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Some general season elk units in Oregon could shift to controlled archery hunting if the proposed changes by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) are approved. The changes would go into effect for the 2022 archery elk seasons. Officials say the switch could help “better manage elk populations and more equitably distribute necessary harvest reductions between rifle and archery hunters,” the Argus Observer reports.
“We have tried to craft a solution that addresses the problems we are seeing in some units, while continuing to retain as much general season opportunity as possible,” said Jeremy Thompson, the ODFW district wildlife biologist for the Mid-Columbia. Thompson is managing the elk archery review. “We recognize that any change we propose will impact hunters, but we will also be impacting hunters if we do not make a change.
Eastern Oregon archery elk hunting changes being considered
SALEM, Ore. ODFW staff are planning to propose changes to the 2022 archery elk seasons to better manage elk populations and hunting pressure in popular units.
Under an initial draft proposal, archery elk hunting would remain a general season hunting opportunity in western Oregon and much of eastern Oregon. However, several northeast Oregon units (see map) would move from general season hunting to some form of controlled archery hunting to better manage elk populations and more equitably distribute necessary harvest reductions between rifle and archery hunters.
Tags would not be portable to general season hunts, so archery elk hunters would need to choose either Eastern Oregon General, Western Oregon General, or the controlled hunt tag they drew.