ARCHERY DEER SEASON begins today on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Those who want to bag a buck ought to think about heading east.
The West End may have the best steelhead streams on the Peninsula, but the timberland between Port Angeles and Hood Canal is deer country.
And in recent years, that area — which falls inside the Olympic and Coyle Game Management Units — has been particularly productive.
According to game harvest reports compiled by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, the last two seasons have been as good as any since the turn of the millennium.
Both the Coyle and Olympic GMUs turned in its two best seasons in terms of the number of deer harvested.
And in terms of hunter success — the percentage of hunters to deer taken — each is in the top three.
Such an uptick could be attributed to a number of factors, according to Fish and Wildlife regional wildlife program manager Mick Cope.
Among the most common are increased access to private lands in a particular area and rises in the deer population.
Whether or not it was the latter — and, surely, deer hunters hope it is — Cope could not say for certain.
But as hunting season kicks off today — cougar and grouse seasons also begin — it’s at least worth noting.
Salmon recall
It appears the state jumped the gun on its coastal chinook closure.
Fish and Wildlife announced it will reopen chinook retention in Marine Area 3 (LaPush) and 4 (Neah Bay) starting Labor Day after updated harvest data showed anglers still had enough quota to sustain a fishery through Sept. 18.
State fishery managers approved the change a week after announcing anglers would be required to release any chinook caught in coastal waters.
Pat Pattillo, state salmon policy coordinator, said updated data showed ocean catch rates slowed down enough prior to the chinook closure last Monday to allow the fishery to reopen for 14 more days.
“When we announced the chinook closure, harvest rates were at record levels,” Pattillo said.
“Since then, the catch has slowed substantially and we’re confident that we can keep the fishery open through the end of the season.”
As of Aug. 28, coastwide catch totals for the sport fishery had reached 91 percent of the annual 30,100-fish chinook quota, and 59 percent of the 67,200-fish coho quota.
Crab closure
Peninsulites have one more weekend to stock up on crab.
Recreational crab season is set to close at sunset on Labor Day in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, as well as Marine Area 9 (Admiralty Inlet) and 12 (Hood Canal).
Crabbers will then have until Oct. 1 to submit catch record cards to Fish and Wildlife. Those who don’t must pay a $10 fine when they purchase a 2012 crab endorsement.
“Catch reports play a major role in determining how much crab is still available for harvest during the winter season,” state shellfish policy lead Rich Childers said in a news release.
“It’s important that we receive reports from everyone licensed to fish for crab in Puget Sound – whether or not they caught crab this year.”
Crabbers can submit catch record cards to Fish and Wildlife by mail at CRC Unit, 600 Capitol Way N., Olympia, WA 98501-1091.
They can also report their catch online at http://bit.ly/WkXeA from Sept. 5 through Oct. 1.
Fish and Wildlife will announce winter crab seasons for Puget Sound in early October, after completing its assessment of the summer fishery.
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Matt Schubert is the outdoors and sports columnist for the Peninsula Daily News. His column regularly appears on Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at matt.schubert@peninsuladailynews.com.
