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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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.

5. 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……

6. 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

7. 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..

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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.

12. 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

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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.