This fall looks a bit like a potluck. But who’s bringing the elk steaks?
By Jim Yuskavitch
This year’s big game outlook resembles a potluck dinner. A little bit of everything, with some dishes tasting better than others, but overall making for a pretty good meal. Deer, both black-tailed and mule deer, are up in some areas and down in others. The same with elk. As always, habitat, weather, predation and impacts from human activities all play a role. But despite some declines here and there, the upcoming big game seasons look like they will be offering decent, and even pretty good in some places, hunting opportunities. Here’s a sampling of what Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife field biologists had to say about the current state of the big game populations they are managing.
Deer
For a long period of time, Oregon’s black-tailed deer were believed to be struggling throughout their range from the west slope of the Cascade Mountains to the Coast Range for several reasons, including habitat, predation and disease. More recently, the tide seems to be turning as data collected by ODFW utilizing newer population modeling techniques show a more stable current population, including possible increases in some wildlife management units.
North Coast black-tailed deer numbers have proven this over the past few years. “Black-tailed deer are looking pretty steady, and we haven’t had much of a change in numbers from year to year,” said Austin Reeder, ODFW assistant district wildlife biologist based in Tillamook. He reported that there was good overwinter survival and – despite a short freezing spell – an overall mild winter. In addition, this year’s spring green-up produced good forage for the animals as they came out of winter conditions.
Blacktails are faring well in both the central Cascades and Coast Range, according to district wildlife biologist Chris Yee, who is based out of ODFW’s Springfield office.
“Deer are about the same as the previous year,” he said. He also reported a good spring green-up that is feeding both adults and fawns coming out of winter and will hopefully continue long enough for them to go into the coming winter in good physical condition.
But there is one alarming complication that Yee is seeing throughout his district, which is also becoming a serious problem for deer and other big game survival in other parts of Oregon – the increasing illegal use of thermal imaging devices for hunting.
These are small, hand-held devices that are extremely sensitive to low levels of infrared light and enable the user to see bright, crisp images of heat-emitting objects, like deer and elk, in virtual total darkness or even in cover.
Yee reports that hunters are increasingly reporting encountering poachers using these devices, and local taxidermists are telling him they have been seeing suspiciously high numbers of trophy-class animals brought to them over the past couple of years.
Thermal imaging devices are illegal to use for hunting, but it’s difficult to catch someone in the act, and currently, it’s not illegal to have such a device in possession while hunting.
“It’s really hammering our deer population,” said Yee. (See related article on Page 16.)
Along the west slope Cascades and into the Coast Range in southeast Oregon, Roseburg-based assistant district wildlife biologist Bill Cannaday reported, “We have pretty good deer numbers and a stable overall population.” Good habitat conditions and food availability have played an important role. That has included abundant forage in valley floor areas, along with early seral stage vegetation growth from past wildfires in the mountains.
On the negative side, deer populations are hampered by loss of connectivity – travel and migration corridors – blocked by roads and other human development. This is an issue around the state, and there are efforts in the works by the Oregon Hunters Association and other groups to construct wildlife passageways over or under highways.
On the east side of the Cascades, the mule deer population continues its slow overall decline, as is happening throughout the West. However, the state of specific mule deer populations can vary from place to place and year to year.
“Mule deer are hard to pin down,” explained Katrina Lopez, assistant district wildlife biologist who works out of the ODFW Enterprise office in northeast Oregon. “Depending on the area, our data show them holding steady or slightly decreasing. But we still have pretty good hunting success rates of more than 30 percent over the last five years.”
She also noted that they had good adult overwinter survival. Fawn survival was a little less than they had expected, perhaps due to periods of hard winter conditions.
In the High Desert region, Hines-based district wildlife biologist Lee Foster observed, “There is a slight decline in mule deer numbers in the Silvies, Juniper and Malheur River wildlife management units, but the Steens population is pretty stable.”
He reported they did not see much winter kill, although fawns went into winter in lower numbers than what was hoped for. But the good spring green-up helped keep survival rates high.
Elk
Generally speaking, Roosevelt elk in western Oregon have tended to struggle in recent years, while on the east side of the Cascades, Rocky Mountain elk have been doing well, and even prospering in some instances. Recent population estimates show that Rocky Mountain elk populations are at more than 110 percent of management objective, while Roosevelt elk are slightly below 70 percent of objective. But, as with deer, that can also vary depending on time and place.
Reeder reported that Roosevelt elk bull and calf ratios are at management objective throughout his district on the North Coast. Unfortunately, ODFW biologists had less than optimal conditions during early spring aerial elk surveys. Hot, sunny weather drove the animals into the timber to keep cool, making it more difficult to find them for a complete count. Nevertheless, Reeder predicted good hunting opportunities for the fall.
For Roosevelt elk, the rule of thumb has been decreasing populations on national forest lands in the Cascade Mountains due to less logging that produces forage habitat, and a movement onto private industrial timberlands where logging continues. But Yee has been observing a definite movement onto agricultural lands, which produce a steadier food source for the animals. This isn’t an especially good trend as it increases elk damage issues and limits public hunting access.
Further south, Cannaday confirmed that the rule of thumb still holds in his district, with more elk on industrial timberland than on public forest. He said there continue to be good numbers of elk on industrial forest lands, which are generally open to public hunting. He also predicted that public forest lands will again become more attractive to elk as they seek out areas burned in recent wildfires that are beginning to produce more early seral stage habitat.
Elk numbers continue to be strong in northeast Oregon, according to Lopez. “Harvest has been steady for the past 10 years,” she explained. “They are spending more time in valley areas than in timber lately, which could be because of habitat or predation.” The one exception is the Snake River Unit, which has fewer bulls this year. Otherwise, elk hunting prospects look good for the 2025 season.
“Elk have been struggling in the Silvies, North Malheur River and High Desert units,” said Lee Foster. “We are having low bull ratios and hunter success.” But there are indications that the North Malheur Unit may be improving, as they have been seeing some better bull ratios and increased harvest.
The effect of expanding wolf packs on Oregon elk herds is largely unknown at this point, but with wolf numbers reaching a new high every year, that impact is likely increasing. OHA is asking ODFW to prioritize improving our understanding of wolf impacts on ungulates in Oregon. OHA worked to ensure that the Oregon Wolf Management Plan encompasses strategies to implement controlled take of wolves in areas where wild ungulate populations are not meeting established management objectives or herd management goals. Therefore, we cannot implement such action if we do not first understand to what extent Oregon wolves are negatively impacting ungulate populations.
Pronghorn
While Oregon has a solid pronghorn population estimated at 16,000 to 19,000 animals that is generally stable, they are sensitive to environmental and weather conditions, which can make their numbers fluctuate from year to year.
This year, Foster said that High Desert pronghorns are down from last year, but, true to form, should respond well to the good spring moisture conditions that boosted forage green-up and water sources. Regardless of population specifics, pronghorn hunters typically have an excellent success rate in excess of 50 percent.
Bighorn Sheep
Lopez reported that Rocky Mountain bighorns in northeast Oregon are mostly faring all right. “We did have some pneumonia in the Wenaha and Mountain View herds, and some ewe and lamb mortality,” she noted. But hunter success is often at 100 percent, and ODFW staff is happy to give advice to tag winners.
High Desert bighorn herds are mostly managing to avoid disease issues this year, and according to Foster, “We have been producing some pretty good hunts.”
Rocky Mountain Goat
Rocky Mountain goats are well established in Oregon, and unlike bighorns, not as susceptible to disease, making their numbers typically stable. That remains true this year, as well. The total Oregon population estimate is 1,100 to 1,300. Most are located in the Elkhorn and Wallowa mountains. Other notable populations include the Strawberry Mountains, and Mount Jefferson and Three-Fingered Jack areas in the Cascades.
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