Getting back to field and stream

After a number of years of declining interest in hunting and fishing by Oregonians, a multi-year effort by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to increase participation in those traditional outdoor activities seems to be paying off. The effort includes more opportunities - especially for young people - and here in the Sisters area as well.

Like most largely rural Western states, Oregon residents have long been hunters and anglers, participating in those outdoor sports as recreational activities and for alternative and healthy sources of food. But in the early 2000s, fishing and hunting license sales began to decline. That reflected fewer younger people taking up those sports, as well as former hunters and anglers who were dropping out. For example, in 2005, about 646,000 Oregonians purchased a fishing license, but 253,000 of those people didn't buy one the following year - a 39 percent decrease. There were similar declines in hunting license sales as well.

That also produced declining revenues for ODFW, resulting in fewer funds to manage wildlife to provide quality hunting, fishing, and wildlife-viewing opportunities, as well as for its various game and non-game wildlife conservation programs. That created a negative feedback. As ODFW raised fees for licenses and tags to make up the revenue shortfall, hunters and anglers complained that it was becoming too expensive to go hunting and fishing, causing some people to give up the sports. And as some hunters and anglers dropped out because of costs or age, younger people weren't being recruited to replace them.

There are a number of reasons for that. Families are busier these days, kids are occupied with social media, online gaming and other modern diversions, and many young people, especially in urban areas, don't have parents or other relatives who hunt and fish and therefore have no one to introduce them to the outdoor sports.

"We really started to take note of the declines and how we might reverse them in around 2008," said Chris Willard, ODFW's recruitment and retention coordinator. "Beginning in 2012, we saw a slight uptick in hunting and fishing participation after years of decline."

To get things moving in that upward direction, ODFW developed some strategies to bring more Oregonians into the world of hunting and fishing, and to hang on to current participants.

One was to simplify the hunting and fishing regulations, making them easier to understand. The agency also launched a new website, myodfw.com, that focuses on education and other practical information for hunters, anglers and wildlife watchers.

"We have self-learning tabs on the new website that allows folks to learn hunting and fishing techniques digitally," said Willard.

The website includes weekly recreation reports, hunting and fishing forecasts, how and where to hunt, fish, observe wildlife, and clam and crab. It also lists upcoming events and classes, such as the popular youth pheasant hunts held at various ODFW-owned wildlife areas around the state, hunter education classes, and free fishing days where no license is required to encourage people to give wetting a line a try. Later this year, the agency will also introduce app-based licensing that does away with issuing traditional hardcopy licenses and tags, although people without smart phones will still be able to print a paper license from their computer.

A key way to keeping people hunting and fishing once they have learned the skills and are starting to get out into the field is meeting other people with similar interests.

"One of the things we have found," said Willard, "is that new participants to hunting and fishing need some ongoing social support to continue those activities."

To keep that ball rolling, ODFW has partnered with the Association of Northwest Steelheaders and the Oregon Hunters Association (OHA) to offer classes and clinics in fishing and hunting, respectively. The fees the participants pay include a one-year membership to one of those organizations. The idea is that since these groups have many local chapters statewide that meet regularly, the new members will become involved and make new friends to go afield with rather than leaving them to fend for themselves.

"OHA has partnered with ODFW over the years on many programs intended to help recruit and educate those who will carry on Oregon's hunting heritage," said Duane Dungannon, state coordinator for the OHA. "Those programs have included Oregon's hunter education program, Becoming an Outdoor Woman workshops; Learn to Hunt program; youth hunts; and more."

Currently, ODFW is sponsoring a "Take a Friend Hunting" contest intended to encourage experienced hunters to introduce an adult friend to the sport, with participants eligible for a variety of prizes including a statewide deer tag provided by OHA.

In Central Oregon and the Sisters area, programs to introduce young people to fishing tops the list. That includes youth fishing at Shevlin Park in Bend where ODFW fisheries biologist Jen Luke offered two clinics this summer. Closer to home is the annual Free Fishing Weekend at Wizard Falls Hatchery and the just-opened Metolius Pond at Spring Creek near Camp Sherman. It's stocked with rainbow trout from Wizard Falls Hatchery and open to kids along with disabled anglers of all ages.

"It's a way to get kids introduced to fishing so we made it an easy place to fish," said Luke. "Labor Day weekend was really busy. The parking lot was full to the max."

The overall effort seems to be paying off for ODFW. In 2017, nearly 550,000 Oregonians purchased a fishing license while 317,000 got a hunting license, compared to 483,000 anglers and 219,000 hunters in 2006.

Said Willard, "We look at the individual customer and whether they want to go fishing or hunting for the recreational activity or for a food source and we make sure they have the information they need."