Deer count looks good for season

Hunters should have pretty good pickings when they hit the fields for opening day Saturday.

Information from a survey by the State Department of Fish and Wildlife shows the mild winter left enough forage to keep deer populations high. Warm weather into September, however, has officials concerned about the potential for outbreaks of disease.

Bird hunters appear to be hauling in a pretty good count this year, reported Howard Ferguson, WDFW biologist for the region. While the wet, cool spring took a hard toll on pheasants, quail and partridge populations, which hatch later, are faring well.

Ferguson reported large numbers of elk have been populating the area around Winona and Benge, crediting the migration to last year’s first-ever elk hunt on Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge.

Again, the state has called a special second deer hunt for the Colfax area, identified in the hunting pamphlet as Deer Area 1080.

The special hunt in Colfax was created in 2009. It allows hunters to bag a doe in addition to shooting a buck.

Last year’s hunt resulted in the untimely deaths of 29 antlerless deer in the area. The 2009 hunt resulted in 27 dead deer.

WDFW upped the number of permits it is issuing to hunters in the Colfax area this year to 125 permits for hunters using modern firearms and 75 to those with muzzleloaders.

Getting out to hunt will be more expensive this year.

On Sept. 1, the state increased its general hunting and fishing license fee for the first time in more than a decade.

Second doe tags saw the highest increase for residents, tripling from $22 to $66.

Other changes include the deer, elk, bear and cougar tag package, which went from $81.20 to $93.50; the small game license, up from $38 to $38.50, and freshwater fishing license, up from $24 to $27.50.