THE COUNTDOWN TO Saturday’s opening day of modern rifle deer, and to a lesser extent waterfowl hunting season, is like waiting to have a doctor remove a cast from a broken limb.
It’s an itch hunters across the state just can’t wait to scratch.
“Strong deer numbers are forecast in many areas of Washington, and hunters have been scouting and planning their hunt for weeks now,” said Mick Cope, state Department of Fish and Wildlife game manager.
A hunting prospects forecast for District 16 (Clallam and Jefferson counties) was compiled by district wildlife biologist Anita McMillan and assistant district wildlife biologist Shelly Ament.
The forecast says that the western portions of District 16 is generally sparse of deer.
This area includes GMUs 601 (Hoko), 602 (Dickey), 603 (Pysht), 607 (Sol Duc), 612 (Goodman), and 615 (Clearwater).
McMillan and Ament’s forecast is available at tinyurl.com/PDN-Hunt2015.
It states that “biologist, enforcement officer observations and published reports indicate that deer population numbers and density are generally down throughout the district west of the Elwha.”
There are many more deer, or at least there are many more sightings of black-tailed deer, east of the Elwha River.
Deer Area 6020 was started to lower the number of deer in the area north of U.S. Highway 101 between Port Angeles and the eastern Miller Peninsula near Blyn.
“In these areas, the deer are often perceived to be a nuisance by some property owners and agricultural operations, especially in GMU 624 (Coyle).
Speaking of nuisance deer, hunting is prohibited inside the Port Townsend city limits with any type of weapon.
But if a state-sanctioned cull of the problem animals were undertaken, hunters would have no trouble getting their tag limits.
To see multiple glimpses of the hooved menaces, just take a walk or a ride through the Uptown neighborhood — time of day really doesn’t matter.
There they are in numbers approaching herd status, crossing Lawrence Street at a leisurely clip, not a care in the world.
I’m not advocating the state allow hunters to shoot rifles in populated areas of the city, but a controlled, archery-only hunt would be beneficial to Port Townsend gardens, as well as reducing the amount of predators like coyotes, that slip into town to take down deer and often end up harming pets.
Waterfowl hunting
Duck, coot, and snipe seasons also open Saturday.
In addition, goose seasons open in all goose management areas.
The exception is the brant season, which will open on selected dates in January.
“We are expecting another great year,” said Fish and Wildlife waterfowl manager Don Kraege.
“A record number of ducks — about 49.5 million — were present on northern breeding grounds this spring, which bodes well for waterfowl enthusiasts so long as weather cooperates.”
New duck hunting spot
Public land waterfowl hunting opportunities include the newly established Lower Dungeness Unit at the mouth of the Dungeness River.
Seventy-five acres of this unit can be hunted north of East Anderson Road and west of the Dungeness River.
There are freshwater ponds located in the main field below the parking area. However, the main hunting area for this unit is located on the tidelands of Dungeness Bay, adjacent to the river’s mouth.
Mallard, teal and bufflehead are the most likely duck species hunters will encounter.
Hunters are required to walk about a half-mile to the main hunting area.
Rivers End Road is a privately owned road and cannot be used to access the tidelands.
Hunting is permitted only on Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays throughout the regular waterfowl season.
A 15 shotgun shell restriction is in affect for this unit.
McMillan and Ament’s forecast said “the Lower Dungeness Basin has a high density of wintering waterfowl and holds 7 percent of the Western Washington breeding waterfowl population.
In 2014, there were 5,401 ducks taken by 393 hunters in Clallam County and 1,852 ducks harvested by 159 hunters in Jefferson County.
Private land access
Information on access to more than 1 million acres of private land can be found at tinyurl.com/PDN-PrivateLand15.
Razor digs postponed
Elevated levels of marine toxins have prompted state shellfish managers to postpone the start of razor clam digging on ocean beaches this fall.
Fish and Wildlife will not schedule razor clam digs on any of the state’s ocean beaches until tests show the clams are safe to eat.
Domoic acid levels on Washington beaches have dropped significantly since last spring, when the department was forced to curtail digging early, said Dan Ayres, coastal shellfish manager for Fish and Wildlife.
However, concentrations of domoic acid are still above the threshold (20 parts per million) set by state public health officials.
“If levels continue to decline, we could potentially open some beaches in mid or possibly late November,” Ayres said.
Van De Wege to speak
State Rep. Kevin Van De Wege (D-Sequim) will speak at tonight’s meeting of the North Olympic Peninsula chapter of the Puget Sound Anglers.
The meeting will be held at Trinity United Methodist Church, 100 S. Blake Ave., in Sequim at 6:45 p.m.
Van De Wege represents the 24th District, which covers Jefferson and Clallam counties and a portion of Grays Harbor County.
The club has asked Van De Wege to speak on a variety of topics.
This includes providing an overview of the legislative process and how agency budgets are handled and how citizens can work with the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, of which Van De Wege is a member.
He’ll also discuss pending legislation that will impact the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, such as license fee changes, support for new law enforcement hires, hatchery issues, and whether there’s an avenue in the legislature to grow participation in fishing and hunting among youth.
Van De Wege also will take questions from the audience.
Refreshments will be served, fishing reports will be shared and a $50 membership drawing will be held (must be present to win).
For more information, visit www.psanopc.org or www.facebook.com/psanopc.
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Outdoors columnist Michael Carman appears here Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5152 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
