2022 Oregon Archery Elk Proposal

[BRTreedogs]

go hunt one of the otc general units

Like I said before the sickness that is draw units will continue to spread.
You and I both know it. Don't kid yourself.

 

[PNW bow hunter]

Keep in mind, there probably won’t be a large reduction in total archery tags issued in the controlled units versus how many people hunted them the previous year or two. The proposal that was cancelled for 2021 only had maybe 10 percent cut in tags in a couple units.

Also if you draw a controlled tag, you can’t hunt the general areas. Tons of guys that currently hunt out East, hunt the coast on weekends and do a week or two week trip east.

The coast range within a 90 minute drive of any metro areas could actually be some pretty good hunting, and have less people than now. I know a lot of bow hunters, and pretty much all hunt the coast and east each year.

 

[Dirtscoots]

My guess is that most (80%?) of east side residents that hunt elk currently on the east side aren’t going to the west side to make up for it under the proposed regulation changes.

I’m more concerned of non resident hunters. If you are driving 10-30 hours to elk hunt a east unit annually what is another 6 hours to commute to the next general unit. I was surprised how many out of state plates we saw in the east unit we hunt. I see more and more over hear on the coast every year. I don’t see how making those units draw will not affect pressure here.

 

[roosiebull]

Look at the trends in bull/cow ratios over the 2015 to 2019 time periods.

Also the success rates have trended down significantly in the same units the bull ratios are down over that same time period

Maybe some of the elk move to different units to winter, but the trend is down in several of the ones they want to control.

In desolation there are only 16 calves per 100 cows. That means only around 170 new elk being born in the unit.

What else can they do beside cut tag numbers across all weapon types to try to get the herds back to health?

I don’t think anyone thinks it’s a bad idea to limit harvest when there is a reason to do so... if a unit gets knocked down it makes sense to limit tags.

it will be interesting to see what the future looks like as everything does go to draw. I assume I will still be able to draw a tag every year, and the harder units to draw may become more realistic for someone who wants to hunt them

 

[slick]

I’m more concerned of non resident hunters. If you are driving 10-30 hours to elk hunt a east unit annually what is another 6 hours to commute to the next general unit. I was surprised how many out of state plates we saw in the east unit we hunt. I see more and more over hear on the coast every year. I don’t see how making those units draw will not affect pressure here.

I’m curious to know which out of state plates you saw the most?

It makes me scratch my head why a resident from Rocky Mountain State would drive to OR to hunt elk, and then why anyone east of the Rockies would drive through the Rockies to hunt elk in Oregon.

We’re number 4 on the list of places you could get a tag most years.. behind CO, ID, MT, add WY too. And if people are playing the draws we are certainly behind AZ, NM, UT, NV.

In my mind it’s California coming up, maybe NV due to restrictive tag numbers and maybe WA.

But curious to know what NR plates you’re seeing most frequently
Edit to add: Maybe the born and raised fellas are spiking interest in rosies

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[Dirtscoots]

I’m curious to know which out of state plates you saw the most?

It makes me scratch my head why a resident from Rocky Mountain State would drive to OR to hunt elk, and then why anyone east of the Rockies would drive through the Rockies to hunt elk in Oregon.

We’re number 4 on the list of places you could get a tag most years.. behind CO, ID, MT, add WY too. And if people are playing the draws we are certainly behind AZ, NM, UT, NV.

In my mind it’s California coming up, maybe NV due to restrictive tag numbers and maybe WA.

But curious to know what NR plates you’re seeing most frequently
Edit to add: Maybe the born and raised fellas are spiking interest in rosies

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I hunt east as well. The plates I saw east the most were Washington cali surprisingly some Idaho. On the coast a lot of Washington cali, last few years surprisingly Idaho. I get added pressure happens every year and is going to keep happening. What I see is a dozen units spread across the state that people like to hunt. I don’t see people just not hunting because they didn’t draw. Hell if they make a draw here I will elk hunt somewhere. I don’t blame anyone for wanting to hunt. It just seems as the general tags get limited to less units those units with general tags will explode in pressure. Maybe I’m wrong. The theory of it will make less hunters here because people that put in for a east unit can’t hunt general units is a interesting take. The theory of point creep getting better is an interesting theory. I would love to see both of those work out however I’m not holding my breath.

 

[elkliver]

I archery hunt Oregon most years and agree that they need to limit the number of hunters in the woods. Last year was an absolute Zoo. I dont usually hunt the "popular spots" and there were places you couldnt even find a camping spot. What i dont agree with is moving 1/3 of the units to controlled. with another 1/3 of those units being southeastern Oregon Desert country, you will congregate most of the general tags to a handful of units which were already getting too much pressure before they moved more hunters to them. Bad IDea, There are better ways they could handle this, I put in my two cents with ODFW ...but doubting they will hear.

 

[wapitibob]

Like I said before the sickness that is draw units will continue to spread.
You and I both know it. Don't kid yourself.

I'd like to see the whole state a draw and half the tags.

 

[slick]

Oregon has the 2nd/3rd largest elk population but are routinely ... (Edit: I just looked it up, thats maybe not true anymore. I remember seeing 160k as a number. Now it’s closer to 125k which puts it more like the 4th or 5th- and that being 70k Rockies which is more like Utah/New Mexico’s population)

Bottom of the barrel for the OTC states

Certainly bottom of the barrel for draw states.

It could be managed much better. But that means reduction in opportunity.


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[hibernation]

But that means reduction in opportunity.

Yeah, that seems to be the rub. People like to blame ODFW for not listening but the last time they polled hunters they asked people to pick (among other things) between opportunity and quality. Hunters overwhelmingly responded that they want an opportunity to hunt elk every year. Can't have your cake and eat it too.

 

[slick]

Also, Rokslide is an echo chamber of folks who probably take hunting a little more serious, and are a little more involved than the average person. So the things we desire may be different than the general populous.


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[mr.average]

Has anyone heard of a proposal to make the new Eastside draw units lottery only? Makes sense to me.

 

[slick]

I have not, but that would be an interesting take on it. Doesn’t really seem like ODFWs MO- except sheep and goats.


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[Smokeslider]

Has anyone heard of a proposal to make the new Eastside draw units lottery only? Makes sense to me.

I haven't heard that but I'm not exactly always paying attention to everything ODFW is doing. With that said, I have strong doubts they would have some straight lottery for some units and not others in this state for a specific species. Just looking at the draw point data and seeing how many folks obviously chose the wrong hunt to apply for based on how many points they have, tells me the straight lottery for some units will confuse applicants even more.

 

[Englishjc]

I am an out of state hunter and hunt OR every year. The unit we hunt is always full of people but it is not much of an issue for us. It just requires us to work a little harder and find area's that there are less hunters and get farther off the roads. I think the biggest bummer for us will be that we will not be able to hunt both units that we hunt the boarders of. I understand the state needs to do what is best but who knows if this is best. I always would choose opportunity over quality and if I want quality I can just work harder or put in for other hunts. Been hunting here for over 15 years!

 

[mtnlomo]

Personally I have doubts that they will decrease the number of tags for archery in those proposed new draw units, to a point where they will actually decrease the number of archery hunters compared to the numbers of now. There will likely still be a large number of rifle hunters who will continue to bow hunt just because an archery tag will still be easier to get than a rifle tag. Not to mention I am curious as to how having more controlled hunts will in fact bring the herds up to their objectives.

If this was about revenue I would like to think they would shaft non-residents less in Oregon, increasing their revenue through non-resident tag, license, and application sales, but until then I'm sorry to non-residents who want to hunt Oregon. This proposal or change likely won't help their cause.

Lastly a lot of this is not addressing what I think is a more serious problem in Oregon, which is the predators. Until ODFW allows more liberal tag allocations, for bear in particular, the herds will never reach their potential. Roughly 10% of archery hunters kill one elk a year, often less in Oregon, meanwhile 100% of bears will kill multiple fawns and calves every year.

I will continue buying points in other states, and getting general tags in Idaho.

 

[PNW bow hunter]

Personally I have doubts that they will decrease the number of tags for archery in those proposed new draw units, to a point where they will actually decrease the number of archery hunters compared to the numbers of now. There will likely still be a large number of rifle hunters who will continue to bow hunt just because an archery tag will still be easier to get than a rifle tag. Not to mention I am curious as to how having more controlled hunts will in fact bring the herds up to their objectives.

If this was about revenue I would like to think they would shaft non-residents less in Oregon, increasing their revenue through non-resident tag, license, and application sales, but until then I'm sorry to non-residents who want to hunt Oregon. This proposal or change likely won't help their cause.

Lastly a lot of this is not addressing what I think is a more serious problem in Oregon, which is the predators. Until ODFW allows more liberal tag allocations, for bear in particular, the herds will never reach their potential. Roughly 10% of archery hunters kill one elk a year, often less in Oregon, meanwhile 100% of bears will kill multiple fawns and calves every year.

I will continue buying points in other states, and getting general tags in Idaho.

I was thinking the same thing as you based off the elk tag numbers in the elk proposal that was going to go into affect for 2021 that got cancelled.

I just looked through a few of the mule deer hunts that went to a draw for 2021. They actually did cut tags pretty significantly in some of the deer units. The tag allotment in the 2021 draw for mule deer is 264 tags for archery Metolius unit. In 2020 when Metolius was OTC 401 people reported mule deer hunting there.

So they actually cut tags on that particular hunt by nearly 35 percent.

Im personally ok with the draw idea as long as it is for the reason of helping wildlife numbers in units where they need help.

 

[hibernation]

There will likely still be a large number of rifle hunters who will continue to bow hunt just because an archery tag will still be easier to get than a rifle tag.

This is what I'm really interested to see, I suppose it will depend on how many archery tags go to second choice. For the rifle elk hunter who buys a general archery tag when he doesn't draw, what's going to be his plan once he can't hunt the east side on an over the counter tag? Will he be able to pick up an archery tag as a second choice, or buy a westside tag while they're still OTC, or something else?

This is a little closer to the "choose your weapon" scenario that a lot of folks favor. Archery season should be for people who actually want to hunt with a bow, not just as a backup for rifle hunters.

 

[Extrapale]

I am an out of state hunter and hunt OR every year. The unit we hunt is always full of people but it is not much of an issue for us. It just requires us to work a little harder and find area's that there are less hunters and get farther off the roads. I think the biggest bummer for us will be that we will not be able to hunt both units that we hunt the boarders of. I understand the state needs to do what is best but who knows if this is best. I always would choose opportunity over quality and if I want quality I can just work harder or put in for other hunts. Been hunting here for over 15 years!

Guys like you will unfortunately be the most affected.

Not only will you have to pick a unit, you may not be able to draw every year. The 5% NR cap will apply to these hunts. The stats I saw said about 9% of the OTC hunters are NR.



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[Extrapale]

This is what I'm really interested to see, I suppose it will depend on how many archery tags go to second choice. For the rifle elk hunter who buys a general archery tag when he doesn't draw, what's going to be his plan once he can't hunt the east side on an over the counter tag? Will he be able to pick up an archery tag as a second choice, or buy a westside tag while they're still OTC, or something else?

This is a little closer to the "choose your weapon" scenario that a lot of folks favor. Archery season should be for people who actually want to hunt with a bow, not just as a backup for rifle hunters.

If they bow hunt 4 out of 5 years because they can't draw a rifle tag, are they bow or rifle hunters?



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