Overview of Big Game Draft Regulation Proposals for 2020 July, 2019 Wildlife District Public Meeting

Big Game Hunting Review Project goals Hunter survey Summary of draft proposals Specific proposals Public outreach Next steps Provide a brief update on the deer and elk hunters survey Then provide a summary of the proposed changes to 2020 big game hunting seasons Discuss a few of the specific proposals Give an overview of our public outreach on proposals And end with next steps

Hunter Survey What do Oregon hunters want? 2,000 (1,000 deer hunters, 1,000 elk) Presentation of results in September 2019 Primary results considered developing proposals Opportunity to hunt every year Hunt for meat and to spend time outdoors with friends and family Harvesting a trophy animal is not very important Finding time to go hunting is a constraint Weapon preferences Earlier this year the Department conducted a survey of 2,000 Oregon resident deer and elk hunters We contracted Responsive Management to conduct the survey. In Sept., Dr. Mark Duda, the Principal on the survey will present the results to the Commission in Gold Beach. While I am not going to get into survey results today, I did want to briefly mention a few results that were considered in the development of the 2020 hunting regulation proposals: Hunters want the opportunity to hunt every year Hunters want meat and to spend time outdoors with friends and family Harvesting a trophy animal is not very important to most hunters Finding time to hunting is an issue for many hunters Finally, wanted to show one slide related to weapon preferences

Hunters were asked, “Of all weapons allowed, which one weapon would you most prefer to use to hunt deer or elk in Oregon” Results of deer on left and elk on right. As you can see, majority of hunters prefer to hunt with rifle, followed by 16 to 20% compound bow, 2 to 3% muzzleloader, and 1% traditional archery.

Proposal Summary 127 existing hunts consolidated into 49 hunts 91 dates expanded, made simpler or consistent with other hunts 85 hunt areas expanded to the entire unit or hunt boundaries made simpler 57 bag limits made simpler or consistent with other hunts Nine new controlled hunt opportunities 16 controlled hunts eliminated; primarily due to mule deer population declines The Department put together a Regulation Review Project Team that has worked with field staff and OSP, to develop a package of hundreds of changes to big game seasons for 2020. The proposals include……

Western Oregon Deer Bag Limits Currently “One buck having not less than forked antler” “One antlerless or spike deer” Bag limit for >60 years No biological basis for bag limit Potential negative impact on population Enforcement concerns with hunters differentiating spikes from forked antlered bucks Following is information regarding a few specific changes that have so far generated the majority of the public comments. Currently the deer bag limits in Western Oregon are….. “One buck having not less than forked antler” or “One antlerless or spike deer” This bag limit has been in place since at least the 50’s There is no biological reason for this bag limit We believe the current bag limit could have negative impacts on the population Enforcement concerns with hunters having to differentiate a spike from a forked antler

Western Oregon Deer Bag Limits Proposed “One buck with visible antler” “One antlerless deer” Statewide consistency Biologically justified Less enforcement concern Increase harvest opportunity The proposal is to go to a simpler bag limit. This would make the bag limits consistent statewide. Bag limits would be biologically justified There would be less of an enforcement concern because hunters would not just need to determine whether or not a deer had an antler There would also likely be an increase in harvest, which we believe the populations can support and is consistent with and supported by R3 efforts..

Consistency and Equitability Department’s intent for annual opportunity: One buck or either sex deer tag One antlerless deer tag One elk tag Review identified several areas of inconsistency 100 Series – Buck Deer 600 Series – Antlerless Deer The next issue is related to providing consistent and equitable hunting opportunity Outside of some of our special hunts such as premium hunts, auction hunts and raffle hunts, the Department’s intent is to provide hunters the annual opportunity for one buck deer, one antlerless deer, and one elk tag Through this review, we have identified several areas of inconsistency with that intent – one of those is with several outliers in the 100 and 600 series. The 100 Series is identified in the regulations and commonly referred to as the Buck Deer series The 600 Series is identified in the regulations and commonly referred to as the Antlerless Deer series

General Season Elk Damage Tag Elk population increases on private, agricultural land Project objective – reduce elk population on private land, shift elk to public land Currently primarily utilize controlled hunts and Landowner Damage Program Tags Despite tools, private land elk populations continue to increase The next proposal is related to elk damage and distribution. As you know, elk populations have increased substantially on private, agricultural land One of the objectives of our the project is to identify opportunities to shift elk distribution from private to public land Many tools are available but we primarily utilize controlled hunts and Landowner Damage Program Tags However, despite these tools, populations continue to increase

General Season Elk Damage Tag Controlled hunt constraints May 15th application deadline Hunters must know up to 10 months in advance they have private land access and elk are present Tags are limited, while populations warrant unlimited tags The controlled hunts we have been using have several constraints: There is a May 15 application deadline, so hunters must know up to 10 months in advance that they have private land access and elk will be present Tags are limited, while many populations in chronic damage areas warrant unlimited tags

General Season Elk Damage Tag Landowner Damage Program tag constraints Over 4,000 issued annually Only valid on single property Can only be issued when staff present at office Time intensive for landowners and staff Often issued when existing controlled hunts already taking place Most tags are being issued as an exchange and utilized as a second elk hunting opportunity The Landowner Damage Program tags also have constraints. The Department issues more than 4,000 of these tags annually. They are only valid on individual landowner’s properties, so hunters can not pursue problem elk onto neighboring properties The tags can only be issues when field staff are present – so only 8-5, week days when staff are in the office The tags are time intensive for landowners and staff to implement Tags are issues when existing controlled hunts are already in place Finally, the majority of tags are being issued as an exchange for an unfilled tag that a hunter has already used. This is another one of the equitability issues where hunters are getting two elk hunting opportunities in one year.

General Season Elk Damage Tag Proposal Pilot period for 2020 Establish a new, over-the-counter antlerless elk tag Valid in chronic elk damage areas identified/mapped annually Replace Landowner Damage Program tags during designated areas and times No tag sale deadline Our proposal is to pilot a General Season Elk Damage tag for the 2020 season This would establish a new, over-the-counter antlerless elk tag that would be valid in chronic elk damage areas mapped annually by the Department These would replace Landowner Damage Program tags in the designated areas during the dates the general season is open. To be able to respond immediately to damage, there would be no tag sale deadline

This is a map of the proposed areas. Areas in western Oregon and elk de-emphasis areas identified in yellow will have August 1 – Mar 31 dates Remaining areas in Eastern Oregon areas will have August 1 – Nov 30 to target resident elk populations and protect migratory elk that move into the area in the winter.

Traditional Archery Hunting Expand traditional archery hunting opportunity Propose one deer hunt and one elk hunt in Eastern Oregon for 2020 Commit to proposing one deer hunt and one elk hunt in Western Oregon for 2021 Address complexity of existing hunts The Department is proposing to expand traditional archery hunting opportunity. Provide one deer hunt and one elk hunt opportunity in Eastern Oregon Commit to proposing one new deer hunt and one new elk hunt in western Oregon for the 2021 season. West-side late season proposals will be developed over the next year while reviewing all western Oregon late season opportunities. While proposing to expand opportunity, our proposals also address complexity of existing traditional archery hunts.

Traditional Archery Hunting Proposed changes: Set number of tags for Trout Creek deer New elk hunt in North Fork John Day Wilderness Simplify general archery season by making Murders Creek Unit open to all archery equipment for entire season Proposed changes include: Moving from “unlimited” to a set number of Trout Creek deer tags – tags will be set at about the number of tags that are drawn by hunters now Proposing a new traditional archery elk hunt in the North Fork John Day Wilderness. The hunt would cover the 5 days following the general archery season, the tag would be valid during the general archery season with any legal bow. Simplify general archery season by making the Murderers Creek Unit open to all archery equipment for the entire season. This would eliminate the very complicated regulation that has a small portion of the unit that is only open to traditional archery hunters the first week of the season and then opens up to all hunters the remainder of the season.

Public Outreach January 2019: Information to sport groups and public May 28, 2019: Proposals to sport groups and public June 2019: Commission information and public testimony July 2019: Public meetings around the state August 2019: Finalize Department proposals September 13, 2019, in Gold Beach: Commission review and adoption Those are all the specific proposals I wanted to highlight for now I wanted to touch quickly on the public outreach we are doing on this project: January provided project information to sport groups and public May 28th we provided sport groups and public with detailed proposal information Today providing information to the Commission and opportunity for public testimony July will have 18 public meetings around the state to collect input August 2019 finalize Department proposals September 2019 Commission review and decision on proposals

Continuing Review Continue identifying opportunities to consolidate controlled hunts and make boundaries simpler Timing and duration of primary general seasons Western Oregon late season deer and elk hunts Archery deer and elk hunts Allocation of hunting opportunity Hunter recruitment, retention and reactivation Lastly I wanted to make sure the public and Commission understand that this review will continue into next year. Over the next year, continue to identify opportunities to consolidate controlled hunts and make boundaries simpler Review Timing and duration of primary general seasons Western Oregon late season deer and elk hunts Approach to archery deer and elk hunts Allocation of hunting opportunity by weapon type and youth vs. adult hunts Review our hunts under the lens of hunter recruitment, retention and reactivation and see if there is anything we should be doing differently  

Questions? That is all I had for you today. Wanted to end with this picture of my son and I on a very memorable deer hunt in Eastern Oregon. As we go through this review and develop our proposed changes, we are constantly reminding everyone of the importance of setting the stage for the next generation of hunters by making sure our regulations reflect current issues, are simple and easy for hunters to understand, and provide opportunities that the majority of our hunters are looking for.