When asked each year about deer-hunting prospects, a former state wildlife biologist often answered with this retort: About the usual number of deer will be killed by about the usual number of hunters in the usual places.
And while the response isn’t much of a conversation starter, it’s essentially correct regarding blacktail deer hunting in Western Washington.
WHEN: Most of Western Washington is open Oct. 16-31 and Nov. 18-21. Grayback and East Klickitat are open Oct. 16-29.
COST: A state resident deer or elk license is $43.20. For youth age 15 and younger, the cost is $21.60.
WHEN: Most of Western Washington is open Oct. 16-31 and Nov. 18-21. Grayback and East Klickitat are open Oct. 16-29.
COST: A state resident deer or elk license is $43.20. For youth age 15 and younger, the cost is $21.60.
SHOOTING HOURS: 6:55 a.m. to 6:55 p.m. opening weekend in Western Washington, 6:45 a.m. to 6:45 p.m. in Eastern Washington on opening weekend.
SHOOTING HOURS: 6:55 a.m. to 6:55 p.m. opening weekend in Western Washington, 6:45 a.m. to 6:45 p.m. in Eastern Washington on opening weekend.
Biologist Eric Holman of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said blacktail populations are stable in the low-elevation units like Washougal 568 and Battle Ground 564.
Likewise in the Klickitat County units of West Klickitat 578, Grayback 388 and East Klickitat 382, he said.
In fact, the spring deer count in March on the Klickitat Wildlife Area tallied 72 fawns per 100 does, the highest ratio since 1983.
“It indicates deer suffered little winter loss in 2009-10,” Holman said. “Young deer are more likely to succumb to harsh winter conditions and food shortages; therefore the ratio provides a barometer for winter severity.”
State biologist Pat Miller said the mild winter will improve the number of bucks this fall in his district, which includes Cowlitz, Lewis and Wahkiakum counties.
“Deer populations seem to be increasing west of Interstate 5 as timber harvest takes place,” Miller said.
The weak link is the Cascade Mountain units like Lewis River 560, Siouxon 572 and Wind River 574, where deer numbers remain relatively low compared to past decades.
Several factors keep regional deer populations for increasing.
Residential and recreational homes nibble away at deer habitat. There’s less logging on federal land. Where timber harvest does happen, units are sprayed with herbicides to kill competing vegetation. Then, heavy stocking of conifer trees follows.
The shrubs and forbs that blacktail eat are being eliminated.
None of this is new in Southwest Washington.
Nor is this: “Successful hunting for blacktail deer is primarily a function of the effort, focus and energy that hunters put into the hunt,” Holman said. “Blacktail deer thrive in heavily vegetated habitats and are often very noctural. This means, hunters must be in position early in the morning and carefully hunt near sources of food and in secure cover.”
About 40 percent of the harvest comes in the four-day “late” hunt, which this year is Nov. 18-21. The late season comes just after the peak of the breeding period, called the rut.
“Bucks travel more during the rut when they cover large amounts of territory searching for does in estrus,” he said. “This makes bucks more vulnerable as they spend less time hiding and some times are found in open habitats like clearcuts and meadows.”
But when the modern firearms season is over, hunters in the six Southwest Washington counties will have killed about 3,500 to 3,600 bucks. In this past four seasons, the harvest has not increased more than 2 percent over the average, or dropped by more than 4 percent under it.
As the biologist said….about the usual number of bucks in the usual places.
