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Southwest Washington Wildlife Reports
Brian Calkins, Acting Wildlife Program Manager

October 16, 2006

Region 5 Wildlife Areas:

Proud young hunter with his buck.

Klickitat Wildlife Area Deer Opening Weekend: District Biologists Miller and Anderson and Acting Wildlife Area Manager Van Lueven contacted hunters on the Wildlife Area to insure that people were aware of the regulation change and the fire restriction. 143 hunters were contacted and all were aware of the regulation change, thanks to a great effort by the District 9 staff , local newspapers and Olympia/Vancouver staff help. Only one hunter was unhappy with the new regs. Three bucks and one doe were checked during the weekend - a low harvest rate. It will take a year or two of the new regulations to see the improvement in buck numbers and harvest is weighed heavily on resident animals during opening weekend. Of the deer examined, three were yearlings and one was 2.5 years old when harvested. The number of 3 point bucks available to hunters will likely increase as deer from nearby areas migrate to the Wildlife Area.

Wildlife Diversity Division:

Ridgefield Birdfest: District Biologist Anderson and Acting Program Manager Calkins staffed the WDFW booth at the Ridgefield Birdfest event on Saturday and Sunday. The event highlights the importance of the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge and Wildlife to the community. Anderson and Calkins fielded questions on a wide variety of topics.

Game Division:

Yacolt Check Station: Biologist Holman and Volunteers Lisa Renan and John Arnold representing Eyes In The Woods staffed a check station near Yacolt. A total of 727 hunter checks were made with 12 bucks being checked. Overall Deer harvest for opening weekend appears to be down due to very dry conditions on Saturday which turned to extremely wet conditions on Sunday.

Science Division:

Dead Bird Responses: Biologist Holman responded to two reports of dead waterfowl in the Vancouver Area. These included one call about a mallard near the Vancouver Mall and the other was a report of dead goose on Vancouver Lake. The birds were collected and will be submitted to the USFWS lab to determine the cause of death which includes testing for avian influenza viruses.