2022 Oregon Archery Elk Proposal

[Browndawg]

Oregon is going to lose a lot of Non-residents with this proposal. It may seem ok for residents. But if you look at what the Non-residents spend in Oregon, be prepared for a large increase in your resident tags and licenses. They have no other way to make up for the 380k+ lost. A little something they're not telling you.

 

[wapitibob]

It's closer to 500K and they told anybody that bothered to read the data.

 

[Dirtscoots]

I’ve never accused Oregon of great game management. With that said what brings non residents to Oregon to hunt? It isn’t the greatest hunting no matter the species. There are still general hunts, that I’m not excited to see how they become affected. And I’m sure a very large amount of non res will do just as I do in many other states and pay the price to play to have an opportunity to hunt. I do not agree with the new proposal at all it most definitely affects me. I just don’t see every out of state hunter saying not doing Oregon because of this. I can’t draw Wyoming every year. I still donate to the state of Wyoming for a general tag every 3-4.

 

[PNW bow hunter]

I’m pretty sure the thing that brings non Residents to hunt Oregon is the over the counter tags, and travel distance from Washington and California. Neither of these states have much opportunity for branch antlered Rocky Mountain elk hunting. Nearly every other state has gotten very competitive to get tags. Nearly all are draws or limited quota that sell out.

 

[Shadow14]

Now that the regs are out, what are people thoughts on results?

 

[Browndawg]

Looks like a easy draw to get for all the hunts. They basically looked at how many residents hunt in each unit and added 5% to come up with the number of tags to put out. This kicks out some non residents but will likely not improve the quality of the hunts. If they wanted to do that, they would have put out less tags, which is probably coming down the road when they realize nothings really changed. Hard part is, do you burn your points you've been accruing for a better hunt? Or head to the coast? My feeling is the coast is going to be pretty crowded. At least for the first couple weeks. It's pretty miserable area to hunt elk if you've never done it before.

 

[wapitibob]

I'll just hunt an otc unit in the east.

 

[slick]

Pretty sure they didn’t add 5% to all units from the average… I don’t know where you read that but that’s certainly not the case, especially with the Eagle Cap zone.

 

[Oregon Bow Hiker]

I’m having trouble finding how many archery hunters hunted in certain units last year to get an idea whether they’ll be less hunters or the same. Is that data published?


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[Browndawg]

Looks like they just took into account residents in the Eagle Cap Zone. So out of those 1,995 tags, 100 go to NR compared to 295 in 2020.

 

[Browndawg]

I’m having trouble finding how many archery hunters hunted in certain units last year to get an idea whether they’ll be less hunters or the same. Is that data published?


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Here's the proposal link. It just has 2020 info where they based their tag allocations off of.

 

[PNW bow hunter]

Looks like they just took into account residents in the Eagle Cap Zone. So out of those 1,995 tags, 100 go to NR compared to 295 in 2020.

In 2020 2375 total hunters hunted the 5 units that make up the eagle cap zone.

in 2022 there are 1795 tags being issued in the eagle cap zone

There is also an additional traditional bow only 200 traditional bow only tags only tags

I have been bow hunting all over the western states for over 20 years. I can count on one hand how many guys I have run into with trad gear elk hunting, so i would be petty shocked if all those tags are actually utilized as much as the regular eagle cap tag.

That zone is seeing a pretty big reduction in tags from the 2020 number of hunters to the tags allocated for 2022

It will be 89 or 90 non resident compound bow tags, and 10 non resident tags for the traditional hunt

 

[Bro-sada]

I honestly don't know how I feel about the changes. It will be interesting to see if it helps the chances of drawing in some of the existing Controlled Hunt units. Some of the units have high tag numbers so second choices should be obtainable in several units. I think it will take a year or two to really know if anything improved for anyone.

 

[4g0t3n1]

I’m from WA, where should I hunt for elk in OR?

 

[Dirtscoots]

Well your limited if your going for over the counter tags. Best advice I have is put in for other states. I wouldn’t spend the non res money for a tag in Oregon.

 

[andersson]

I think you should have to pick between archery and rifle up front.

Didn't it used to be that way in Oregon? Seems to me like it was (back in the '80s and early '90s) one or the other.

I don’t know the actual numbers but I bet at least 30-40% of bow hunters are really just disgruntled gun hunters who didn’t draw a rifle tag.

Most of the people I hunted with in eastern Oregon in the 1980s were bowhunters, and they had abandoned rifle seasons because it was SO DAMN crowded, and hunters seemed to be getting dumber every year. (I once ran a guy off during elk rifle season because he was hunting with a big Airedale, which was ranging back and forth in front of him through a clearcut. Long ways from legal, that one.)

 

[andersson]

I suppose a lot of people don’t see elk until they are hunting them

 

[Dirtscoots]

You could be the next guide service.