Deadlines loom for hunting opportunities
The deadline for the raffle permit hunts is today, July 15. The tickets must be purchased from a vendor, such as your favorite sporting goods store.
Prices
Deer, Elk, Moose, Mountain Goat: $6.00/ticket. Bighorn Sheep: $11.50/ticket. Multi-species: $17.00/ticket for 3-species raffles and $22.50/ticket for 4-species raffles.
There are several categories available. In the single-species categories, I purchase four mule deer tickets, which allows one additional buck mule deer; four eastside elk tickets, for one additional bull elk and four moose tickets, which allows the taking of one bull or cow moose. The season for all of my species is Sept. 1 through Dec. 31.
Study the hunting pamphlet and purchase the tickets of your choice.
Okanogan County deer hunt applications due Aug. 14.
Eighteen lucky hunters will have an opportunity to hunt for deer this fall on the 6,000-acre Charles and Mary Eder unit of the Scotch Creek Wildlife Area in northeastern Okanogan County. The deadline to apply is midnight Aug. 14.
The winners will be chosen during a random drawing scheduled Aug. 15. Winners of the drawing will receive access permits to the unit of the Scotch Creek Wildlife Area near Oroville.
This drawing is open to the general public without any additional fees beyond the cost of a hunting license and the standard deer tag.
Of the 18 access permits available this year, six will be reserved for bowhunters, six for muzzleloaders and six for hunters using modern firearms.
Hunters are allowed to take only one deer, as authorized by their general hunting license.
Deer-hunting seasons for the area are Sept. 1-30 for bowhunters, Oct. 1-9 for muzzleloaders, and Oct. 15-28 for hunters using modern firearms.
The results of the drawing will be available on WDFW’s website the last week of August.
Lake Roosevelt trout limit comments sought
Fish and Wildlife is seeking public input through July 25 on proposals for changing the daily catch limit on trout at Lake Roosevelt.
Proposed changes to the catch limit are designed to help further protect wild redband rainbow trout while still providing anglers with opportunities to harvest hatchery fish. Redband trout are a subspecies of rainbow trout found in the Columbia River and its tributaries.
Currently, anglers fishing Lake Roosevelt can keep five trout (hatchery or wild) per day, including two that are 20 inches or larger.
Under one proposed option, Lake Roosevelt anglers could keep up to 10 trout, only one of which can be a wild trout 18 inches or larger. This proposal also extends by two months the closure of the Sanpoil River arm of the reservoir where redband rainbow trout stage to make their upriver spawning run. Currently, the arm is closed Feb. 1 through March 31. Under this proposal, it would close Feb. 1 through May 31.
Another proposal would limit anglers to five hatchery trout per day with no harvest of wild trout allowed from Grand Coulee Dam to the Northport Bridge. Anglers fishing from the Northport Bridge upstream to the Canadian border would be limited to two trout (wild or hatchery fish) that are 18 inches or greater in length daily.
Workshop offers women fishing, hunting and outdoor skills
Women can learn the basics of fishing, hunting, and other outdoor skills in a September weekend workshop that includes sessions led by Fish and Wildlife and other instructors.
Scheduled for Sept.16-18 at Camp Waskowitz in North Bend, the annual workshop is presented and coordinated by Washington Outdoor Women, a non-profit program dedicated to teaching women outdoor skills and natural resource stewardship. WOW, now in its 19th year, is an educational outreach program of the Washington Wildlife Federation.