Youth hunting rules this weekend

The special youth hunt is scheduled for tomorrow and Sunday, Sept. 20 and 21, with a daily limit of four Canada geese and a possession limit of eight. The youth hunter must be under 16 years old and accompanied by an adult who is 18 years old and not hunting.

Also open to youth are ducks, pheasants, quail, chukar and huns.

Dennis note: Take advantage of the youth hunts as a chance to mentor a young hunter in your family.

Greenwing barbecue

The second annual Moses Lake Ducks Unlimited greenwing barbecue will be held on tomorrow, Sept. 20, at Mar Don Resort. This is a Washington State Ducks Unlimited sanctioned event. A greenwing is a youth under 18 years of age.

The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tickets are $5 for a greenwing and $10 for adults.

Mike Nilsen, the new Washington State Ducks Unlimited Chairman and Garrett Coussens, Ducks Unlimited Regional Director for Eastern/Southwest Washington will attend.

Last year 100 people attended with 50 of them being greenwings. This year the organizing group is planning on having 60 greenwings attend.

The event coincides with the Washington State annual waterfowl youth hunt taking place on Sept. 20 and 21. Attending greenwings will receive Cabela’s blind bags, Wise duck buckets, Haydel duck calls, and other items at no additional charge.

Abel Cortina, former Washington State Duck Calling Champion, will be in attendance to conduct a duck calling instruction session.

Contact Thomas M. O’Dell at home 509-764-8557 or cell 206-465-6943. An alternate contact is Troy Wiley at 509-989-3536.

A special pheasant hunting opportunity for hunters 65 years or older takes place Sept. 22 through 26. Grant County is usually the state’s top pheasant producer. Non-toxic shot is required for all upland bird hunting on all pheasant release sites statewide to protect other wildlife species including waterfowl and raptors.

Dennis note: This one’s for me.

Sept. 27 is National Hunting and Fishing Day and National Public Lands Day.

From Fish and Wildlife

September marks the start of early archery white-tailed and mule deer hunting in select northcentral Game Management Units. Modern firearm and muzzleloader high buck hunting begins Sept. 15.

Most late-summer and fall hunting opportunities will be unaffected by wildfires and floods in Okanogan, Chelan and Douglas counties this summer. But hunters may need to do a little more homework this season.

Wildfires burned about 270,000 acres this summer in northcentral Washington, so hunters will need to check the availability of their favorite locations before heading into the field.

Fish and Wildlife is considering emergency changes to this year’s hunting regulations to increase antlerless deer harvest in heavily impacted areas. This will likely be accomplished through the use of increased youth, senior, disabled, second deer and master hunter permits drawn from this year’s applicant pool for relevant GMUs. Additionally, damage related permits will also be used to address anticipated agricultural nuisance issues as they develop.

Although the Columbia Basin – specifically Grant County -- is ranked number one in the state for harvest of ducks and geese, success during the early youth hunt is usually dependent on resident birds. Most of the best waterfowl hunting comes later in the general season with migrant birds coming in from the north.