Young bird hunters kick off fall hunts Saturday | Outdoors | The ...

A two-day opportunity dedicated to young bird hunters kicks off the 2012 pheasant and waterfowl seasons in Washington next weekend.

The Saturday, Sept. 22, and Sunday, Sept. 23, opportunity for youngsters under age 16 (in the company of a responsible non-hunting adult age 18 or older) includes a variety of waterfowl and upland gamebirds species, but one of the main courses is likely to be wild hatched or farm raised ring-necked pheasants.

Manager Richard Kessler of the Whatcom Wildlife Area says everything is in place on Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife lands for the first scheduled pheasant releases Friday night, on the eve of Saturday's 8 a.m. start of the youth pheasant hunt. Also, publicly accessible waterfowl hunting blinds scattered among five of the wildlife area's units are available for the Saturday dawn start of the younger set's special duck and goose hunts.

And while general eastside pheasant, upland gamebird and statewide waterfowl seasons are still several weeks away, come Monday, Sept. 24, the westside pheasant hunt transitions to a five-day opportunity reserved for hunters age 65 and older.

Following the seniors' ring-necked chase, the two-month Western Washington general pheasant hunt starts Saturday, Sept. 29, and will run through the end of November west of the Cascade Crest. However, seven westside designated release sites have an extended option to Saturday, Dec. 15.

General duck and goose hunts commence statewide Saturday, Oct. 13.

BIRDS/BLINDS AT THE READY

Kessler says he has been allocated about the same number of pheasants as in recent past years and has close to a full cadre of volunteers needed to dispense about 450 ring-necks each week over the course of the youth, senior and general seasons.

The birds will come each week in shipments to Terrell Headquarters holding pens from WDFW's Bob Oke Game Farm near Centralia. Kessler said the birds he's receiving are good-sized, fit and healthy with almost no transport or pen mortality.

Together with a robust annual crop of released ring-neckeds, Whatcom County hunters benefit from an expanse of public pheasant release ground that might be the envy of upland gunners in other Western Washington locales.

Centering on the former farmed acreage on the Lake Terrell Unit of the state's Whatcom Wildlife Area, the designated release site program here also includes additional land made available by BP's Cherry Point Refinery and Alcoa's Intalco Aluminum Works for public recreation including hunting.

In total, pheasant hunters here have the run of close to 1,500 acres of brushy wooded and former pasture lands, all close-in and easily accessible by county road and a half-hour's drive from this area's cities and towns.

Both the BP and Intalco contributions are longstanding commitments made possible by agreements between the industrial giants and the WDFW.

Bird release rates will be close to the same as 2011 with the BP Cherry Point and Intalco units receiving 65 and 70 pheasants, respectively, each release and the Lake Terrell Unit getting 60 birds on its release days. The weekly delivery plan stays the same with Lake Terrell and Intalco plants being done on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday evenings, and BP Cherry Point releases on Fridays and Saturdays after 4 p.m. closing hour.

Designated pheasant release site boundaries and defined safety zones within or adjacent to "huntable" areas will be the same as last year, Kessler said.

He reminds hunters to watch for red-and-white diamond-shaped signs delineating all safety zones and to honor them. That's especially important to the BP/WDFW commitment for public hunting use of the part of the company's property north of Grandview Road. Two readerboards at the parking areas there have maps showing the exact boundaries of the safety zones.

Beginning with this weekend's youth hunt and later in October when the general season starts, waterfowlers will find the same array of blinds available for public hunting in five Whatcom Wildlife Area locales including Lake Terrell, Intalco, BP, Tennant Lake and Nooksack units, Kessler said.

Terrell has the largest number of "hides" with a total of 25 blinds including 19 boat-in only, one fully accessible, one field pit and four walk-in wooden shoreline blinds scattered throughout the unit's southern flanks. There are no blinds north of the reserve boundary line.

Three boat ramps (at headquarters, south end and North Star Road) provide waterborne access to Terrell and there are several other walk-in launches for smaller, more portable craft.

Besides the Terrell array, four stationary blinds are available in the Intalco wetlands, one on one of BP's ponds, three on Tennant Lake and at least seven in the Nooksack Unit's marsh complex.

Access to the Nooksack Unit may be made only from Slater Road in the north on foot or by watercraft or on foot from the south end off Marine Drive. There currently is no access, by foot or vehicle, from the Shady Lane (east off Rural Avenue) side of Nooksack unit.

At Tennant Lake, because of the relative degree of complexity in getting to them, to use the blinds there duck and goose hunters must sign in at the hunter parking area so others coming later know the blinds are occupied and don't have to make the arduous trip out to check.

For all other wildlife area unit blinds it's first-come, first-served, no sign-in required.

Also, to ensure quality opportunities for waterfowlers on the Lake Terrell Unit, duck and goose hunting must be done over decoys and only at the developed blinds. Hunters may set up and pass- or jump-shoot birds in accordance with state and federal rules on the other units.

CROP PLANTINGS FOR THE BIRDS

For hunters interested in gunning over field crops, about 50 acres of barley is growing in one plot on the Lake Terrell Unit, while 20 acres of the cereal grain was planted on the BP recreational lands unit. Crops in both fields will be left standing in accordance with federal waterfowl baiting rules.

Of the 100 acres of share-cropped corn planted on the Nooksack Unit just south of Slater Road, 10 acres will be left standing for the hunting season. The grower will harvest his portion of the corn well before the duck and goose season opens and the remaining upright cornstalks will be in the usual pattern.

These are considered standing grain crops that are not manipulated (pushed over) and do not constitute baiting under federal or state regulations; therefore it is legal to shoot ducks or geese over them.

FISHING REMAINS AN OPTION

Lake Terrell angling regulars know that when the first September bird hunting season rolls around, fishing afloat on both Terrell and Tennant lakes is, by rule, suspended until sometime in January when waterfowl hunting winds down. Fazon Lake also has a similarly timed watercraft-aided fishing ban.

The intent here is to eliminate conflicts between bird hunters who are trying to lure waterfowl within range and free-floating anglers who are likely to scare the birds away.

Angling is not banned completely on these year-round waters and may be done from shore (or a dock) as long as you can find some solid footing that fronts on open water.

At Tennant and Fazon lakes that's hard to do, but at Terrell for a long time there's been a fixed pier near headquarters that served as some semblance of a fishing option during fall hunts.

Replacing the old rickety narrow wood pier for fishing is a new stable, spacious and fully accessible aluminum dock with a close-by parking area and hardened connecting pathway.

It will be available for anglers throughout the duck and goose hunting season, Kessler said. The gate in front of the manager's residence will be opened at dawn for direct motor vehicle access to the dock parking lot and locked at dusk.

LICENSED TO BIRD HUNT

? To pursue pheasants in Western Washington you need only a valid short-term ($40.50) or season-long ($84.50) 2012 Western Washington pheasant permit. No other form of hunting license or permit is required. Gone as well is the need to document and report birds killed.

? The even or odd day weekend 8-10 a.m. field entry rule governs Saturday and Sunday access by pheasant hunters to designated release sites. You make the even/odd choice when you buy your pheasant permit, which then dictates which series of weekend days (even or odd) in October and November you may legally enter the field at 8 a.m. This is intended to reduce the crowded weekend mornings. Be sure to coordinate among your family and hunting partners when buying your Western Washington pheasant permit. After 10 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays everyone may venture into pheasant fields.

? To pursue pheasants in Eastern Washington or other upland gamebirds statewide you must have a valid 2012 small game hunting license ($40.50). No other form of hunting license or permit is required for pheasant. Small-game licenses, when purchased together with big-game licenses, are substantially discounted (down to $22).

? To hunt waterfowl throughout Washington you must have either a valid 2012 small game or big game license with the reduced-price small-game license add-on, plus a state migratory validation (sans stamp) and the actual federal migratory bird (aka duck) stamp affixed to your state license and signed in ink.

? Forest grouse may be taken under either a small- or big-game license.

RULES TO BIRD-HUNT BY

? Escorts at least 18 years old must accompany all hunters age 16 and younger during the special two-day September Youth Hunt. These chaperones may not hunt.

? Blaze orange garments must be worn by every pheasant hunter while in the field. The rule requires at least 400 square inches of hunter orange clothing on the upper body. Waterfowlers don't have to be conspicuous at all.

? No lead shot ammunition of any kind may be used for upland or waterfowl hunting in any of the Whatcom Wildlife Area units. If you have lead-shot charge ammo in your vests, boxes or kits, be sure segregate them and make sure they are conspicuously marked. If you reload, do not try to put lead shot in hulls marked steel-shot. Testing instruments from simple magnets to electronic detectors can distinguish shot composition inside a closed shell.

? Legal hunting hours delineated by specified times approximating sunrise and sunset each week apply to waterfowling, but pheasant hunters have a shorter stretch of each day, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., to legally gun for their quarry.

? Two birds (either sex) a day is the bag limit for pheasants west of the Cascade Crest. Possession limits (maximum number held or kept in the field, including camps and motels, or in transit) range from four pheasants during the youth hunt to 10 pheasants during the westside seniors hunt to 15 pheasants during the general season.

? Seven ducks and four geese are the overarching daily bag limits for waterfowl. But there are additional in-limit restrictions for certain duck species. And on some calendar days there are differential dark and light geese retention opportunities.

For detailed waterfowl and upland gamebird regulations, check the Washington State Migratory Waterfowl and Upland Game Seasons 2012-2013 pamphlet.

Hard copies are available at any hunting and fishing license dealer or online at http://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/01410/wdfw01410.pdf.

BIRD SEASONS COMING/GOING

Following the statewide youth bird hunting weekend and subsequent seniors' pheasant hunt, 2012-13 bird hunting seasons unfold as follows:

? Early resident (September) dark goose seasons are now closed.

? Mourning dove season continues to a closing Sunday, Sept. 30.

? Band-tailed pigeon season (with special hunt authorization required) continues (opened Saturday, Sept. 15) to a closing Sunday, Sept. 23.

? Westside general pheasant season opens Saturday, Sept. 29, and closes at the end of November.

? Westside California and bobwhite quail general season opens Saturday, Sept. 29, and closes at the end of November.

? Eastside California and bobwhite quail with chukar and gray partridge general season opens Saturday, Oct. 6, and closes at the beginning of the fourth week in January.

? Eastside general pheasant season opens Saturday, Oct. 20, and closes Sunday, Jan. 13.

? Statewide duck, coot, snipe and goose (light and dark except brant) general seasons open Saturday, Oct. 13, with two-day closure Oct. 18-19 to make up for youth hunt days. They close Sunday, Jan. 27.

? Forest (ruffed, blue and spruce, or Franklin) grouse season continues through the end of December.

? Fall turkey openings in selected game management units in Region One (north of Spokane) open to all comers with valid licenses Saturday, Sept. 22 running to Friday, Oct. 12, and again from Thursday, Nov. 15 to Sunday, Dec. 15. For more details, including bag restrictions, see the spring turkey or big-game pamphlets.

? Brant, a small marine-dwelling goose species, may be fair game on selected days in January beginning Sunday, Jan. 6, in Pacific County and Saturday, Jan. 12, in Skagit County.

? Swans (both trumpeter and tundra), ptarmigan (all species) and desert grouse (sharp-tailed and sage) seasons are closed statewide.

Doug Huddle, the Bellingham Herald's outdoors correspondent, since 1983 has written a weekly fishing and hunting column that now appears Sundays. Read his blog and contact him at http://pblogs.bellinghamherald.com/outdoor.

Source: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/09/16/2692275/young-bird-hunters-kick-off-fall.html

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