Hunting & Fishing

Deer hunting

With most upland game birds somewhat scarce this year as the result of storms during their nesting seasons, many would-be bird hunters will join deer hunters in Eastern Washington this weekend.

Wildlife biologists expect deer hunting to be good throughout most of Eastern Washington. They’ve said hunters should do as well this year as last, when 27 percent of 57,000 hunters tagged bucks and does.

The whitetail populations of northeastern Washington are increasing despite a poor fawn crop last year. About 80 per cent of deer tagged in the northeast corner are whitetails. The other 20 percent are mule deer.

Visibility will be poor in most whitetail areas because the weather hasn’t been severe enough to eliminate leaves from deciduous trees. However, hunters should have little difficulty moving around without alarming the deer. Periodic rainstorms the last few weeks have dampened ground and twigs.

As usual, scores of hunters are expected to go after bucks along the Snake River breaks this weekend. Only bucks with three points on each side are legal.

The Mayview unit (GMU 145) was the most productive unit in the state last year, with 37 percent of hunters tagging bucks. The unit should produce again this year.

Campgrounds along the Snake will be jammed this weekend.

The Okanogan deer herds are down from those of the last few years as the result of severe winter weather and mediocre fawn crops. Biologists say both yearling and old bucks will be scarce this year.

Dear in other parts of Eastern Washington are numerous enough for good hunting, the Fish and Wildlife Department said.

Elk

Thousands of hunters were in North Idaho’s woods for the opening Tuesday of the general elk season. Only bull elk are legal targets during the first five days of the season. Cow elk can be tagged starting Sunday.

Upland birds

Wildlife biologists feel sure that this will be a poor season for pheasant hunters. Few chicks survived the rainstorms and cold weather during the peak of the nesting season.

Biologists, not wanting to seem too pessimistic, said chick survival may have been fair in a few areas.

Many hunters who don’t have dogs will hunt deer or fish for steelhead this weekend. Hard-core hunters who have good dogs, however, will work cover, hoping they’ll see enough birds for fair and even good shooting.

The most productive areas in the Spokane region will be in counties adjacent to the Snake River. However, hunters who went after chukars during the early season said they saw few pheasants.

Farmers in Columbia, Garfield and Walla Walla counties say the pheasant population is down from those of the last two years.

The Columbia Basin, once one of the most productive areas in the country for pheasants, will provide mediocre hunting this fall. The pheasant population apparently is at a near-record low. The most productive area will be south Grant and Adams and Franklin counties.

Although chukars are scarce in southeastern Washington, there are spots in the Columbia Basin where the birds seem to be plentiful. Hunters will find good numbers of chukars along lower Crab Creek, breaks of the Columbia and near the lakes southwest of Coulee City.

Inasmuch as quail nest over an extended period, coveys are plentiful enough in some areas for decent hunting. Hunters will find enough birds in the brushy draws along the Palouse, Snake, Grande Ronde, Tucannon and and Walla Walla rivers for good shooting.

Idaho gunners will start hunting pheasants Saturday. Hunters will find enough for fair shooting in south Kootenai County and Benewah and Nez Perce counties.

Waterfowl

Washington hunters are anticipating one of the best duck-hunting seasons in several years. Indications are that they’ll have fair-to-good shooting during the first few days of the season and possibly excellent hunting when ducks move out of Canada and into Eastern Washington.

Some hunters say they’ve seen more ducks on the lakes and potholes they hunt than they’ve seen in several years. Local ducks did well during the nesting season.

Duck hunting will be tough for a few weeks after opening weekend. Most ducks will move to big water and the birds will be decoy-shy.

The so-called “northern” ducks, mostly mallards, will start arriving about the second week of November. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists believe that this year’s flight out of Canada will be the biggest in several years.

If they’re right, duck hunting will be good when the weather’s bad this fall and winter.

Canada goose populations have exploded in North Idaho and Eastern Washington. Experienced goose hunters will shoot limits.

Idaho hunters killed more wood ducks than any other species in the Killarney Lake area when the season opened Saturday, biologist Dave Spicer said. Seventy-eight of the 201 ducks checked were wood ducks. (Others: mallards, pintails and wigeons.) Spicer said hunters averaged 1.6 ducks. Pressure was up 13 percent over 1994.

Duck hunting was poor on the Kootenai Refuge during opening weekend, manager Dan Pennington said. Sixty hunters averaged only one-half duck each Saturday. Hunting was worse on Sunday.

Steelhead

Steelhead fishermen have been hooking fish on the lower Snake to the Salmon River. In a few areas, fishing has been so good that anglers limited after 2-3 hours.

One of the most productive areas has been the Snake near the mouth of the Grande Ronde River. Jill Koch of Beamers Hells Canyon Excursions said that most clients who fished off Beamer boats near the Ronde’s mouth have been limiting.

The Ronde could be off color again this weekend as the result of rainstorms. If it’s fishable, anglers should do well.

Fishing will be poor along the Clearwater River. Indications are that only about 1,000 B-run steelhead will enter the Clearwater this fall. The B-run is so small that the Idaho Fish and Game Commission has decided to require anglers to release all fish they hook.

The best fishing along the lower Snake was near Little Goose Dam, where anglers averaged 19.6 hours per fish during the seven-day period ended Sunday; mid-Snake, 6.6 hours per steelhead; Tucannon, 4 hours.

Chinooks

If you’ve been thinking of fishing for chinook salmon along the Columbia River, plan to fish soon. The season in the section from the old Hanford townsite powerline towers and the Vernita Bridge ends Oct. 22. The season between the bridge and the Priest Rapids dam continues until the end of the year.

There are enough chinooks in the Hanford Reach for good fishing. Many experienced anglers did well last weekend and early this week.

Spiny-rayed fishing

Northern pike fishing is still good at Lake Coeur d’Alene, Jeff Smith of the Fins & Feathers shop said. He suggested anglers try willow leaf spinner baits, Blue Fox spinners and Mepps Bass Killers.

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