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Possible changes in store for state Despite a mediocre waterfowl hunting season, Fish and Wildlife Service officials do not intend to tinker with regulations on the Peninsula Unit of the McNary National Wildlife Refuge. At least for now. Gary Hagedorn, project leader for the Mid-Columbia River Refuge Complex, which includes McNary, Umatilla, Toppenish and Cold Springs and McKay in Oregon, said goose hunting on McNary's Peninsula Unit "was not what we expected." Last year, refuge officials changed the days the popular hunting area near Burbank could be hunted from Friday through Monday to Thursday through Sunday. In addition, Wednesday was added to the hunt schedule, but it was limited to field pit goose hunting only. The area has long been popular for shoreline duck hunting, with hunters occasionally bagging a goose over the water. "Unfortunately, because of Sept. 11, we had less law enforcement on the refuge and we couldn't keep an eye on the Peninsula as closely as we intended," Hagedorn said. But from all indications, the Wednesday goose-hunting-only hunt was quite poor, due in part to mild winter weather and few birds willing to use the area. "We planted more feed on the Peninsula to attract geese, but they just didn't use it as we had hoped," he added. In addition to poor goose hunting, Hagedorn said the overall duck harvest was down on the refuges. Weather, however, played a major role in the generally poor waterfowl hunting season, not only in Eastern Washington, but also across the state. "We saw on of our mildest winter's ever and what birds we did have in the area were spread out," Hagedorn said. "So, the number of birds using our refuges was down and that in turn hurt hunter success." While the Wednesday Peninsula goose hunting was a bust, Hagedorn said it's probably too soon to change the rules. "We really wouldn't make that kind of change without input from hunters, but we certainly may look at the regulations in the future," he added. Also, while no meetings are planned to discuss hunting this year on McNary Refuge, Hagedorn welcomes hunter's opinions. He can be reached at 545-8588. While this year's waterfowl season is in the books, refuge officials already are working on expanding hunting opportunities for this fall, creating more than 100 acres of new wetland habitat on the McNary Refuge's Wallula Unit. Moreover, as waterfowlers lick their wounds from this season, plans are in the works to possibly extend the waterfowl hunting season through the end of January, said Don Kraege, waterfowl section manager for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife in Olympia. Kraege said pressure put on the Fish and Wildlife Service from southern state lawmakers could push the federal agency to extend the season nationwide. For Washington hunters, that could mean an additional seven to 10 days of hunting when the largest numbers of birds often are in the state. The argument for extending the season appears to be the recent, but steady, lack of waterfowl migrations until late in the season, due largely to changing winter weather patterns. Southern hunters, for example, say they aren't seeing any large numbers of birds showing up until the season is nearly over, the same problem that plagued Northwest and Tri-City hunters this year. Kraege said if such a plan were approved, Washington might have to start the hunting season later in October or a possible split in the season in early November to make up for the extended hunt. It won't be until May, when nesting and brood counts are made across the United States, Canada and Alaska, until the Fish and Wildlife Service decides whether to make any changes to current bag limits and season lengths. However, the overall number of waterfowl in last year's fall migration was down and conditions on the bird's key breeding areas appear poor this year, which could further reduce waterfowl populations nationwide. However, extending the waterfowl season through January to allow hunters to take advantage of any late migrations, while trimming the season up front, appears to be a solution most everyone would welcome. Now, if only we could get Mother Nature to play by the rules. |
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