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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Heading South No Matter How Good The Spring Nesting Counts Are, The Columbia River Is The Place To Hunt Waterfowl When The Weather Turns Colder

Rich Landers Outdoors Editor

Waterfowl hunters who weren’t in a coma for the past few months certainly have heard about this year’s bumper crop of ducks and geese.

The early season was predicted to be one of the best in memory. Idaho’s spring duck nesting counts were the best in 42 years. The breeder count in Montana and the western Dakotas was 189 percent of the average.

But as the season progresses, the pickings get slim for hunters in the Northwest, even in the best waterfowl production years. Ice-up generally forces the birds to concentrate in areas of open water.

In Oregon and Washington, the Columbia River is like a late-season waterfowl magnet.

Most small lakes and ponds in northeastern Washington were capped with ice by mid-November last year. Ducks migrating out of Canada moved quickly to the Columbia Basin. Only about 2,260 ducks were killed in Pend Oreille County last season, a drop of 42 percent from the previous year’s kill, even though duck numbers were much higher.

The bounty didn’t last long in the potholes throughout the Columbia Basin in central Washington, either. The early winter caused most ducks to keep moving on to the Columbia River near Umatilla, Ore. Hunters bagged only about 120,000 ducks in the Basin last year, a drop of 11 percent from 1995.

The lesson for serious waterfowlers in Oregon and Washington is simple. No matter how many ducks and geese are in the air early in the season, always have a Columbia River contingency plan.

“The Columbia doesn’t ice up and there’s plenty of corn and feed crops down here to keep them happy,” said Kevin Blakely, Oregon Fish and Wildlife Department biologist in Umatilla.

“December and January generally is the best hunting period here, as long as there’s enough of a freeze-up farther north to push the birds.”

Should the El Nino weather pattern stall the freeze in the Eastern Washington scablands, waterfowlers could hunt the same pits for much of the season. But don’t count on it.

Washington has made agreements with landowners to allow public hunting in many harvested crop fields in a broad swath along the river, but hunters have to take more initiative in driving roads to find the hunting areas and secure permission.

The Umatilla National Wildlife Refuge straddles the river with hunting opportunities in both Oregon and Washington. Thousands of waterfowl stack into the refuge waters in the late season, regardless of whether the spring production has been good or poor.

Hunting success simply boils down to weather.

“If you get a good breeze, it can make all the difference in the world,” said Larry McGowan, who coordinates hunters on the refuge.

Weather also plays a role in opportunities for procrastinators. Sept. 2 was the deadline to apply for reservations on the refuge’s pits or blinds. But standby hunters always have a chance of picking up open blinds on the morning of a hunt, especially when the weather is foul.

“If the roads are icy, we get a lot of no-shows for the reserved blinds,” McGowan said. “Those can be good hunting days.” Wednesday hunts also are good bets for vacancies, he said.

Hunters on the McCormick Unit on the Oregon side of the refuge are used to the routine.

Hunters must show at the refuge check station an hour and a half before legal shooting time.

Those with reserved blinds are ushered in, then a lottery is held among standby hunters for any vacancies.

This year, for the first time, the McNary Unit on the Washington side is being operated on the same system.

The free-roam areas had become the scene of 5 a.m. footraces for hunting spots, McGowan said. “Hunters asked us to regulate the area to make it sane again,” he said.

McGowan believes the change is necessary, not because of the surge in waterfowl numbers, but because of population growth in the Tri-Cities area.

“In the past, we’ve been able to operate McNary on a first-come, first-served basis,” he said. “But hunters told us there were too many people to do that anymore.”

McNary has about 23 marsh blinds, primarily for duck hunters, and nine field pits.

McCormick has about 25 marsh blinds and eight field pits.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: HUNTING HELP For information on waterfowl hunting along the Columbia River, contact the Umatilla National Wildlife Refuge, Box 700, Umatilla, OR 97882-0700, telephone (541) 922-3232

This sidebar appeared with the story: HUNTING HELP For information on waterfowl hunting along the Columbia River, contact the Umatilla National Wildlife Refuge, Box 700, Umatilla, OR 97882-0700, telephone (541) 922-3232