ENDANGERED SPECIES — Wildlife agents plan to use a helicopter to drive deer into nets TODAY (March 19) at a refuge along the Columbia River at Cathlamet, Wash.

They hope to capture about a dozen endangered Columbian white-tailed deer at the Julia Butler-Hansen Refuge to move them to a refuge near Ridgefield.

An effort that began in January to move about 50 deer isn’t going as well as wildlife officials hoped, according to the Daily News:

• Agents have captured 23 deer, but one died while being transported, apparently from stress.
• Another was later found dead and three more were killed at Ridgefield by a coyote or other predator.

Officials are moving the deer because they fear a dike will break, flooding the refuge.

POACHING — Up to $5,000 in rewards is being offered for a tip that leads to the conviction of the culprits in the latest spree poaching case in Eastern Washington.

Five white-tailed deer, including two bucks and three does, were discovered in the Grand Coulee area of Lincoln County on Saturday with only the backstrap and hindquarters removed. The deer were shot and left to rot just a few feet from each other, and appeared to be fairly fresh kills.

This is the sixth multiple-deer poaching incident documented in Eastern Washington this winter, including two incidents in Spokane County.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is offering a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual(s) responsible for this spree killing and the Human Society of the United States has pledged another $2,500.

Information can be submitted anonymously:

1. Contact Officer Wood in Lincoln County, (509) 892-1001.
2. Call the state Poaching Hotline, (877) 933-9847.
3. Email the tip to reportpoaching@dfw.wa.gov.
4. Text the information to TIP411 (847411).

ENDANGERED SPECIES — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is in the process of moving about 50 Columbian white-tailed deer from a refuge near Cathlamet where they could drown because an old dike is expected to fail.

If they didn’t drown the deer — the western-most subspecies of white-tailed deer — might die of hypothermia of starvation, setting back efforts to restore the animals, a state endangered species.

The Daily News reports the deer are being moved from the Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge to another federal preserve near Ridgefield.

Work began in January and 11 deer had been moved as of Tuesday. Wildlife agents are taking special care while darting or netting the deer to avoid stress that could kill them.

Columbian white-tailed deer are native to parts of southwest Washington and northwest Oregon.

The Columbian white-tailed deer was federally listed as endangered in 1968, at which time only a small population was known to survive on islands and a small area of mainland in Washington along the lower Columbia River. In 1978, a small population of Columbian white-tailed deer was identified in Douglas County, in Southwest Oregon, and subsequently listed as endangered. A recovery plan was published in 1983. Since then, the Douglas County population has rebounded and was delisted in July 2003.

POACHING — The Idaho Department of Fish and Game is seeking information on the illegal shooting of three deer within the boundaries of Dalton Gardens, a small community in Kootenai County just north of Coeur d’Alene. 

The incidents occurred between Thursday, February 7 and Saturday February 9.

A buck, a doe and a fawn whitetail deer were each found dead, each shot with a small caliber bullet.  The three carcasses were found at two different locations within Dalton Gardens.  The deer were all left to waste.

The deer season in northern Idaho is currently closed, so the shooting of a deer is a violation of state wildlife laws. 

Discharging a firearm within the city limits of Dalton Gardens is also illegal.

Anyone with information regarding these incidents should contact the Idaho Fish and Game Department at 769-1414; or, the Citizens Against Poaching (CAP) hotline, at 1 800 632-5999. 

Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a CAP reward if the information provided leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible.

WILDLIFE WATCHING — Here's a rut report from eagle-eye Curlew resident Foster Fanning to go with his photo, above:

Pursuing passions in the wild…

Had a unique opportunity to watch a whitetail stag in courtship with a young doe Friday. A ruckus in the cottonwood grove across the Kettle River from my home caught our attention. Three whitetail deer were running, the does flashing the ‘danger’ signal they are named for. Watching for a moment we sorted out that a large four-point male was in pursuit of one of the young does.

They had dashed down off the river bank, splashing through the shallows and across the gavel bar. The doe managed to double back and before the buck realized and changed direction she had again jumped off the river bank and made her way under a hanging rootwad and rapidly dropped to the ground and went completely still and silent. The buck caught her scent and doubled back himself but ended up momentarily losing track of the subject of his lust. He walked the riverbank sniffing the air.

About that time I had set up camera and tripod in my yard across the river. The buck as well as pursued doe, now in hiding, took note of me. My presence wasn’t enough to throw him off the chase, but things slowed quite a bit.

I caught this image of the courtship, showing part of the story; the buck in pursuit, the doe in hiding and the proximity of their courtship. End of the story, as far as we could see was the doe springing to her feet and fleeing into the brush, almost tempting the buck with how close she passed to him. Of course, he took off in hot pursuit.

It will give me a pause to wonder when I view next year’s spotted fawns if maybe, just maybe…

WILDLIFE — Most deer hunters retreated to the great indoors after the late whitetail buck hunting season in northeastern Washington closed on Monday.

But the bucks are still in the rut. Conceptions typically are peaking right around today.

Montana outdoor photographer Jaime Johnson caught the buck (above) showing there's a lot of hard work to do out there maintaining the whitetail populations, but somebody's got to do it.

Said Johnson:

We managed to get into the whitetail pretty heavy today. We witnessed many bucks heavy in the rut. This guy was located in some pretty thick stuff. He decided to stop chasing the does long enough to… Let us get this image!

POACHING — Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife enforcement officers are seeking information about a Spokane-area spree killing involving at least three deer.

The poaching incident occurred last week near the intersection of Madison and Thorpe Roads near the Painted Hills Golf Course.  Three white-tailed deer were shot from the road in a “no-shooting” area at about 6:30 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 10, says Madonna Luers, department spokeswoman.

Two of the deer were left injured and paralyzed in the field.  One of the deer was taken.

Anyone with information about this crime is encouraged to call the Spokane Regional WDFW Office, (509) 892-1001 and ask for Officer Douglas King. 

Information can also be called in to the WDFW poaching hotline at 877-933-9847, or texted to TIP411.

Persons providing information that leads to the arrest of the person(s) responsible for these poachings may be eligible for a reward and may remain anonymous.

HUNTING — While elk hunting in the Blue Mountains last week, I saw whitetails at elevation 5400 feet — and I also saw several scrapes.

But Montana outdoor photographer Jaime Johnson saw more than that on Thursday.

We spent most of yesterday chasing whitetails. We noticed several does with roughed up back hair. We also saw several bucks whose necks were swollen and witnessed several jousting. It was raining off and on, but we stuck with it and ended up with over a hundred good images!

The large buck was pretty messed up – he was kicking everyone’s butt. We affectionately called him Duke (he walked sideways like John Wayne and didn’t take crap from anyone).

POACHING — Five deer were shot, killed and left to rot north of Reardan around Oct. 4, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife police said today.

It’s the second five-deer spree-poaching case the agency has investigated in the Spokane Region in two weeks.

The Lincoln County deer included three bucks and two does shot with small-caliber firearms in and near an alfalfa field.

In late September, five whitetails were found dead in another case north of Spokane Valley after spotlighting activity was noticed near the intersecton of Farwell and Peck roads. Two fawns in that case had been run over by a vehicle; the others shot.

It's honorable to rat on scumbag poachers, but you can also earn hefty rewards or bonus points offered for information leading to arrests in these cases.

Call the agency’s regional office in Spokane, (509) 892-1001. 

WILDLIFE — The mating season for white-tailed deer is a month or more away, but bucks already are tuning up.

 

For the past week, we’ve noticed the whitetail rattling antlers. Nothing serious, more for fun.

Tonight we observed these bucks jousting. One would watch while the other two rattled antlers.

Then they would switch and the observer would join in while another watched.

HUNTING — Tough times for deer in a corner of Wyoming, similar to the outbreak that swept through portions of Montana two years ago:

Whitetail deer die-off in NE Wyoming worst in decades
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department said epizootic hemorrhagic disease, or EHD, a disease spread by a biting gnat, has caused the worst die-off of whitetail deer in northeast Wyoming in decades.

BIG GAME — Antlers raw from freshly shed velvet, this whitetail buck's clock is ticking toward the rut.

The image was made last week by Montana outdoor photographer Jaime Johnson.

TRAPPING — I believe Washington's approval of a 1995 citizen's initiative that bans lethal traps would prohibit this method of filling your freezer with venison.  Just sayin'.

WILDLIFE WATCHING — The party's over for elk.  Bull moose have given up on the girls.  Deer are losing their urges and getting serious about consuming enough calories to endure the winter.

Meanwhile, bighorn sheep are getting it on.

December is the peak of the rut for the masters of rock ledges, as the males earn their names by ramming heads together to determine who's the fittest to breed.

The bighorn ram pictured above is lip-curling at the beginning of December much as the whitetail buck was as it entered its peak of breeding in November.  

Wildlife photographer Jaime Johnson of Lincoln, Mont., captured the similar behavior of both animals with his camera.

When bucks or rams come to where a doe or ewe has urinated, they often curl their lips to trap the female's odor in their nose and mouth and analyze the scent for clues to the female's estrus stage.

BOWHUNTING — Idaho archers have about two weeks to shop for a whitetail buck before Christmas.

Rutting activity lingers in the West as Idaho Panhandle bowhunters take their last shot in a season that opens Saturday in selected units and runs through Dec. 24.

They're too late for a chance at the bruiser pictured above, taken by Spokane dog trainer Dan Hoke at the edge of a clearcut near Lake Pend Oreille while the rut was still hot and heavy just before the rifle seasons ended.

But hunters and wildlife watchers are seeing more of the same across the region. In fact, bucks in some areas appear to be in a peak phase of covering ground.

In Eastern Washington, where most of the archery buck hunting opportunity will end Dec. 15, Brandon Enevold of Spokane says bucks are still defending areas in pursuit of late-estrus does.

Read on for his recent field observations and those of a local farmer

HUNTING — The fat lady has sung for deer hunting seasons in Montana and for rifle hunters in Idaho, but late seasons are still giving hunters a few shots at whitetails in designated areas of eastern Washington.

And the rut's still on to some degree throughout the region.

Remember, the Nov. 20-21 peak of whitetail conceptions pegged by research in the northwestern states is only the top of the bell curve. As we move into the holidays, the season's breedings are on the downhill slope, but there's still action out there for bucks — and hunters.

The Idaho archery hunts open Dec. 10.

With just days remaining in most of the eastern Washington late bowhunting seasons, Chris van Kempen tagged the nice wall-hanger above by taking advantage of the buck's lingering desire to make sure every doe is bred and every competitor is challenged.

“I went out this afternoon got into my stand and did a few rattling sets,” he reported Friday. “On the third set, I was able to rattle this buck in to 30 yards! It was awesome I was only in the stand for about a hour and 20 min.”

Yes, I have the urge to kick Chris out of jealousy, too — but not before giving him a high-five. 

OUTDOOR EDUCATION — Local sportsmens groups are sponsoring two programs of interest this week in Spokane.

Unfortunately for the universal sportsman, both programs are set for Tuesday starting at 7 p.m..

• Steelhead fisheries in Washington, and update on Olympic Peninsula’s Elwha River Dam removal, by Rob Masoni, Trout Unlimited Western vice president, Tuesday at Northern Lights Brewery, 1003 E. Trent Ave. Sponsored by TU Spokane Falls Chapter.
• Whitetail deer research project in northeastern Washington, by Woody Myers, Fish and Wildlife Department wildlife biologist, Tuesday at Inland Northwest Wildlife Council auditorium, 6116 N. Market St. Sponsored by Inland NW Wildlife Council.

WILDLIFE — Yesterday I ran the True/False portion of a quiz to let you test how much you know about the white-tailed deer that flourish from our yards to wheatfields and from river bottoms to modest forest elevations across the nation.

Here's Part 2 of the  DEER QUIZ prepared by Whitetails Unlimited  to see how much you know about the whitetail's biology, behavior and history.

PART 2: Multiple Choice

1) Deer are a member of the Cervidae family. What other animal is not included in this family.
a) Moose
b) Elk
c) Sheep
d) Caribou

2) The scientific name of the white-tailed deer is “Odocoileus Virginianus,” and was named in 1832. What does “Odocoileus Virginianus” mean?
a) “Ocean Virgin”
b) “Odious Vinegar”
c) “Hollow-tooth Virginia”
d) “Outdoor Vigorous”

3) Modern deer have two toes. How many toes did the deer's ancient ancestors have?
a) 2
b) 3
c) 4
d) 5

4) In the wild, deer can live as long as:
a) 7 years
b) 11 years
c) 18 years
d) 24 years

5) When deer run from danger, they flip their tail up and expose the white underside. What evolutionary purpose does this serve?
a) The white color confuses the predator, since deer are usually brown to grey in color.
b) The tail alerts other deer and provides an object for fawns to follow their mother.
c) The white looks like an eye, making the predator think the deer is running the other direction.
d) When deer run, blood pressure rises causing blood vessels in the tail to inflate.

6) Under good conditions, how much food would an average adult deer eat per day?
a) 1-3 pounds
b) 5-9 pounds
c) 11-15 pounds
d) 17-21 pounds

7) Does will normally have one fawn the first year they breed. After this, how many fawns will they normally have?
a) One
b) Twins
c) Triplets
d) Quadruplets

8) Newborn fawns weigh about 4-6 pounds. How long does it take for them to double their weight?
a) One week
b) Two weeks
c) One month
d) Two months

9) Deer are very adaptable, and have evolved into a number of subspecies. How many subspecies are there in North America?
a) 12
b) 19
c) 24
d) 30

10) In 1900 the total population of white-tailed deer in North America was estimated to be 500,000 animals. What is the estimated population of white-tailed deer today?
a) 500,000
b) 5-10 million
c) 20-30 million
d) 75 million

Read on for the answers.

WILDLIFE — How much do you know about the white-tailed deer that flourish from our yards to wheatfields and from river bottoms to modest forest elevations across the nation?

The whitetail is the most popular big-game animal in North America, prized by hunters and wildlife viewers alike. It's a prime example of an animal that adapts and perseveres.

Take this  DEER QUIZ prepared by Whitetails Unlimited  to see how much you know about the whitetail's biology, behavior and history.

PART 1: True / False

1) Deer are strong swimmers, in part because they have a layer of hair that is hollow, providing buoyancy in the water.

2) Deer have existed for 20 million years, and have had the same basic form for the last one million years.

3) Deer can run in excess of 35 miles per hour.

4) Deer can leap over fences eight feet tall.

5) Deer can cover 30 feet in a horizontal leap.

6) Just like humans, deer have a set of “baby teeth” that fall out and are replaced by permanent teeth.

7) You can tell how old a male deer is by how many points there are on his antlers.

8) Deer use their antlers during the winter to dig for food under the snow.

9) When antlers grow, they are covered with “velvet,” a soft, fuzzy tissue. This velvet is the only regenerating skin found in mammals.

10) Like cows, deer have four stomachs.

11) Deer can eat poison ivy without ill effect.

12) Deer are native to every state in the U.S.

13) The reason fawns are born with a pattern of white spots is so the mother can recognize her offspring.

14) Deer have extraordinary senses, including sight, hearing and smell.

15) Newborn deer have no scent, and the mother will place the fawn by itself in a secluded spot for protection against predators.

Read on to see the answers. Tune in tomorrow for Part 2 of the DEER QUIZ.

HUNTING — It ain't over 'til it's over, as the saying goes.

The whitetail rut might be winding down in some areas, but it's still a positive factor for hunters who have tagged big bucks in the past couple of days.

Bowhunters in eastern Washington's late archery season are effectively using calls and scents for bucks on the prowl.

Before climbing into his stand for the afternoon on Sunday, Joel Enevold said he freshened nearby scrapes with Tink's 69 doe-in-rut buck lure. He barely got settled in his stand at 1 p.m. before he spotted the “split brow-tine” buck he'd been seeing in the trail cam photos. The bruiser was working a scrape. The buck slowly but surely kept coming in, sniffed the air below Enevold's stand and posed for a storybook archery shot that dropped him five yards from where he was hit.

“This buck is the largest I have taken since the age of 15 and I feel very fortunate to have had the chance to harvest such a great animal,” he said.

Meantime, his brother passed up two 4x4 bucks that afternoon. “Both bucks were grunting up a storm, and one buck decided to stop 20 yards away and shred a tree for a few minutes,” Brandon Enevold said. “Bucks seem to be actively searching for does and traveling with their noses close to the ground.”

He's confident his time will come before the season expires.