Extra Colfax-area hunts result in 195 dead deer

Body count from last year’s special doe hunt in the greater Colfax area was 195.

The state department of Fish and Wildlife issued 450 permits to hunters in the greater Colfax area, which includes management areas around Colfax, Steptoe and Almota.

Figures given to the Gazette from Bob Weaver, local state game warden, showed 27 confirmed kills of antlerless deer in the newly-created Colfax management area.

Creation of the new Colfax district was seen as a means of reducing the in-town deer population which has taken a toll on Colfax yards and gardens.

Hunters could hunt deer just outside city limits, but not within.

Mayor Norma Becker Tuesday said she was happy the state was addressing the city’s deer problem.

“Everything the state fish and game does is very appreciated,” Becker said. “To get rid of some of those does is excellent. I’m very pleased.”

Becker has been unsuccessful in her effort to get a city law on the books to ban feeding of deer inside the city limits. The proposed law has failed to garner a motion from the city council and remains in a “tabled” mode.

One hundred permits were issued for the new Colfax management area. Returns to the game department indicated the 27 deer were bagged by 57 who hunted with the special permits.

In the Steptoe unit, 200 permits were issued, 129 were hunted and 97 deer were killed, including one buck. At Almota, 150 permits were issued, 89 were hunted and 71 deer were killed, also including one buck. Those permits were issued under an either sex format.

Becker, like many other Colfax residents, has lost several shrubs and flowers in her yard to hungry deer, who come into the river valley during winter, when food on surrounding hills is covered in snow.

Heavy snowfall the past two winters has made the deer turn to Colfax yards for food even more than usual.

Weaver said he had seen more deer in the hills outside of city limits this winter, as mild temperatures left food outside of town available to the deer.

Becker said she covered many of the plants in her yard with plastic this winter to discourage hungry deer. She added she has seen several deer droppings in her yard.

“If we can get rid of some does, so they don’t have as many babies, it’s going to make a big difference down the road,” said Becker.

Michael Atamian, biologist with the department’s Spokane office, said the impact of the special doe hunt would not likely show up immediately.

“Typically, it takes a couple of years before the deer population begins to decrease,” said Atamian. He explained special hunts do not typically drop population; it is the removal of reproductive animals that leads to an eventual drop.

The second season was added by the department to counter a steady increase in the deer population around Colfax the last several years.

Large numbers of deer died from an outbreak of Epozootic Hemmoragic Disease in 2003 and 2004, and the department at that time cut back on the amount of tags it issued.

Tags were increased in subsequent years as the population rebounded, to the point the special Colfax hunt was needed.