-mile Mica Peak

Conservation Area will be open for hunting by reservation from Oct. 12Dec. 15, part of a bid to reduce deer as well as turkey numbers here.

“That is really good whitetail habitat,” Atamian told Spokane

District 3, the state’s southeast corner foothills, rugged canyons and Blue Mountains, saw a decent bounce in harvest last season, with modern firearm hunters taking 200 more bucks than in 2017, though still 600 fewer than 2013. The hope was that this fall it would climb by another 100 bucks to around 1,950 or so tags filled, but that looks less likely after this past winter.

“Things were looking good till January, February, March,” says Mark Vekasy, assistant district wildlife biologist. “We counted mule deer out in the agricultural areas and had pretty good counts, really good buck ratios.”

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HUNTING Prolonged cold, snowy conditions hit the region – “not your average winter.” Vekasy says ranchers were calling in dead deer and it appears that does suffered “high mortality” and were subject to “really rare” coyote predation. Postmortems found them to be in “poor condition,” with “no fat, no bone marrow,” he says.

The assumption is that bucks also succumbed, so Vekasy is forecasting a harvest similar to 2018’s 1,857 bucks or 2017’s 1,659. Those two falls featured success percentages of 29 and 25 percent, twice as good as some of the state’s most vaunted hunting grounds, but also representative of the large amount of controlled-access ground here.

“Anecdotal road-count ratios are OK, but it doesn’t seem like a lot of mature bucks are out there,” Vekasy says. “I think mule deer numbers are still going to be OK out in the ag lands, which are all private, as long as

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you have access.”

There are a fair number of farm and ranch properties enrolled in WDFW’s various hunting access programs, so it wouldn’t hurt to peruse privatelands .wdfw.wa.gov for what’s available in Asotin, Columbia, Garfield and Walla Walla Counties. Note that PacifiCorp’s Marengo Wind Farm is unavailable for hunting through Dec. 20, but small sections of two other green energy sites are with a permit from The General Store in Dayton.

As for public lands, large state wildlife area parcels wrap around the fringes of the eastern half of the Blues (note that the 4-O is drawonly), while higher up is the Umatilla National Forest – not that Vekasy is recommending it.

“The best advice is not to go into the Wenaha and Tucannon,” he says bluntly. “The habitat should be pretty good in there (from past years’ Grizzly and School Fires). We’re

way into habitat recovery in the Tucannon. There’s tons of shrubbery, tons of browse. I have heartburn over the Tucannon and am hoping to see improvement in the Wenaha.”

He acknowledges that predation “is certainly part of” why both units aren’t producing like they could, but notes that cougar harvest has been increasing and local wolf packs haven’t been too productive in terms of successful litters.

“In (GMU) 175 (Lick Creek), things have been going down for a long time,” Vekasy adds.

Those three mountainous units together yielded just 71 bucks for riflemen, with success percentages ranging from 5 to 12 percent.

By comparison, the large Prescott unit produced the most last year, 442, or just over a quarter of all the antlered deer killed in the entire district. Mayview and Peola featured the highest success percentages, 40

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HUNTING and 39 percent.

“It’s going to be time in the field,” Vekasy says. “Most guys are only hunting two or three days.”

On average it took 14 hunter days per buck killed in his district in 2018, though as few as seven in Marengo, nine in Peola and 10 in Couse, but as many as 69 in Tucannon and 66 in Wenaha.

If you make a weeklong trip, consider including your shotgun.

Vekasy reports “really good” quail numbers, particularly in the foothills from Walla Walla towards Dayton.

Washington wildlife managers were offering landowners in San Juan and Island Counties up to $1,000 to allow hunters onto their property this fall, part of a bid to also reduce a large blacktail population and help out other native flora and fauna. JD Lundquist bagged this buck on his family’s Orcas Island homestead in 2017.

(HUNTING PHOTO CONTEST)

OKANOGAN Where other hunting districts saw improvement last year, harvest again dropped in Okanogan County, where just 13 percent of riflemen tagged out, taking 1,145 bucks, the fewest since at least 2013 and just 44 percent of 2015’s tremendous kill.

Don’t look for the latter season to rear its head again either.

“My guess is the season will be similar to last year,” says WDFW’s Scott Fitkin. He reports that fawn recruitment was below average coming out of the 2016-17 and 201718 winters, meaning fewer 2½- and 3½-year-old bucks running around this year. But with a “respectable” (if not as gaudy as mid-decade numbers) 19:100 buck:doe ratio following last season and more than a third of those being three-plus-pointers, “older age class buck availability looks decent.”

Last year, the Okanogan East unit was the district’s most productive with 329, just a slight dip from 2017 though still well below three straight 500-plus-animal years in the mid2010s. Still, it’s a pretty good mix of range, state and national forest lands.

On the west side of the Okanogan River, the Wannacut, Chiliwist, and Pogue Units had the district’s highest success rates, 22, 18 and 15 percent, and they do have good amounts of public lands, especially the further west one goes.

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been hit by wildfires, especially above the lower Methow and Okanogan Valleys, and that does bode well for muleys and whitetails in the future.

“Those areas that burned a few to several years ago should be producing good summer forage, so does in those areas may be a little more productive, which may translate into a few more bucks in those areas,” Fitkin reports.

He notes that radio-collar work for a big predator-prey study has found the deer have a strong fidelity to their traditional summer and winter ranges.

Across the district, the average days per kill has more than doubled from

the low 16.3 of the 2015 season to 37 last year. Wannacut had the lowest at 17 days per kill, followed by Chiliwist at 24 and Pogue at 26, while Pearygin and Chewuch had the worst at two months’ worth of hunting per buck.

“Good news is the winter range recovery appears to now be progressing nicely and summer range this year was moister than it’s been in a while,” Fitkin adds. “So I’m guardedly optimistic for some improvement in fawn productivity and recruitment that should translate into a growing population and improved opportunity moving forward.”

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HUNTING That good condition on the high summer range may see bucks linger longer there before heading to lower ground, potential tough news for upper Methow Valley hunters targeting early migrators. They saw some pretty low success rates in 2018, just 8 percent in both the Chewuch and Pearrygin Units, though 212 bucks were pulled out of the pair.

CHELAN The news is somewhat brighter to the south, where the postseason ratio was 23 bucks per 100 does, up from 18:100 the year before. Still, acting district biologist Devon Comstock notes the long, lingering winter in his prospects, as well a tough one in 2016-17.

“Hunters should consider the Chelan population to be in a rebuilding phase for the next few years,” he advises.

There will be plenty of browse to help fatten the herd too as burn scars

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and bowls high in the Cascades recover from past wildfires and produce good browse. This summer saw little fire activity and cooler and moister conditions, generally speaking. Again, it’s possible that that could keep these migratory deer tucked back up in the Alpine, Chiwawa, Clark and Slide Ridge Units, where they’re relatively difficult to ferret out, given the abundance of escape cover. Success rates in the quartet were just 3 to 7 percent last fall.

As a whole, hunters typically have better luck in the Entiat, Swakane and Mission Units, which represent winter range but also shouldn’t be discounted as bereft of bucks in fall either, if last year’s harvest of 92, 108 and 97 by riflemen is any indication.

“Harvest of older age-class deer should be flatter in 2019, given previous success rates and increased winter mortality,” Comstock forecasts.

WESTERN BASIN If you’ve got access to aglands in the western Columbia Basin, you might be interested to see last fall’s postseason buck escapement figures. Those were all at or above 20:100, with the highest – 27 and 26 – observed in Douglas and Adams Counties. Management objective for the region is just 15 to 19.

While we need to be real about why that is – the land is mostly private, with controlled access – it is good news for those with permission or who hunt the scattered patches of public ground. No, you’re probably not going to bump into El Gigante due to the open nature of this landscape (yes, George Cook did bag his Benge 9x12 not so long ago), but the good news is you will still have some life expectancy left should you connect.

At just nine days needed per kill last fall, the Ritzville Unit was among the lowest in the state; the success rate of 35 percent was among the highest.

As for this year, biologist Sean Dougherty is forecasting an “average” season.

“Winter of 2018 was relatively mild overall, but late-winter (February through March) did increase in severity. There were numerous reports of winter-killed deer, but hunters can still expect to see average numbers of deer throughout the hunting season,” he reports.

Between Adams and Grant Counties, WDFW says nearly 175,000 acres of private land are enrolled in access programs this season, mostly hunting by written permission.

To the northwest, 95,000 acres have been similarly signed up in Douglas County, which has the added benefit of large, contiguous blocks of state and federal land. One of the newest sections, the 31-square-mile Big Bend Wildlife Area, has been productive and helped lead to a harvest of 101 bucks in its overarching unit last fall. Nineteen percent of hunters were successful and needed 18 days per kill.

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HUNTING Coulee didn’t produce quite as many bucks (91, 74 and 74), but did see higher success rates (29, 25 and 25 percent) and fewer days to notch a tag (12, 12 and 14). Of the trio, Moses might command more attention, as it has two large BLM blocks.

“Douglas County is a consistent producer of mule deer opportunity, and conditions should be similar in 2019,” forecasts Comstock, the wildlife bio for the county.

SOUTH-CENTRAL Yakima and Kittitas Counties share the pitiful distinction of boasting deer success percentages that are essentially the same as the notoriously low ones elk hunters see – in the single digits. Last year two open units even produced goose eggs for rifle buck hunters, Bumping and Rimrock.

The “best” units – the largely public Naneum, Manastash and Teanaway – required 53, 64 and 77 hunter days per kill in 2018. Needless to say, don’t expect it to get better in 2019.

“Surveys found no increase, so District 8 will likely be around 5 to 6 percent success again,” biologist Jeff Bernatowicz grimly forecasts.

COLUMBIA GORGE Just to the south, District 9 saw an uptick in its overall harvest last year, from 1,113 in 2017 to 1,208, but that might be attributed almost solely to 100 more bucks taken in the Washougal Unit (360 versus 257) than anything else.

“Those Westside game management units were not nearly as affected by the severe winter of 2016-17, so likely have more robust deer populations

at the moment,” reports biologist Stefanie Bergh.

As it recovers from a one-year dip in form a couple seasons back, Washougal might be worth looking into, if you’re not already familiar with it. It actually features quite a bit of actively logged state timberlands that back up to the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, as well as three Weyerhaeuser fee blocks.

Its 23 percent success rate and 23 days per kill were among the better marks in the district.

As for the best units by those measures, those were Battle Ground and its blacktails yielding a 28 percent success rate and 16 days per kill, and East Klickitat and its muleys at 26 and 15. They served up 211 and 202 bucks, respectively. However, both units are almost entirely private.

The former is firearms restricted and

BLACKTAILS A TOUGH HUNT FOR BIOS TOO

I

n 2017 Evergeen State wildlife biologists began a five-year study on blacktail bucks to determine their “survival, causes of mortality, and vulnerability to harvest.” But it hasn’t always been very successful because, well, it turns out there’s a reason the species is known as the ghost of the forest.

“Considering the difficulty we had finding deer, I’m always surprised that our hunters do as well as they do in Western Washington,” says bio Michelle Tirhi, who oversees Thurston and Pierce Counties as well as Lewis County’s Skookumchuck Unit.

“But then, we are attempting capture in spring and summer, which is harder than fall.”

She says her crews didn’t collar any bucks during the 2018-19 field season during day and night operations.

“We were targeting DNR’s Elbe Hills and Tahoma State Forests and simply seldom saw any deer, in particular bucks, so no chance to dart and collar. Those we saw at night were often does or too far for a shot.

We had more luck in DNR’S Crawford Block near Skookumchuck Wildlife Area, but missed a few good shots,” she adds.

To Tirhi’s south, Eric Holman has had better success spotting deer, but laments the lack of funding that’s limiting crews’

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Washington state wildlife biologist Anthony Novack lifts the head of a spike captured in the Fall River Unit this past July as part of a blacktail buck mortality study. (WDFW) ability to capture them.

“Unfortunately, our financial challenges just haven’t allowed for enough funding to support large-scale captures, i.e., helicopter net gunning,” he says. “We’ve captured what we can from the ground using darts and nets but this is a hard way to get many deer, and unfortunately our sample sizes remain very small to draw

meaningful conclusions from. I’m hopeful that our situation will improve and we’ll be able to go ‘all in’ on this project and learn more about blacktail bucks and the impacts of our hunting seasons.”

The pages of WDFW’s biweekly Wildlife Program report occasionally have details on the study, including word of a spike captured in Holman’s district in 2018 and killed by a cougar just a mile away this past summer.

Another detailed how a net gun suspended over bait led to a successful capture.

The buck study follows on another that looked into habitat use and survival of does and fawns in commercial timberlands.

Results are expected soon on that one. A third that looked at forest management with an eye towards its effect on forage quality found that spraying herbicides on clearcuts “reduced the amount and quality of forage available to deer” for three years, but that “overall forage was still more abundant in these early seral stands than those 14 or more years old.”

If you shoot a blacktail with a collar – they are fair game – you’re asked to call the phone number on it, or your local WDFW office, and turn in the device, which can contain “valuable data, is expensive, and can be used again,” according to Holman. –AW

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Northwest Sportsman 113

HUNTING requires shotguns to be used during rifle season, while in the latter, though it doubled in size this year to over 10,000 acres, the Simcoe Wildlife Area east of Goldendale is still being managed as permit only for deer.

Hunting is typically fairly consistent year to year in this long, narrow district pinioned by windmills and powerlines, but it still has yet to build back to the marks seen in the mid-2010s, general rifle harvests of 1,500 to nearly 1,750 bucks. That may require a few more years following a harsh winter and an adenovirus hemorrhagic disease outbreak the following summer, both of which impacted mule deer and fawns in three key eastern units.

“In our Klickitat GMUs we continued to see a drop in harvest in 2018, which is likely still fallout from the 2016-17 winter and AHD,” says Bergh. “Our postseason surveys of East Klickitat and Grayback in December showed a continued decline in the

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mule deer population there.”

If there’s good news, it’s that this past late winter’s “crazy snowfall” doesn’t appear to have knocked down fawn numbers.

“We did not receive reports of adult or fawn mortality and our annual spring survey showed a slightly above average fawn-to-adult ratio, indicating that winter fawn survival was good despite the deep snow,” Bergh reports.

Overall, the district is likely to produce another 1,200-plus-buck harvest – and probably more next year, as long as Mother Nature helps.

SOUTHERN CASCADES Harvest last year in the much-logged foothills and mountains on either side of I-5 between Chehalis and Vancouver bounced back, and the local biologist believes that will continue.

“I expect a continuation of the upward trend. The winter of 2018-19

was also mild and the summer of 2019 has been cool, wet and productive,” reports Eric Holman. “Deer hunting should be good in Western Washington during the fall of 2019.”

His district is the most productive west of the Cascade Crest, at least in terms of harvest, accounting for nearly 28 percent of all the blacktail bucks killed by general season riflemen in 2018, some 1,873 animals. Yes, that’s down from the 2016 campaign’s “very good” take of 2,206, but also up nearly 200 from 2017’s drop-off.

“The winter of 2016-17 was very severe, with unusually cold and wet weather for much of the winter,” Holman states. “This likely impacted the deer population, especially fawns that would have been yearlings for the fall of 2017 hunt. The winter of 2017-18 was mild and therefore allowed the bounce back.”

Where many of the Eastside’s top units are mostly farms and ranches, District 10’s are dominated by private timber corporations. Weyerhaueser charges access fees, whether you come in by vehicle or foot, but Sierra Pacific allows walk-in hunting for free. Last year the Coweeman, Ryderwood and Winston Units saw the largest kills, 406, 327 and 275, respectively, along with 31, 25 and 23 percent hunter success rates. A backup plan might be the Lincoln Unit, which has three large blocks of state timberlands, saw 202 bucks harvested for a 26 percent success rate, and required 22 days to tag out, among the lowest in the district. Coweeman was lowest at 19.

Similar to the core of the Blues, upper Cowlitz Valley units produce low numbers of deer, lower success percentages and many days per buck – 88 in South Rainier.

Holman also echoes fellow biologist Vekasy’s stick-to-it advice.

“I’ll just encourage blacktail hunters to get out there and put in the effort hunting these challenging, secretive deer,” he says. “Always keep in mind that the deer are there; you’re unlikely to ever see very

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Northwest Sportsman 115

many of them, but that persistence, patience and effort can often result in a successful blacktail hunt.”

BALANCE OF THE STATE As for the rest of Western Washington, three districts stand above the reprod for deer: 15, on the east side of the Olympics including Kitsap County; 17, the South Coast; and 11, the western and northern foothills of Mt. Rainier. They produced 1,217, 1,102 and 854 bucks last year.

In District 15, the Mason Unit was most productive in 2018, yielding 289 blacktails for a 29 percent success rate, but access is poor unless you have a Green Diamond permit. Of the two public-land units, Olympic put out nearly twice as many bucks as Skokomish, 247 to 127.

A one-year dip in District 17’s harvest back in 2017 puzzled biologist Anthony Novack, who reports the long-term trend is that the deer population is otherwise stable, and indeed last year’s harvest pretty much bounced back. If trends seen this decade are any indication, more will be harvested this year than in 2018 too. Top units are Capitol Peak (227), which also has the most public land, Wynoochee (204), which is mostly private timberland with varying access, and Minot Peak (157), again mostly private with some nonmotorized state land on its east end.

And in District 11, nearly half of all the bucks taken came out of the Skookumchuck (409), which includes Weyerhaeuser’s Vail Tree Farm. While the overall harvest trend in the South Sound and environs is down as timberlands go to fee access, graphs from biologist Michelle Tirhi show generally increasing buck take since 2012 in Puyallup, Anderson Island and Deschutes, but they have their own access and firearms restriction issues.

For more on WDFW’s expectations for 2019’s hunts, see the agency’s hunting forecasts at wdfw.wa.gov/ hunting/locations/prospects. NS 116 Northwest Sportsman

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COLUMN

Close Call With A Lion O

CHEF IN THE WILD

By Randy King

n May 12, 2018, I was charged by a mountain lion in Central Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains.

Clearly, I survived.

But let’s back up for a second. Each year I go on a backcountry bear hunt. A group of dudes and I venture into the woods carrying packs full of expensive gear. Then we try and live like we are homeless for a few days at a time – with our guns. I have shot a grand total of one bear this way, but I still go; hope is a powerful thing.

Last year my entire hunting party bailed on me. One had to work, another’s son was graduating high school and one is just a flake. So, yet again, if I was going to hunt, I was going to be hunting alone. This would not be a problem, as I hunt alone all the time.

I DECIDED TO hunt the Sawtooth Wilderness, a road-free area northeast of Boise that is as remote as it is rugged. The valley floor is some 2,500 feet below the peaks. Snow caps some mountains year-round, and chasing bears here in May would mean swollen creek crossings on wet logs. There was no trail to where I wanted to hunt and my plan was to camp under a tarp. Believe it or not, this sounded wonderful.

As I began hiking into the mountain range I noticed rain clouds on the horizon, a sign a storm was brewing. I had rain gear but was not thrilled. Then came the downpour. I had hiked roughly 4.5 miles into the wilderness at this point. I was at the confluence of Goat Creek and the South Fork of the Payette River. I decided to stop there because the rain had swollen the creek I was going to cross. I was tired and wet but still had daylight. I decided to hunt what little area I could.

I climbed a small hill and found a log to sit on and view some of the river bottom below. I began to use a cheap cow elk

“Don’t get eaten by a lion!” was the advice author Randy King got just before going on a hunt where he indeed was charged by a cougar.

He’d been trying bring in a bear with a cow elk call. (RANDY KING)

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COLUMN

Don’t Coug it by not using the meat from your mountain lion. Try this delicious looking recipe for griddled cougar taco with sweet jalapeño sauce. (RANDY KING)

HOW TO COOK YOUR CAT

P

redators get a bad rap in the wild food world. People who have never even taken a cougar will tell you how bad they are, how dry and stringy the meat is. Well, folks, they are wrong.

Cougar, in my opinion, is the clcosest thing to pork that doesn’t have a curly tail and go oink. The meat is white and cooks up very well. I use it as a pulled pork substitute in recipes.

One thing that I will mention about cougar meat is that it can have trichinosis.

Basically all that means is that cougar, like the flesh of all predators, should be cooked to well done or even braised.

In this recipe I use cougar like I would wild hog or javalina, basically a slow and low preparation that turns it into soft pulled meat.

For full transparency the following recipe is a riff on one of my favorite tacos from Calle 75 Tacos in Boise. On the menu is an item called “Gringa Style” which has griddled pepper jack cheese, carne asada and a

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habanero sauce. I could eat that taco daily.

The cheese is crunchy, the sauce is sweet and has a little heat, and the meat is salty and well-seasoned. It’s perfect in a completely nontraditional taco sort of way. I actually spoke to the chefs the last time I had one and was told the secret was the sauce – the sweetness balances out the taco.

After a few experiments below is my representation of the Gringa Style taco.

Enjoy.

The Sauce ¾ cup mayo ½ cup cilantro, washed 3 cloves garlic 1 jalapeño (or habanero, if you are feeling lucky) 1 lime, juiced and zested 1½ tablespoons honey 1 teaspoon cumin Salt and pepper Add all ingredients to a blender and puree

until smooth. Pour into a squeeze bottle and put in the fridge. Let chill one hour.

Then enjoy for a week.

The Meat 1 chipotle chili plus 2 tablespoons sauce from the can (that’s called adobo, FYI) 1 tablespoon ground cumin 1 tablespoon paprika 3 cloves of garlic 1 small onion, diced 1/8 cup apple cider vinegar (or pineapple juice) ¼ cup brown sugar 1 cup chicken stock or water 4 pounds of mountain lion meat Salt and pepper Puree everything but the meat. Rub the meat with the sauce. Add the meat, and the rest of the sauce, to a slow cooker and cook on high for three to four hours, or until the meat is very tender. Season as needed with salt and pepper. Reserve.

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COLUMN The “Build” Pan spray 1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese Pulled cougar meat Corn tortilla shells

Sauce ¼ cup diced white onion ¼ cup chopped cilantro To finish this dish grab a large (12-inch or Chef Randy’s take on a Boise restaurant’s “Gringa Style” street taco begins with melting pepper jack cheese topped with previously cooked and “pulled” cougar meat on a heated nonstick skillet. (RANDY KING)

so) nonstick skillet. Heat on medium for three minutes. Then add a quick splash of pan spray.

Next add about 2 tablespoons of the shredded pepper jack cheese to the pan, making a 3-inch circle with it. On top of the cheese add about 2 tablespoons of cooked cougar meat. Let this cook for about 2 minutes. The goal is to get a golden crust on the cheese and be able to flip it easily.

When a crust forms on the bottom flip the circle and cook the other, cougar, side down. Add a corn tortilla to the same pan. Heat through until pliable. When the tortilla is hot and the cheese has browned on both sides, remove everything from the heat and stack the meat/cheese combo on the tortilla. Then garnish with a drizzle of sauce, chopped onions and cilantro.

Make as many of these as you need.

Use as many pans as you want because you will be eating these as fast as they are done.

For more wild game recipes, see chefrandyking.com. –RK

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COLUMN call as a predator call, thinking it might bring in a bear. They will often come to the sound in search of an easy meal. It is a highly effective way of finding bears in the backcountry. While I had never done it before, why not give it a try?

I set a timer on my phone for 20 minutes.

My goal was to call as much as I could in that time. Bears have very short attention spans, or so I have read. Basically if you stop calling, they stop coming. After 15 minutes of calling I stopped to adjust my seat and move slightly to the left. A tree was blocking a section of the valley I wanted to see.

When I moved I caught sight of something light brown in the corner of my eye. I jumped up quickly and yelled, a quick “Bah!” shooting out of my mouth.

Honestly, I thought I had called in a bear.

ABOUT 6 FEET from my location was a mountain lion, unfortunately. I could have hit him with my trekking pole. The thing that gets me – every time I think about it – is that I never heard it coming. Not a sound. The catamount turned to walk off as I began yelling at it.

With mountain lions it is always best,

King shot the big cat in self-defense. After calming down from the encounter, he skinned the hide and quartered the carcass. The next day he reported it to game wardens as quickly as possible as it was out of season and he didn’t have a tag. (RANDY KING) 124 Northwest Sportsman

OCTOBER 2019 | nwsportsmanmag.com

or so I have been told, to act big and tough. Then they hopefully won’t mess with you. But I had no experience at this point with North America’s biggest cat.

In my life to that point I had seen two other lions in the wild, both at a few hundred yards and both going away from me.

But not this one. The cougar walked about 20 feet away from me, then turned and circled back on a tree. It faced me.

Then I watched as it lowered its head, its butt going into the air. I dialed my scope down to three power.

The cougar looked remarkably like a house cat getting ready to pounce a mouse, except really big. Then its tail started whipping from side to side.

I pointed my gun at the cat, yelling more and more. Then one paw came off the ground. I screamed at the cat at this point – my crosshairs on its forehead. The air became still and time seemed to freeze.

Every fiber in my body was scared sh*tless.

This was not the way I wanted to go out. I am not getting eaten by a cat today.

Eventually the damn thing charged me.

When it did, I shot it. I missed the head and hit the cat in the neck. It fell to the ground, twitching and very dead. It was 7 yards from me. Twenty-one feet, a second away at full speed.

I stood there for moment in the silence of the wilderness with my ears ringing from the discharge of my .270.

WHAT IT CAME down to was that I had tricked the wrong animal into coming to my call, and I had then killed it. Sure, I was acting in self-defense. But this animal was out of season. I had no cougar tag either.

I began to panic and shake. Here I was near dark, miles from a road and alone. The smell of blood was in the air. I don’t fear the woods, never have. I have slept like a kitten on the beaches of Kodiak with the largest bears in the world nearby. I am not afraid of the wild. But at this point, at this time, I was scared.

Eventually I calmed down. I got to work on the problem at hand. I gutted, skinned and quartered the cougar in the dark, putting it in meat bags to pack out in the morning. My sleep was fitful. I built a giant

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Northwest Sportsman 125

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bonfire to feel safe, but still didn’t.

Early the next morning I packed my camp and the cougar into my backpack and made the 4.5-mile hike out.

Then I did the only thing that seemed reasonable: I informed the authorities of my actions. I stopped at the first ranger station I came across and called my regional conservation officer. We agreed to meet in my hometown of Nampa.

When I showed up to the local Idaho Department of Fish and Game office I was instructed to bring the hide inside. Then I was interviewed by the officer. He asked for details, for GPS locations, for witnesses.

He wanted to know the facts. I told him everything. They took all meat. It was going to be donated to local families in need, thankfully. Then they confiscated the hide. The hide was to be auctioned off to raise money for the state’s Citizens Against Poaching initiative. The only thing I got that day was a few photos and a life lesson.

AFTERWARDS I ASKED the officer what my punishment would be.

“If you would have tried to cover this up I would have thrown the book at you, but you are here, hat in hand, turning yourself in,” he said. “You are free to go. Be careful out there.”

He added, “I would have shot too.”

Imagine for a moment if I had not turned myself in? Chances are I would never have been caught. But if I was, I risked being arrested, and maybe losing my gun and hunting rights in Idaho – and the 47 other states of the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact. Things happen in the woods, and if you are upright and honest with the game wardens, they will often be understanding.

It is a wild world out there, just don’t lie.

Two days before I left on my ill-fated bear hunt two bicyclists in Western Washington were attacked by a cougar, which killed one of them. It made national news and was the hot topic around the country for a while. (A few months later, an Oregon hiker was killed by another.)

Iroinically, the last thing my boss said to me before I left the parking garage at work for Idaho’s Sawtooths was, “Don’t get eaten by a lion!”

I didn’t, but it was close. NS

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Northwest Sportsman 127

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COLUMN

Autumn’s Forgotten Delights W

ashington’s Department of Fish and Wildlife has this terrific online treatise about pheasant hunting that ON TARGET should be a must-read

By Dave Workman for anyone who has ever wanted to enjoy the adrenaline rush of watching a ringneck explode from tall grass or corn stubble.

And if you’re truly up to a challenge – and maybe just a little bit deranged –

hit the scablands and steep country for chukar. You will find no more pleasant way to go through at least a half-box of shells, a gallon or two of water and enough calories to make people think you’ve been hunting with Jenny Craig.

Seriously, this online piece about pheasants by WDFW covers all the bases, except for putting you there in the field.

That’s your job!

While hunting the “China bird,” as it has often been called for its country of origin, may not be on the grand scale that it was

back in the 1960s and ’70s, someone with a good dog (or a generous friend who owns a good dog!), a trusty shotgun and a desire to test their wingshooting skills can have a ball.

This year, the regular season on pheasants opened Sept. 28 and runs through Nov. 30 in Western Washington, with a two-bird (either sex) bag limit. In Eastern Washington, the regular season opener is Oct. 19, with a three-bird daily bag (cocks only).

Pheasants came to the Pacific

Introduced to the Northwest nearly 150 years ago, pheasant remain a challenge for upland bird hunters. While nowhere as numerous as they once were due to habitat loss, wild ringnecks can still be found across eastern portions of Oregon and Washington, with birds also released on state wildlife areas and other sites there and west of the Cascades. (HUNTING PHOTO CONTEST)

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COLUMN

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Northwest about 150 years ago and, no pun intended, they took off. According to WDFW, they were introduced into Western Oregon in 1881 and two years later, to neighboring Washington. Birds were released on the Westside in the 1890s, and the planting effort expanded to the Eastside within a few years.

Washingtonians began hunting pheasants in 1897, the historical article recalls, and people have been pursuing them ever since.

I’ve shot a fair number of ringnecks over the years, down near Chehalis, at a release site in Pierce County as a kid, and

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over south of the Tri-Cities. Earlier this year, at a private reserve in Kansas, I joined old pals Chris Hodgdon and Roy Huntington for a season closer. The trek reminded me that pheasants are doggoned hard to hit, no matter what state you’re in!

SHOTGUNS, SHOT SIZES My favorite pheasant gun is my sideby-side Beretta 12-gauge, a fixed-choke marvel with a straight (English style) grip, double triggers, deeply blued 28inch barrels, silver nitride receiver with roll engraving and an appetite for highbase No. 6s. I know a lot of guys who

hunt the longtails with a 20-gauge, and they do rather well.

But that Beretta; it was the first firearm I ever bought at retail, rescued from the used shotgun rack in the old Chet Paulsen’s Gun Shop in Tacoma, a block downhill from the County-City building.

I put money down on the gun in July, and paid off the balance a couple of days before the opening of grouse season.

No background checks in those days (they trusted 19-year-olds in Olympia 50 years ago), and out I walked with that smoothbore, a couple of boxes of shells and a big smile.

CHUKAR, PHEASANT FORECASTS

O

If you can hit chukars consistently, you will have earned your dinner! (DAVE WORKMAN) 130 Northwest Sportsman

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regon wildlife biologists report good news for chukar hunters who target the state’s steep, rocky southeastern corner.

“Overall, Malheur and Harney Districts found the highest densities of chukar, followed by the Heppner District. The Malheur and Grant Districts had the highest chukar production with an average of 4.5 chicks/adult, followed by Harney (3.6 chicks/adult),” ODFW stated in its upland bird hunting forecast.

The Malheur bird count of 54 per 10 miles was not only 15 percent higher than 2018’s but 23 percent above the 10-year average.

“The most productive routes were along the west side of the Owyhee Reservoir and Cottonwood Canyon southwest of Harper,” ODFW stated.

To the north, Baker County redlegs have made a “quicker comeback” from the harsh 2016-17 winter than other upland bird species, though numbers are reported to be average. They’re slightly down in Grant County and at about 80 percent of average in Wasco, Hood and Sherman Counties, through which the public-land-rich Deschutes and John Day Rivers flow.

WDFW biologists forecasted good spring chukar chick survival and summer forage on Whitman County’s Snake River Breaks, where last year’s harvest doubled versus 2017, and hunter effort also rose. Hunters in Chelan and Douglas Counties also had a good year, taking 25 percent more birds than the five-year average.

With good growing conditions here and to the north in the Okanogan, it could be a good season in North-central Washington. And Kittitas and Yakima Counties have also seen increasing harvests, with that trend expected to continue in 2019.

In addition to their usual haunts on the Colockum and Yakima Training Center, biologists suggest looking to the western and northern edges of their range here.

Last year saw a nice bump for Palouse pheasant hunters even as wingshooter numbers remained steady. Between that region, the Blue Mountain foothills and the thick habitat of the pheasant heartland that is Grant County, state biologists can be said to be optimistic about bird and young-of-year numbers. There are also around 30 sites across the Eastside where pheasants will be released.

ODFW reports that Eastern Oregon ringneck numbers are down after 2018’s peak. Highest brood production occurred in the Heppner, Malheur, Umatilla and Mid-Columbia Districts, in that order, the agency stated. –NWS

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COLUMN

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KICK-EEZ® Mossberg’s Patriot bolt-action is now chambered for the .350 Legend straight-wall cartridge. (MOSSBERG)

Savage is now offering an upgraded version of its A22, the .22 LR-caliber semiauto FV-SR. (SAVAGE)

FIELD NOTES: NEW INTROS

M

ossberg has announced that its Patriot Synthetic and Patriot Synthetic Super Bantam bolt-action rifles are now chambered in .350 Legend, and both models are available in Scoped Combos with a 3-9x40mm riflescope.

The rifle features a synthetic straight comb stock, black rubber recoil pad, raised cheekpiece and 22-inch barrel with a 1:16-inch rifling twist. The bolt features spiral fluting.

Winchester, which manufactures the straight-walled cartridge, says the .350 Legend delivers more energy than the .30-30 Winchester, .300 BLK or the .223 Remington, with less recoil than the .450 Bushmaster or the .243 Winchester.

Introduced earlier this year, the .350 Legend is based on the .223 Rem. case blown out to accommodate a .357-caliber bullet. It’s already been talked up by some folks as a decent deer and hog cartridge, with a muzzle velocity in the 2,100- to 2,350-foot-per-second range, depending upon bullet weight, from 180 grains down to 145 grains, respectively. The lighter the bullet, the hotter it warps out of the muzzle.

Any deer hit with that caliber of projectile at that velocity is going to feel it.

Winchester even markets a “Deer Season

SIG Sauer has unveiled a new line of Elite Hunter Tipped ammunition for big game hunting this fall. (SIG SAUER)

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XP” round with a 150-grain bullet.

Speaking of bullets, SIG Sauer recently introduced a line of Elite Hunter Tipped ammunition in several popular calibers ranging from .243 Winchester to .300 Win. Magnum, so it’s in time for Northwest big game seasons.

This ammunition is designed for instant knockdown, featuring lead alloy bullets with a yellow tip and blackened jacket.

Bullets have a high ballistic coefficient and controlled expansion. It is loaded in nickelplated cases.

Among the entries are offerings in 6mm Creedmoor and 6.5 Creedmoor, .260 Remington, .270 Winchester, .308

Winchester and .30-06 Springfield.

And Savage Arms has upgraded its A22 platform by adding a 16.5-inch mediumcontour barrel with a target crown that is not only threaded for a suppressor, but now has button rifling.

This .22-caliber self-loader has a straight blowback action, 10-round rotary magazine, user-adjustable AccuTrigger and a tough black composite stock with QD sling swivel studs. It’s drilled and tapped, and comes with a one-piece Picatinny rail.

Because it’s a semiauto, it falls under restrictions on self-loading rifles included in Initiative 1639, adopted by Washington voters in November 2018. MSRP is $349. –DW

While I prefer the No. 6, others will go with 7½ or maybe a No. 5. I learned years ago not to argue with someone about his or her choice of gun or load, especially when they’ve got birds in the cooler!

While my shotgun has a modified and full choke/barrel combination, I know folks with over-and-unders and interchangeable chokes who set up with improved cylinder and modified tubes and they do just fine.

Pheasants early in the season will often sit tight and allow a closer shot, but later on, they get wary pretty fast. I’ve seen the buggers refuse to take to the air and instead run through stubble like track stars when they sense trouble. This is why a dog is so important.

CHALLENGING CHUKAR Partridge hunting in Eastern Washington opens Oct. 5, with a daily bag of six chukar and six grays, or Huns.

I can say from experience that chukars are damned fast, and in the country they’re typically found, they get up and head downhill to gain air speed. I’ve shot them with No. 6 or 7½ shot and you need to stay ahead of them. They are pretty good eating too, breasted out or prepared on a barbecue. I know some people who will wrap them with a slice or two of bacon, but I’ve often wondered whether that’s just a way to get a mouthful of bacon!

I’ll draw your attention to Page 33 of the Waterfowl and Upland Bird pamphlet because it is a gold mine of harvest data.

Based on average kill for the years from 2014 to 2018, the best Eastside counties for chukar are Asotin in Region 1, Chelan in Region 2, and Yakima in Region 3. But don’t overlook Douglas, Grant, Kittitas and Okanogan either.

As for pheasants, best bets are Whitman and Walla Walla (Region 1), Grant (Region 2), and Yakima (Region 3), with Benton, Franklin and Garfield also productive.

Heading west, which is dominated by ringnecks stocked at select wildlife areas and other release sites, Whatcom is tops in Region 4, Clark is a good choice in Region 5 and Thurston is best for Region 6. NS 134 Northwest Sportsman

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HUNTING Northwest waterfowl hunters hope to see a better season than last year, but it all depends on weather that pushes ducks and geese out of Canada but holds them in the region instead of fleeing to warmer climes. (TRAVIS SMITH, INSTAGRAM: @WICKED_WINGZ)

Crystal Balls And Orange Feet

Here’s a look at how the 2019-20 waterfowl season could shape up in the Northwest.

By MD Johnson

A

shocker, I’m sure, but this month I’m going to forgo the long-winded intro and get right into the meat of the matter, that being waterfowl and my goal of having you as prepared as possible come the mid-October duck and goose openers on either side of the Columbia.

WASHINGTON “I think we’ll see pretty good (duck

and goose) numbers in Washington this fall,” forecasts Kyle Spragens, his state Department of Fish and Wildlife’s chief waterfowl biologist.

“On par with 2018. In terms of the local mallard contribution to the overall population, it was definitely drier across the state, but mild.

Rather, we didn’t have any stretches of extreme weather. And I think our Westside mallard banding (this summer) showed that. We had a good mix of hatch years.”

One of the primary factors in production, Spragens explains, is something known as the total pond index, which, to the layperson, translates into an area’s or a region’s water status; that is, how much water is available for ducks and geese to use. These are counted from the air and essentially inventoried, per se, as the various fish and game agencies, be it state or federal, do their annual spring breeding surveys.

“The pond counts (this spring) nwsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019

Northwest Sportsman 137

were relatively high, but have been in decline over the past five years or so,” says Spragens. “They were good – just not as good as in the recent past. And there are species like mallards, gadwall and green-wing teal that are tracking that. Mallards, for instance, are down, but still above the long-term average that dates back to 1955.”

The biologist did say surveyors saw a small drop in numbers of the aforementioned three species; however, it is, at least at present, not a cause for concern.

What is, however, are pintail numbers, a situation that is reflected in Washington’s 2019-20 daily bag of but one sprig, down from two during last year’s season.

“Habitat conditions in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan weren’t good (this spring). In fact, they were actually quite bad, very dry, and that has an impact on pintails and pintail production,” Spragens says.

Now it’s a matter of Mother Nature cooperating for at least part of the state’s 107-day waterfowl season, something she definitely did not do during the 2018-19 season.

“Last year was a weird one,” says Spragens. “Total harvest numbers were down, in large part because we didn’t have the weather to push the birds inland until late in the season, if then.

The coastal hunters had quite a few birds early, but then it got tough. From everything we’re hearing for 2019, though, the flight should be just fine.

Perhaps even better than last year.”

If there is reason to celebrate, it’s among Washington’s goose hunting community. “(Our researchers) counted a lot of goose broods when we flew the survey transects in late April (Western Washington) and early May (Eastern Washington). It sounds like there was a good hatch of cacklers and other geese in western Alaska, along with a phenomenal hatch of Wrangell Island snow geese. The goose flight this year should be very good,” forecasts Spragens.

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OREGON Brandon Reishus, Spragens’ colleague to the south at ODFW, began our conversation quite optimistically.

“Counts this spring were around the recent averages,” he says, “but the habitat, especially in Eastern Oregon, was some of the best we’ve seen in some time. In fact, and while 2017 was a good year, some places over east had even more water. This should bode well for hunters in Eastern Oregon, but doesn’t necessarily put more birds in front of the guns of hunters in Western Oregon.”

However, Reishus quickly adds, “Duck banders reported good numbers (of ducks) in Western Oregon,” and that duck production on the sunset side of the Cascades appears to be similar to that seen in recent years.

Good news, yes, but then our talk travelled to the north. Canada, to be specific.

“Canada had a dry winter and spring,” he reports, “particularly in Saskatchewan. Breeding counts for most species were down, with some down (even) from the long-term average. Too, southern Alberta was dry, but as you went further north into Canada, conditions got better. Counts were up. It’s not unusual for birds to overfly the (south) prairies if they’re dry and travel north where it’s wetter.”

His crystal ball, then, in terms of ducks?

“If the weather pattern’s the same in 2019 (as it was in 2018),” Reishus says, “I don’t expect things to be very different. I don’t expect a banner season or a barn burner, unless the weather cooperates. Folks with (access to) good habitat will have their good days, but it all comes down to having the weather.”

OK, so Beaver State duck hunters may see a repeat of – how shall I put this? – 2018’s lackluster season; however, and to echo Spragens’ prediction, Reishus does definitely see a shining light when it comes to geese and goose hunting.

“Cackler and white-front

HUNTING “The (snow) goose flight this year should be very good,” forecasts Washington waterfowl manager Kyle Spragens, and biologists are optimistic about cacklers and Canadas too. (TRAVIS SMITH, INSTAGRAM: @WICKED_WINGZ)

(specklebelly) numbers were down just a bit in the Yukon,” he says, “but they’re still very robust. White-front numbers are at double their objective; cacklers are at their objective.

“Aleutian Canadas,” he adds, “are well above objective, with the number of Aleutians rivaling the current cackler population. Wrangell Island snow geese showed great nesting success, and (that population) is growing rapidly. There may well be a bit of a better season (for snows), with more young birds in the population.”

BEST BETS My editor will very likely be quite distraught with my lack of detail here, but for the duck opener, the recipe 140 Northwest Sportsman

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is simple. Find the water. Find what ducks are around. It’s early. There’s typically little, if any, temporary water on the ground in Western Washington and Western Oregon.

For those who make water, i.e. pump the liquid into an impoundment designed specifically for the purpose of hunting ’fowl – well, there you go. For us peasants, it’s time to head for the tides, hidden ponds, marshes, backwaters, creeks, or lilypad lakes.

Side to side in Washington, the story’s essentially the same – Skagit, Willapa, Grays Harbor, the Lower Columbia and some of her tributaries.

Over east, it’s Potholes, Moses Lake, the Columbia, Snake, and Yakima Rivers. A handful of riverine refuges.

Go to Oregon, and it’s an encore presentation. The Lewis & Clark National Wildlife Refuge on the lower river is always a safe bet, if one knows how to work the tides. Sauvie Island.

Klamath in the southwest corner.

Travelling east, and it’s Summer Lake, Malheur, and the Snake.

Regardless of which side of the Columbia one hunts, it’s a similar equation. Work, and you might just be successful. Work hard, and your chances for success increase exponentially.

Simple? Yes. Challenging? Absolutely.

Oft frustrating? You betcha.

Worth every minute, gallon of sweat, and pint of blood when the strap’s heavy with green and the dog’s tired? Uh-huh. NS

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COLUMN

50 Shades Of Gray … Squirrels

H

unting tree squirrels in the Northwest has never hit the fever pitch seen in Midwest and East Coast states. There are many reasons that GUN DOGGIN’ 101 could explain our lack

By Scott Haugen of bushytail hunting mania, but suffice it to say, if you have a versatile gun dog, it’s yet another great opportunity to get out and have fun.

Gray squirrels are excellent eating – some say even better than venison – and they can be found in many habitats. From the Coast Range to the valley floors, the Cascades to the high desert, from Canada down into Mexico, western grays are adaptive.

AT ABOUT A year of age gray squirrels begin to breed. The breeding season can run from December through June, and after just over

Hunting tree squirrels with your gun dog can be fun for them, and you. Not only can the tracking be a blast, but the retrieves are something you’ll always appreciate. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

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COLUMN In addition to your four-legged hunting partner, author Scott Haugen recommends bringing along a pair of binoculars, which will help identify your target, a scoped .22 rifle and shooting sticks of some sort to steady your aim at these diminutive and tasty small game animals. (ODFW)

Western gray squirrel hunting is an overlooked opportunity for many hunters. In states and areas where they can’t be hunted, consider hitting the road to discover what it’s all about. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

a six-week gestation period, up to five kits are born. Western gray kits will remain in the nest for up to six months – sometimes longer – which equates to setbacks in the species’ ability to efficiently propagate in an area, especially when competing with squirrels that fledge sooner. Due to the vulnerability of western gray populations, check local hunting regs for seasons and bag limits. Currently, westerns are protected in Washington and cannot be hunted there.

Acorns and pine seeds are primary food sources of these squirrels, though they’ll feed on fir and other seeds in the area. Populations are largely impacted by how much food there is each year, which is determined by weather conditions.

Western grays are diurnal, making them great to hunt with a dog. While they often feed in and travel through treetops early in the morning and in the evening, they can also be found foraging for seeds on the ground throughout the day. I like to find good habitat and glass the trees early and late in the day, and cover ground with my dogs the rest of the time.

Gray squirrels leave a lot of scent on the ground, and dogs can easily track and tree them. Chases are usually short, so your dog won’t get winded, or run too far in some of the rugged lands these squirrels call home.

A GOOD BINOCULAR is essential when hunting western gray squirrels, as is a very accurate .22 rifle. I shoot a Browning lever-action .22 topped with a 3x9 Trijicon AccuPoint scope, with a green fiber optic 144 Northwest Sportsman

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illuminated dot reticle. A quality scope helps pick out the squirrel’s small head, which is a good target so as not to ruin the meat.

Because these squirrels can be in shade, thick cover, heavy shadows and more, they take on multiple shades of gray, white, and black, which is where a quality scope shines.

There is some great .22 ammo available today, much more impressive than 40 years ago when I started squirrel hunting. Be sure to test out a few brands to see which ones shoot best in your rifle.

I like a scoped .22 versus an opensighted rifle because iron sights often cover the head of a squirrel. When danger is sensed, grays often climb high into trees, or lay flat on a fat branch or amid thick cover, making precise shot placement essential. If hunting in an area where a .22 projectile is questionable, opt for a shotgun. Field loads of size 6 shot are a good choice, and the pellets won’t travel far.

I ALSO LIKE taking a monopod into the squirrel woods. It not only makes for a great walking stick, it helps steady the gun for an accurate shot. Sometimes you may be waiting several minutes for a treed squirrel to present a shot, and holding a gun that long can result in shaky aim.

A versatile gun dog is also great at retrieving downed squirrels, which is a luxury when hunting forests with tall ferns and thick salal. Knock a squirrel out of a big Doug fir, on a steep, downward-facing slope, and the retrieve can be well over 100 yards, which makes having a dog very nice.

If you can’t hunt gray squirrels in your area, consider traveling to states that do. A quick call to a fish and game office should help reveal where squirrel numbers are good, even what other species there are to hunt, like fox or Douglas squirrels.

Yes, there’s plenty of birds to hunt with your gun dog this time of year, but don’t overlook squirrels such as western grays, which have a lot to offer on the chase and on the dinner table, and help make your four-legged hunting partner that much more valuable in the field. NS Editor’s note: To see some of Scott Haugen’s puppy training video tips, visit scotthaugen .com. Follow Scott on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

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FISHING

Razor clam prospects look pretty good up and down the Washington Coast, particularly at Long Beach.

There’s a possibility of as many as 100 digging days there. (DAN AYRES, WDFW)

Dig This!

‘We’ve got a nice uptick in razor clam populations across the board and are looking at a great season’ on the Washington Coast.

By Mark Yuasa

J

ust trying to keep clam over what could be a grandiose 2019-20 season will be hard for Washington razor clam enthusiasts.

Dan Ayres, the head Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife coastal shellfish manager, says his staff completed summer stock assessments in late August – a deciding factor in the harvest number of razor clams – and the outlook is very rosy.

“We’ve got a nice uptick in razor clam populations across the board and are looking at a great season of digging,” he reports. “I’m very excited for what we’ll have to offer clam diggers and that will transect into a much better outlook than last season.

If ocean conditions are good, as well as some other factors, then razor clams tend to rebound rather quickly.”

Everyone can dig Ayres’ upbeat news and even better are discussions and agreements on seasons between

WDFW and tribal fishery comanagers completed in late summer. As this magazine went to print, the agency had proposed specific season dates (see sidebar) through the end of 2019, so watch wdfw.wa.gov for final OKs. Another positive note Ayres indicated was there will be some prime digging opportunities with optimal low tides during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. The low tides around New Year’s Eve aren’t optimal, however, so no digging is nwsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019

Northwest Sportsman 147

FISHING planned, but look for excellent low tides by the second week of January.

THE SOUTH COAST’S Long Beach – from the Columbia River north to the Willapa Bay mouth – had the shortest seasons in 2018-19 (four opening days, to be exact) after surveys showed less than 2.1 million adult clams, a drop of 32 percent from 2017-18. Adult clam population levels hit an abyss in 2017-18 when WDFW reported it was the lowest seen in the past 25 years.

But since then it’s seen the quickest recovery and will likely have a huge jump in opportunity this upcoming season, possibly generating as many as 100 digging days if all goes as planned.

“Long Beach could be pretty darn close to a near-record population of clams and five times better than last year,” Ayres says.

That’s because the young razor clam population skyrocketed to more than 25 million, with around 5.2 million adult clams available to harvest.

“We knew Long Beach had a really strong population of juvenile clams last year and they survived well up to now,” Ayres says.

He acknowledged that “they’re

Fall and winter razor clam digs occur during evening low tides while springtime openers happen during morning low tides. (WDFW)

not the biggest clams on Earth,” with most 3 to 3.7 inches, but about 25 percent measure more than 4 inches.

Still, they’re expected to grow into their shells, per se, as season arrives and continues.

Summer assessments two years ago at Long Beach showed very few prerecruits of juvenile clams and it was “scary” news for the short term. One theory for the huge dip is related to low salinity levels due to freshwater runoff from the Columbia River affecting a good portion of Long Beach, which isn’t a favorable situation for young clams to grow.

Stock assessors estimate there are 25 million razor clams at Long Beach, well up from just a few years ago, including 5.2 million harvestable adults. The number available at Copalis (2-plus million) is more than double last season, while it’s up by 400,000 at Twin Harbors and somewhat at Mocrocks. (WDFW) 148 Northwest Sportsman

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MOVING NORTH, SUMMER assessments were completed on Aug. 3 at Twin Harbors beaches from Willapa Bay north to the south jetty at Westport.

The harvestable number of clams is up from 1.4 million last year to 1.8 million this season. Last year diggers at Twin Harbors harvested 1.2 million clams out of a total allowable catch, or TAC, of 1.37 million.

The Copalis area – from the north jetty at the mouth of Grays Harbor to the Copalis River including Ocean Shores, Oyhut, Ocean City and Copalis – is one of the most popular stretches of beach for razor clam digging.

The TAC at Copalis is 2-plus million, up dramatically from the 860,100 clams last year. Copalis saw an extremely strong recruit year with 10.5 million clams. Razor clams at Copalis averaged a healthy 4.1 inches.

Further north are Mocrocks beaches (from the Copalis River to the south boundary of the Quinault

Late Fall Opportunities

Fall is in full swing and brilliant deciduous colors decorating the countryside have now transitioned to amber and rusts. While the rest of the world farewells their celebrated summer of recreation, PNW sportsmen welcome new opportunity the waning year affords.

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Angler and hunters alike are tuning their tools and preparing for the year’s harvest. Some fall salmon rivers are wrapping up while other laterun rivers are just getting going! Southwest Washington-area rivers are now beginning to get the larger northern “hooknose” silvers, which can average in the midteen size range and even reach the 20-pound mark on rare occasions.

Early component winter steelhead runs also traditionally begin in rivers like the Skykomish near Monroe, Washington. Typically, the third week of November will see the Sky as well as other Western Washington rivers get going on these early hatchery fish. If that is not enough, waterfowl hunters look forward to the first heavy rains and cold air of November to super-charge migrating duck populations to head south toward their waiting blinds.

Opportunity abounds in November and navigating to premo locales is always easier when you have the right equipment. The 17’ or 20’ Wooldridge Alaskan XL model is a shallowrunning boat that is designed to handle fall’s many moods from fishing shallow rivers to shooting in the shallow flats in an invisible camo-clad duck blind. Enjoy the outdoors this fall; the year is far from over! This brought to you by Wooldridge Boats and the sportsmen who build them. Always check the WDFW website for rule updates and changes. Have fun and be safe out there!

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FISHING FALL, WINTER CLAM CALENDAR Here are dates and beaches WDFW is proposing to open razor clamming at through the end of this year, pending final marine toxin tests performed before digs: Oct. 26-Nov. 1, Saturday-Friday evening low tides at Long Beach (seven days), Twin Harbors (seven days), Copalis (four days), Mocrocks (three days) Nov. 11-17, Monday-Sunday evening low tides at Long Beach (seven days), Twin Harbors (seven days), Copalis (four days), Mocrocks (three days) Nov. 24-30, Sunday-Saturday evening low tides at Long Beach (seven days), Twin Harbors (seven days), Copalis (four days), Mocrocks (three days) Dec. 10-16, Tuesday-Monday evening low tides at Long Beach (seven days), Twin Harbors (seven days), Mocrocks (four days), Copalis (three days) Dec. 23, 26-29, Monday, Thursday-Sunday evening low tides at Long Beach (five days), Twin Harbors (five days), Mocrocks (three days), Copalis (two days) Mocrocks and Copalis openers rotate by day; see wdfw.wa.gov for more. –NWS

With good numbers of razor clams available, marine toxin levels not currently threatening openers and miles and miles of beach to work, razor clammers like the author’s son Tegan Yuasa are smiling about this season’s possibilities. (MARK YUASA)

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Indian Reservation including Iron Springs, Roosevelt, Pacific Beach and Moclips), which has a robust population of razor clams. It is expected to see a slight increase to 1.65 million TAC over last year’s share of 1.5 million.

Ayres says the TAC is down at Kalaloch, from the South Beach campground north to Olympic National Park Beach Trail 3. WDFW plans to get some digging days plugged into the schedule, although they haven’t engaged in talks with national park staff at press time. The clams at Kalaloch are very small, barely 3 inches.

THIS PAST SEASON, there was 58 digging days coast-wide, with 273,000 digger trips producing a harvest of 3.7 million razor clams. Success was also very good, with an average of 13.6 clams per digger trip – a daily limit is the first 15 clams dug regardless of size or condition.

By comparison, the 2017-18 season saw 27 days of digging coastwide producing 257,004 digger trips for a little more than 2.8 million clams harvested for 11.0 clams per digger trip.

A breakdown by coastal beaches showed four opening days at Long Beach (16 days in 2017-18); 53 days at Twin Harbors (18); 20 days at Copalis (12); 33 days at Mocrocks (20); and six days at Kalaloch (none).

The historical average of days open since the 2008-09 season is 45 days at Long Beach (104 in 2014-15 was the most); 49 at Twin Harbors (105 in 2013-14); 21 at Copalis (33 in 2016-17); 31 at Mocrocks (54 in 2013-14); and three at Kalaloch (17 in 2009-10).

Coastwide clam digging was open Oct. 11-13, Oct. 25-28, Nov. 8-11, Nov. 22-25, Dec. 6-9, Dec. 20-23, Jan. 2-6, Jan. 17-21, Feb. 1-3, Feb. 15-21, March 16-17, March 21-24, April 6-8, April 20-22 and May 18-20.

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Northwest Sportsman 151

FISHING communities that rely on these opportunities during the lean tourist times of fall, winter and spring to help boost their economy.

The average value of the clam harvest to communities is estimated at around $25 million, although in strong years it climbs even higher ($35 million in 2012-13, $40-plus million in 2013-14 and around $35 million in 2014-15). During strong years, effort ranged from 400,000 to 450,000 diggers.

WDFW IS KEEPING a close eye on a marine toxin known as domoic acid – a natural toxin produced by certain types of marine algae – which can be harmful or even fatal if consumed in large enough quantities.

Spring and early summer levels were under the 20 parts-per-million (ppm) cutoff, but measurements of a diatom known as Pseudo-nitzschia has increased off Oregon’s North Coast

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and Washington’s South Coast.

“We’re crossing our fingers regarding marine toxins, especially from what we’ve been seeing lately,” Ayres says. “We’re also closely monitoring the warm water we’ve been seeing off the coast. Mother Nature has thrown us a curve ball in past years when we’ve had great seasons like what we expect in 2019 and 2020.”

The entire coast was closed in late May 2015 when domoic acid spiked well above the cut-off level.

Since 1991, when the toxin was first detected on the Pacific Coast, outbreaks of domoic acid have prompted the cancellation of three entire razor-clam seasons in Washington — the last one in 200203. Twin Harbors Beach never opened in 2015-16 as marine toxin levels never dipped below the action level.

Looking ahead, the good news is that the National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Association says ENSO conditions have shifted to neutral.

The El Niño/Southern Oscillation is the interaction between the atmosphere and ocean in the tropical Pacific that results in a somewhat periodic variation between belownormal and above-normal sea surface temperatures and dry and wet conditions over the course of a few years.

WITH DIGS PENCILED in through the end of the year, final approval depends on toxin test results so, again, watch WDFW’s website for the green light.

Digging usually starts sometime in October and continues during good low tidal series all the way through April or May. Fall and winter razor clam digs occur during evening low tides, while springtime digs happen during morning low tides.

For more info, go to wdfw.wa.gov/ fishing/shellfish/razorclams. NS

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ROUGH DAYS AT SEA

The ocean was and wasn’t love at first sight for author Jim Pex, whose first trip was marred by voluminous seasickness and his second with whiteknuckle skippering, but he hasn’t looked back either. (JIM PEX)

First Trips Offshore The author’s an old salt now, but his initial trips onto Oregon’s briny blue were memorable in their own ways.

By Jim Pex

W

hen I was of elementaryschool age, my father brought me from our hometown in Central Oregon to Winchester Bay to go fishing. Winchester Bay used to be called the salmon capital of the West Coast. In those days there were lots of fish and charters often came in with limits of coho.

Dad got us both seats on a charter boat and I was so excited. Getting to go out on a boat in the ocean was an experience by itself, a thrill beyond all thrills. My father and I were the first to get on board and he quickly selected the seats closest to the transom. No

one challenged us for them, as the other fishermen jockeyed for the seats up near the middle of the boat. We just knew these were the best seats.

The deckhand gave us fishing rods and we placed them in the pole holders next to us. Every fisherman had his own pole, including me. Once everyone was seated, the captain gave us some safety instructions and we were underway.

I STILL REMEMBER the waves as we headed out. The boat would climb up the tall waves and come crashing down the other side, sending water spraying over the cabin and onto those of us seated in the back of the boat.

Each time the water came aboard, my father and I got the worst of it, and it was cold. Now I knew why no one had been seeking the transom seats.

The up and down motion of the boat was constant, and my father was not talking, just trying to keep it together. I doubt we were underway more than 15 minutes before he tossed up breakfast. I saw it coming and quickly looked the other way and covered my ears. I was doing OK, but his unmistakable sounds were soon joined by others on the boat. Dad was able to tip his head over the gunnel and cast his stomach contents into the deep without me seeing all the action.

But a woman sitting behind me nwsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019

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had totally lost control. I turned and looked at her at times and she appeared unconscious while her partner held her in her seat. To this day I can still see her. She would awaken, roll around in her seat as the boat moved in the waves, then cast more stomach contents in my direction and lose consciousness again. As if it were a signal, Dad would spew more fluids beside me every time he heard the woman belch forth.

By the time we reached the first can, some others were joining in on the action. Even at my young age, I could not believe people paid good money for this experience. I would cover my ears, close my eyes and turn away from anyone making the guttural sounds and calling out to someone named “Huey!”

Despite the cacophony on deck, I did see a few people catch fish. Even my father’s rod went down, but the deckhand had to bring it in as he was having another conversation with the cold, green waters of the Pacific Ocean.

In spite of it all, I had held up and kept breakfast down for quite some time. Then it happened, my father vomited before I could close my eyes and turn my head. I saw it, and that was all that it took. I heaved up everything.

By now, Dad and I were huddled together trying to cope with the conditions, but sharing the moment each time one of us let go. First, there were the initial tones from the woman behind us, then father and son would join in on the chorus. I was on the inside seat, so I just puked on the floor.

The sight of it added to the aroma and I continued to lose control of everything.

By this time, neither of us wanted to be on that boat. We were miserable and the seas were not letting up.

My parents were divorced, and I think we made this trip so dad and I could do some bonding. We did.

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Richard Pex, Jim’s dad, “loved to fish” – here he is with a salmon caught in the 1980s – but he only made only one trip onto the ocean with his son, a memorable bonding experience. (JIM PEX)

It seemed like an eternity, but we finally got back to the dock. There the deckhand smiled and handed us our fish. We took them to the cleaning table, but the sight of guts gave both of us the dry heaves. We were weak and exhausted, and there was nothing left to come up. I don’t recall what we did with the fish, but I know that was the last time my father set foot on a boat going onto the ocean.

In later years my father would tell us about the end of World War II and his return to the United States.

His company made the trip back to America on the Queen Mary, one of the largest vessels afloat at that time.

He related that he puked every day of the crossing, and all he could do was lie on his back in a bunk. If he got up, he puked. I have no idea why he thought he could do a charter fishing trip, but for purposes of bonding, it was memorable.

AS AN ADULT, I obtained employment in Eugene and that put me within a couple hours of the ocean. I did not know anyone who had an ocean boat

but I just could not get past the call of the sea either. I would take the family to Newport or Winchester Bay and wander the beaches, watching the waves and the sea life that passed by. Then we would always stop by the fish-cleaning station to see what people were catching. It was clear in my mind that I needed a boat.

For weeks I studied the want ads, Craigslist and the Boat Trader looking for something trailerable and affordable. I did not have much of a budget, considering I had a house, four children and a wife. I finally came upon a fiberglass boat that had not been used in a long time. Stored in a barn, it was for sale at a good price and needed some work, which I was willing to do.

I purchased the 20-foot fiberglass Apollo boat and took it home. It was equipped with a V8 engine and an outdrive. There was a slight problem in that we lived in town and did not have much room to store a boat. So I parked it in the driveway and was very proud of my new purchase, a potential dream come true. I don’t think my neighbors were as excited about this apparent eyesore, as they did mention it a few times.

But I shined up the hull, and worked on the engine and got it running. Just one problem: The wooden stringers under the motor mounts were rotten and the boat could not be used until I fixed this problem. The motor needed to be attached to something solid, so I spent hours upside down in the hold with a chisel and hammer cleaning out the old wood and opening up the fiberglass. I was finally able to insert some pressure treated wood and fiber-glassed it in to support the engine. Later I found a cheap depth finder and Loran and installed them as well. I was ready to fish. I just needed a place to go and some brave fishermen to go along.

There was another slight problem: I had never taken a sport boat on the ocean. In fact, I had not been on the

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nwsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019

Northwest Sportsman 157

ROUGH DAYS AT SEA

ocean since my childhood experience with my father. Checking around with my friends I found two, Hugh and Jim, who said they had ocean experience and would go with me. So on a Friday afternoon, we loaded all our fishing poles and other gear into the boat and left Eugene for Winchester Bay, where we’d heard the bite was on for coho.

A couple hours later we pulled into the parking lot at Winchester and could hardly contain our excitement for the next day’s fishing adventure.

The afternoon wind was up but we figured we would be out early and back before it picked up the next day.

None of us had much money, so we slept on the boat that night. The three of us told stories while in our sleeping bags. There wasn’t much room, but it was doable. I found it difficult to sleep because the wind was blowing so hard that it was rocking the boat while it was still on the trailer. We ended up talking most of the night and finally dozed off in the early hours of the morning.

BEFORE DAYLIGHT WE were up and ready to go. One look outside found the fog as thick as pea soup, so we launched and just tied up in the boat basin in anticipation of the fog clearing. Not long after daylight, the wind picked up and blew off the fog.

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The call of the sea was strong with Pex, who recalls wandering the beaches on the Oregon Coast and needing a boat. Eventually he acquired a 20-foot fiberglass Apollo, background, which needed a wee bit of work to make seaworthy. (JIM PEX)

We three musketeers motored out into the bay and headed for the bar. I saw a few boats go out, so I thought it must be OK. I had no idea what to look for, so I followed the south jetty out. A Coast Guard vessel was sitting on the bar and with an incoming tide, the passage to the ocean did not look too bad. They honked their horn at us, and we honked back, not sure at the time what that meant; heck, maybe they were just being friendly. Hugh and Jim did not say anything, so I just continued out.

As I reflect back on that moment, I’m not sure their silence was from confidence or fear. When we got to the bar, the waves seemed pretty high but they were just rollers, not breaking. Once past the bar, we got our gear in the water and fished for a couple hours without so much as a bite. By this time the tide had changed to outgoing, the wind picked up and the fog rolled back in. I got disoriented in the fog and it took all three of us following a deck compass and moving north to find a jetty.

There was another small problem: Which jetty were we looking at? There is a north jetty and a south jetty. It’s hard to tell which one you are facing when you can’t see the other one in the fog. The Loran worked, but we did

not know how to interpret the data.

About this time, the Coast Guard got on the radio to tell boaters they were going to close the bar. If you were out on the ocean, you had best get back in. I looked at my two experts and realized they did not know any more about what to do than I did. It was time for panic with this sudden revelation and my heart rate was doing mach ten. Going in on the wrong side of the jetty could put me on the beach.

The swell was getting tall with the outgoing tide and we were running out of time as we waited outside the jetties.

I did not know what to do. Suddenly a charter boat appeared out of the fog, turned around and went back in. I am sure it was divine intervention; the good Lord was pointing the way back home. I quickly lost sight of the charter in the fog, but I now knew which side of the jetty to follow upriver. I hit the throttle just as the Coast Guard was closing the bar to all recreational boats.

The wind was whistling by now and I was trying to get on the back of a swell to ride it in; at least that is what I thought I was supposed to do.

Problem was, these were standing waves and the current was running out. I managed to get up enough speed to top a swell, fly down the inside and then jump onto another standing wave.

After what seemed like hours, we reached the inner bay where it made a turn to port. We all breathed a big sigh; we were going to make it. The fog had thinned as we’d run inland and we could see the Coast Guard station now and they were flying two flags. I knew enough to know that meant gale force winds. The three of us were glad to be inside and slowly made our way to the boat landing a few more hundred yards up the river. We had no fish, but were happy to be there.

THERE WERE SEVERAL people around the landing, but nobody was volunteering to catch our boat at the dock. I told Hugh and Jim I would motor up easy to the dock into the wind. They could

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ROUGH DAYS AT SEA

then jump out and hold the boat while I went and got the pickup and trailer.

All went as planned as I inched my way to the dock, where they jumped out and grabbed the railing. I was about to shut off the engine when they shouted that they could not hold the boat in the wind. I went back to the helm and immediately put the boat in reverse. I would simply back up, go around the dock and let the wind push the boat up to the dock. The solution to the wind was that simple.

I put the boat in reverse and started backing up. But there was a problem: As I was looking back toward the transom, I could not get the boat to respond to the wheel. We were not turning as I expected.

Then I heard a loud voice up front and turned around to see Jim hanging from the bow railing at the front of the boat. Both of his hands gripped the rail and his feet were in the water.

His head was just high enough over the bow that I could see the fear in his wide eyes. Apparently he had failed to let go of the boat in time and lost his balance. Grabbing the rail on the boat 160 Northwest Sportsman

OCTOBER 2019 | nwsportsmanmag.com

With two friends claiming experience on the ocean, Pex and pals headed for Winchester Bay for what would be another memorable trip on the ocean – two for two! (JIM PEX)

was all that prevented him from doing a swan dive into the water.

“Hang on, Jim,” I yelled, “and I will get you back to the dock.”

For the dock to hold its position, there are steel pilings every 10 feet.

When I hit the throttle, the boat jumped forward. In the attempt to get Jim to the dock, I scraped him off on one of the pilings and in a splash, he was in the water. I backed up this time to sounds of more yelling. It was probably better that I could not hear the words in the wind.

Hugh reached out and grabbed Jim by the back of the life jacket and pulled him out of the water and onto the dock. I was doing my best not to laugh, but you can only bite your lip for so long. Somewhere there must be a word for a hilarious disaster. It would be appropriate here – maybe calamity?

The folks around the dock had stopped to watch the show but made no attempt to assist. From shoreside, it had to be funny.

The boat responded now when I shifted in reverse and I went around the dock and let the wind push me

in. As I tied off, Jim sloshed up to me and said he was physically OK, but in front of several laughing people, his feelings were a little hurt. I apologized profusely but could not help but laugh too as I watched the water drain from his clothing as he sloshed back up the dock making that “swish, swish” sound on his way to dry land.

We got the boat out of the water, Jim put on some dry clothes and we finally had a good laugh together on the way home.

We had no fish to our credit, but we had had a lifetime of memories from a weekend with more thrills than three guys could have imagined. It all could have ended differently, but it didn’t. NS Editor’s note: Author Jim Pex is an avid angler based out of Coos Bay and who enjoys fishing for albacore, salmon and rockfish. He is retired and was previously CEO of International Forensic Experts LLC and a lieutenant with the Oregon State Police at its crime laboratory. Pex is the author of CSI: Moments from a Career in Forensic Science, available through Amazon.

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Northwest Sportsman 161

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FISHING

The Summers Of Fall As the leaves turn and rivers rise again, the steelhead bite is rekindled, as is Sara.

By Sara Ichtertz

T

here are many things in life that in all honesty are easy for me to let go of. The end of a Southern Oregon summer is one of them. Not only because the heat is sick, chances are it’s smoky as all get out. I crave rubber boots, jeans and hoodies, my favorite attire nowadays, it seems. The valley below the woods is beyond dead and I truly believe the river and the rolling hills are even more excited for the fog to return than I. Once the maples in my forest display their stunning shade of golden yellow, it’s safe to say fall is upon us. When the nights turn cool and the fog returns, hugging itself tightly against the river and the hayfields each morning, my biteless banks once more regain life. Without a doubt I can feel the late-run summers of my region calling me loud and clear without ever even saying a word.

THERE ARE FISH and then there are steelhead to me. At the same time there are steelhead, and then there are summers! Summers stole my heart quite some time ago and so each year as the water warms and that beautiful early-run bite fades, my heart would

The turning of the leaves and cooling of the days are a signal for author Sara Icthertz to return to her beloved Southern Oregon summer steelhead river. (SARA ICHTERTZ) nwsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019

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FISHING

It might have been lonely by herself, but the fall fishing trips fed Sara’s soul, as well as her family when hatchery steelhead bit her offerings. (SARA ICHTERTZ)

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sink. But as I continued my hunting three runs in, I could feel it in my soul.

Those cold mornings called me. Not knowing what I might find the river hunter in me set out.

The leaves are rustling and it has indeed cooled down. October is like a rebirth to my river and our entire region after the heat of summer. The first rains in far too long typically come this month, along with the most welcoming of early morning brrrs. These key things turn on the bite and when you give a little time and devotion to the river, you just might find all the summers your tugless heart could desire.

Last October was just that. School was back in session for the babes and all Mom needed was to find the time.

Find the time despite the colossal changing world that was my life. I was being pulled in every direction except toward the river and steelhead, and yet I could feel them both. The river feeds my soul and helps me even when I am not struggling, so I knew I had to put me first when I was able to and make time to get my ass to the water!

I was trying to take care of my mother after surgery, tend the babes, work at an office job, and recover from a pretty serious concussion. Sara was in bad shape. In the early mornings I could feel that the fish were here, but even so I wasn’t quite right to go hunt them on my own. I knew I had to wait and so I did for a few more days. The thought of a buddy wasn’t bad, as for the first time in my life I was really hurt, but to go on my own was all I really desired. I am that selfish fisherman; if the steelhead were there, I would happily fish till my heart’s content before I shared my fishy news with most anyone. I just needed to get right.

Ten days after I cracked my noggin an evening came when I was without extreme pain and the mild confusion in my thought process didn’t appear to be there. Just a minor headache.

It was time.

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Northwest Sportsman 165

FISHING

Sand shrimp is a hot bait this time of year, no matter far from the saltwater the steelhead have come, though they’re not always easy to procure. (SARA ICHTERTZ)

ARRIVING TO AN untouched bank I had a good feeling. Not a cigarette butt in sight. No garbage, no roe, not a trace. She was untouched and she was all mine. I had that feeling, that beautiful feeling that the fish were here. The river had come up a bit and she looked fishy.

These late-run summers differ from the hottest of hot early-run fish.

Trial and error have led me to find they love bait this time of year. Not tiny glistening beads of perfection, but old-school bait.

Rigging my IMX 1104-2c paired

“When we can feel the fish calling us, we should all do ourselves a favor and answer them,” Ichtertz writes. (SARA ICHTERTZ)

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with a Curado 200HG I chose a tiny bait of natural eggs, along with a very small 8mm BnR soft bead. It was brighter than my eggs, a good combination of red and orange.

Taking a good gander at it I declared it late-summer-run yummy. Casting out I found the bottom of the river, like many of you know I love to do.

I instantly felt better even though on my first drift I felt nothing more than the beautiful bounce of the river. My lead was perfect and so I cast out again.

There it was! Bounce, bounce, life! That undeniable feeling of life. I set my hook with conviction and the fight was on.

There I was, just me and the fish.

No worries, no guarantees, focusing on nothing more than the fish and the river in front of me. To my surprise this hatchery summer-run steelhead was pissed beyond all reason. She was black and silver as if she hadn’t been in the river system long. Erupting out of the water she showed me such beauty that I wanted her bad, and when she finally submitted I tailed her without a soul in sight.

With hardly any daylight left I bled my harvest and headed home elated to know they were there. I also knew I needed one thing that I did not possess. Sand shrimp.

Finding these little critters that steelhead love isn’t always easy when you are an inlander. Knowing the fall fishing that was taking place at the

coast I worked my magic (thank you for helping a lady out!) and was able to get my hands on a couple dozen small sand shrimp, a couple of times.

Keeping their container clean and treating them like the prize possession that they were I made the very most of that brief window of time. Those fish would reach out and grab that bait with conviction over and over!

That first headshake of it all, when they fiercely want what’s given them, is beautiful! Even if they elude me I just love connecting with those fish.

I think the bait reminds them of the ocean, where these fish spend the majority of their lives. I am amazed by the show these late-run summers put on even so far upriver simply because they cannot resist sand shrimp.

I HAD A sweet chunk of time where I selfishly kept my lip tightly buttoned to almost everyone and made it to the river while juggling my everchanging life. Connecting with one summer after the other I realized that yes, it’s true, fishing the river is very therapeutic, though it’s not like what you would get from a therapist.

No, it’s just the opposite. I love how when you are in the moment it is as if nothing else matters. All the worries of my world were still there though they were not present. In those moments I was not in deep thought about what I was going to do. I was busy focusing on my bait, the water,

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and the fish that lie there waiting for me. Nothing more than what was right in front of me.

Wild and fishy me fought fish up and down my bank. Overflowing my rubber boots, soaking my jeans without a care in the world. Wild hens that wouldn’t give up. Funny thing is neither would I, and the hooksets, they were beauties. The worlds of these wild creatures and my own collided in the most personal kind of way. No one to guide me, boss me, watch me, judge me. No words spoken, just feeling this one-of-a-kind energy from the environment that I am in, from the river, and her steelhead.

All I cared was that the wild ones were handled with care and that hatchery fish came home for dinner.

There are few things in life that allow us to truly let go of our brain’s burdens and for me it’s found within the river. The passion of the pursuit is one of kind, allowing us to free our minds as we hunt the river. When we can feel the fish calling, we should do ourselves a favor and answer them.

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DURING THAT SPAN of time I caught my fill. I felt both physically and mentally better, and walked away from October ready for the uncharted waters of life that awaited me.

These fish help me in ways no amount of therapy ever could. They have never let me down even when they have broken my heart. My devotion to them as the years fly by has made it perfectly clear to those who know me best. I fish for me and the joy that brings into my life.

Nothing more, nothing less.

I know that in order to live a fulfilled life we must never deny our soul of the passions that truly call us. There are many things in my life I can go without, though steelhead are not one of them. My heart is on the river and I couldn’t change it, even if I tried. NS Editor’s note: For more on Sara’s adventures, see For The Love Of The Tug on Facebook. nwsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2019

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COLUMN

Koke Search Turns Up Trout At Roesiger I

arrive at the county park on the east side of Lake Roesiger with only a couple hours of daylight remaining. I THE KAYAK GUYS hurry to offload my gear

By Scott Brenneman and get in the water as soon as possible. I push off and use my paddle to propel to deeper water. I grab the handle to deploy the rudder. It is stuck. Back to shore I go, to free the rope that got wedged in the rudder’s

pulley system.

As I am reinstalling the rudder pulley on the kayak, a paddleboarder strikes up a conversation. I tell him that I am a firsttimer to this Western Washington lake.

He is eager to tell me how good the bass fishing is here. He says he’s out on his board every chance he gets.

With limited time, my approach is to gather as much information as quickly as possible about Roesiger, and maybe catch a fish or two while I am at it. Peddling out, I

veer off to check on the paddleboarder. He is tossing a crankbait. Most of his catches are in the 3-pound range, with his biggest largemouth weighing in at 5 pounds. He targets the flats in front of the county park, as well as the docks to the south. I make a mental note to bring some bass gear on a future visit.

THE MAIN REASON I want to fish Roesiger is that it has kokanee. The landlocked sockeye are self-sustaining here, which has a certain

It was naturally producing kokanee that called author Scott Brenneman to Lake Roesiger, in the foothills of Snohomish County’s Cascade Mountains, but cutthroat trout were answering. (SCOTT BRENNEMAN)

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COLUMN Just like most local lakes, Roesiger also has largemouth, perch and crappie for spinyray anglers to target. This paddleboarder enjoys getting out after bass here. (SCOTT BRENNEMAN)

appeal. The 342-acre Snohomish County lake is 11 miles north of Monroe; it has a remote vibe but is not that far out of the way. It is also stocked with rainbow trout and has a robust warmwater fishery that includes black crappie and yellow perch.

I turn up the gain on my sonar because I want to see everything below me. I start to speed fish the lower lake. The thermocline line is easily identified on the sonar screen.

I drop my gear, trolling a spot at various speeds and depths. After a couple of minutes of no action I reel up and move.

I start to troll my way to the north end

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of the lake. Roesiger has three distinct basins; the south and north ends are connected by a middle basin. This middle section is defined by two narrow passages.

It is shallow and mostly covered with lily pads. I see no reason to fish this section, except if I were targeting warmwater fish.

There are many docks here and around the lake to toss soft plastics under.

I peddle my Hobie tandem at full throttle through the shallows, passing up a pontoon boat. I approach the narrow passage that defines the middle of the lake. The water shallows to 2 feet with a

rocky bottom. Once clear the depth quickly increases to 40 feet and the sonar lights up with returns all over the screen. Small trout after trout consistently breach the surface along this stretch as the twilight sky gives hints of darkness to come.

A fellow kayak angler is fishing the eastern shoreline. He is having some success catching perch. I continue on, exploring the north section of the lake in search of kokanee returns on the fish finder.

But with daylight fading fast, I am forced to make way back to the south. I have a good 30 minutes to fish the bottom end of the lake before it is completely dark. Good returns are depicted on the sonar and I feel like I am in a fishy spot, but no evening bite materializes for me. I rationalize that I didn’t expect to catch any fish and spent more time covering water than actually fishing.

DRIVING HIGHWAY 2, there are a few thick pockets of fog but for the most part the early morning radiation fog is transparent, giving way to clear skies above. After a day off, I am on my way back to Lake Roesiger

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COLUMN Of the lake’s three lobes, the northern and southern ones are deepest and most suited for trolling. The two put-ins are at the south end. Fall offers good fishing for trout and perch. (SCOTT BRENNEMAN)

for part two. Today I have until noon to find and catch some fish.

My arrival is too early for the county park gate to be opened, so I use the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife boat launch at the south end.

I paddle out and start trolling the east shoreline. I work my way to the spot that felt fishy to me the other night. I don’t use a downrigger, so to locate fish I am using a salmon mooching rod with a linecounter

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reel and 3 ounces of weight. A dodger is attached 3 feet behind my slip sinker and a God’s Tooth rainbow trout spoon is clipped to a 12-inch leader. Setting up off a point in 65 feet of water, I feed out 30 feet of line.

The hookup is immediate. I slowly winch the fish in with my unsporty meat stick. I botch the net job a couple times before landing the fish. I do a double take at the fish in the net because I expected it to be a rainbow. Instead it is a well-

proportioned 12-inch cutthroat.

Spooling out 50 feet of line I drop down below the thermocline. Again the hookup is swift and I land another nice cutthroat.

Next I send down 70 feet of line, but with no action in five minutes I reel up and put the meat stick away.

I am not sure if they are plants or naturally reproducing trout but I am definitely in the middle of a really good early morning bite, all cutthroat. I switch to a lighter rod and 1 ounce of weight, which is a better fit for these scrappy footlongs. Adjusting speed and line length to get into the zone I continue to enjoy the morning action.

After the bite dries up, I move on to the north in search of kokanee. I troll for a couple hours with no luck. Still, I do identify on the sonar some areas where kokanee were holding and which I will return to at a later date.

Lake Roesiger has something to offer year-round. There seems to always be something to catch. You just need to bring ample tackle and be flexible enough to target what is biting when you are there. NS

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