Limited Landowner Preference Mule Deer Tags Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission March 17, 2015 1
2013 Landowner Preference (LOP) Review In 2013, House Bill 2027 made changes to LOP Program statutes, including: • Add Brothers-in-law & Sisters-in-law to “Immediate Family” • Increased the proportion of tags for antlered animals that can be issued to non-family members from ~1/3 to 1/2 • Replaced “Tag Splitting” of LOP elk tags with Elk Damage Program Tags • Authorized the Commission to limit by rule LOP tags for mule deer populations below Management Objectives (MOs) 2
Limited LOP Allocation Formula Initial formula: In Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) below the population MO, LOP tags for buck mule deer were limited to five tags or 10 percent of the tags authorized, whichever is greater: • Same formula used for deer and elk hunts that provide a very limited special opportunity ─ Branch bull tags in WMUs where most tags are spike only ─ Late season buck deer hunts • Applying the 5 tags or 10% formula reduced LOP tags issued from ~ 2,800 in 2014, to ~2400 in 2015 and 2016 3
2017 Limited LOP Tag Allocation Review Limited LOP Mule Deer Tag Review Committee members represented, Oregon Cattlemen, Oregon Farm Bureau, Oregon Hunters Association, Oregon Bow Hunters, Traditional Archers of Oregon, landowners, and hunters at large; concerns related to Limited LOP tags included: • Individuals purchased property for guaranteed tags • Reduced market value of property • Can not guarantee anyone a tag • Impact to tradition of hunting • Formula applied to all WMUs below population MO, did not consider: ─ Proportion of WMU that is private land ─ How far below MO the population was 4
Three Tiered Tag Allocation Proposal Tiers consider relationship of the deer population estimate compared to the population Management Objective (MO) for each Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) Tier 1: Population estimate > 80% of MO, 100 Series (Buck) LOP mule deer issued based upon the acreage table in OAR (2-14 tags/property) Tier 2: Population estimate 60%-79% of MO, LOP buck tags limited to five tags or 15% of the tags authorized for the public for each hunt, whichever is greater Tier 3: Population estimate < 60% of MO, LOP buck tags limited to five tags or 10% of the tags authorized for the public for each hunt, whichever is greater 5
Additional Consideration Three Tiers primarily based on population estimate as % of MO • Consideration given for WMUs predominantly private land ─ Columbia Basin (94%), East Biggs (89%) • Consider primary use of the land ─ NE Owyhee • Looked at % white-tailed deer in the LOP harvest ─ MT Emily, 40%-50% of LOP harvest white-tailed deer 6
Summary Tier 1: 12 WMUs > 80% of MO, + Columbia Basin, E Biggs, NE Owyhee, and Mt Emily, LOP buck tags based on acreage table Tier 2: 15 WMUs 60%-79% of MO, LOP buck tags five tags or 15% of tags authorized for each hunt, whichever is greater Tier 3: 20 WMUs < 60% of MO, LOP buck tags five tags or 10% of tags authorized for each hunt, whichever is greater Note: Not all hunt areas are entire WMUs (i.e. E and W Biggs, NE Owyhee) 7
2016 Mule Deer Population Status/Tiers Chesnimnus Wenaha Walla Walla E Biggs Snake Tier, % Of MO Hood Maupin River Sled Springs Tier 1, > 80% Columbia Mt. Emily W + Exceptions Basin Imnaha Minam Biggs Starkey Pine Creek Desolation Tier 2, 60-79% Grizzly Northside Keating Metolius Ochoco Murders Creek Tier 3, < 60% Beulah Lookout Mt. Maury Silvies Malheur Paulina NE Owyhee River Fort Rock Juniper Silver Lake Sprague Whitehorse Interstate Beatys Klamath Trout Butte Falls Cr. Mtns. 8
Questions ? 9
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