Outdoors - Hunting and Fishing

POSTED: Friday, Aug. 21, 2009

New season, leadership at Lake Terrell

As the 2009 early bird hunting seasons approach, with a change in leadership, preparations are underway at Whatcom Wildlife Area.

Richard Kessler, a 17-year veteran of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, has taken the reins from Shana Winegeart as manager of the 4,400-plus acre complex.

Among the first orders of business on Kessler's busy schedule, is getting ready for the Western Washington pheasant opportunity, which kicks off Sept. 26 with the youth hunt.

Some 4,000 ring-neck hens and roosters have been allocated to the Whatcom complex, which again this year will have three large hunting areas that will be regularly planted during course of the season, said Kessler.

More pheasants could be routed to Whatcom depending on the outcome of the search for alternate release sites in Skagit and North Snohomish counties, Kessler added.

Plans call for the WWA's Lake Terrell Unit together with the Alcoa Intalco Works and BP Cherry Point public recreation lands to be actively managed for upland gamebird hunts.

Hunters can expect the same distribution arrangements as last year for birds. That includes a mid-week plant on at least one of the three release sites in addition to Friday and Saturday evening stockings on all three acreages.

Information about pheasant releases including the planting schedule will be posted on the headquarters readerboard near the Terrell boat ramp.

In anticipation of the eminent arrival of the season's first contingent of china birds, Kessler said he has already obtained assistance from Master Hunter Program candidates in refurbishing holding pens. Additional help will be needed.

PHEASANT WRANGLERS SOUGHT

As with past years, because there is no paid help at this time, volunteer bird releasers will play a pivotal role.

And without this regular assistance, pheasant delivery trips would have to be spaced further apart in time and that won't be good for the quality of hunting.

Kessler said a contingent of 20 or so reliable pheasant punchers will do the lion's share of the releases from the late September youth hunt through the closing date immediately following Thanksgiving weekend.

Volunteers are asked to commit to at least two to three evenings, after 4 p.m., rain or shine. It won't cut into hunting time and at least for the mornings following your stint, you'll have a better idea than most hunters where to start prospecting for birds.

If you haven't done this before, on your first go-round Kessler will team you with a veteran who will show you the ropes of crowding, loading and delivering the birds to a selection of release points on the Lake Terrell, Alcoa or BP hunting lands.

To introduce everyone to the basics, Kessler also expects to hold an all-hands gathering of volunteers the first or second week of September, at which volunteers may pick their dates.

If the notion of helping out strikes you as the right thing to do, call (360) 384-4723 this month to sign up. In past years, the schedule was in limbo until the last minute due to a lack of help.

While these aspects of upland gamebird hunting won't change much this year other things have.

RELEASES GET REPRIEVE

Initially put on the chopping block as part of cutbacks proposed to cope with the state's fiscal crisis, the Western Washington pheasant release program survived in fish and wildlife's 2009-2010 budget but with significant changes.

First, on the down side, the Legislature decreed that there must be greater assurance that the program pay for itself, so they doubled the annual permit fee to $70. With the added 10 percent surcharge and dealer fee, westside pheasant hunters will pay more than $90 to hunt.

The good news is that the harvest record card has been completely eliminated, so really good hunters won't have to buy second, third or fourth documents.

While the daily limit of two birds of either sex still obtains, there will be no limitation on the annual limit. The $90-plus fee buys a hunter a chance for as many two-pheasant daily bag limits as they can lawfully get between Oct. 2 to Nov. 30.

The very young and the most senior of pheasant hunters actually get a few more days than that. As mentioned, the two-day youth weekend gamebird hunt is set for Sept. 26-27.

On Monday, Sept. 28, bird hunters age 65 and older get the fields to themselves for a five-day stint that will transition into the general westside season Saturday, Oct. 2.

A key operating element remaining unchanged this year is the weekend allocation rule.

For those unfamiliar with these popular hunts, on Saturdays and Sundays an odd or even number system determines if you may enter the field at 8 a.m. on all designated release sites in the Whatcom Wildlife Area complex. Be sure if you are hunting with a partner(s), that you coordinate the even or odd selection when buying licenses so that you can all enter the field on the same weekend mornings.

DOG TRAINING OKAY

Between now and the youth kickoff hunt, upland birders may tune up their four-legged hunting companions at Lake Terrell.

Under canine warm-up rules, birds must not be injured in any way during the indoctrinations.

To be fully field legal, dog trainers must have in their possession some version of a valid 2009 Washington hunting license, either the basic hunting or combination form, as well as a 2009 Western Washington Pheasant Permit.

Also your trusty rig in the parking lot must have a valid conservation decal in plain view. It's the freebie that accompanies your purchase of a fishing or hunting license.

They can be displayed in the handy windshield rearview mirror hanger that comes with them, so enforcement officers can sort the compliant sheep from the non-paying goats.

They are transferable if you drive more than one vehicle, so make sure that appropriate license numbers are written on it.

Monies raised from the sale of these permits to non-hunting/fishing visitors help pay for the upkeep and development of state wildlife areas.

Doug Huddle, the Herald's outdoors correspondent, has worked for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife for 30 years and has written a weekly hunting and fishing column for the Bellingham Herald since 1983 that appears Fridays. E-mail him at doug.huddle@bellinghamherald.com.