2025-26 Fern Ridge game bird harvest statistics

Find the weekly statistics for waterfowl and upland game birds at Fern Ridge Wildlife Area.

Wigeon, ducks

All hunters at Fern Ridge Wildlife Area must obtain a daily hunt permit prior to hunting. There are two ways to obtain a permit based on when and where you want to hunt.

  1. Hunters wishing to hunt ducks during the Reservation Waterfowl Hunt in the East, West, and South Coyote units must check-in at the ODFW staffed check station on the morning of their hunt. Reservation permits are obtained through the controlled hunt draw process. Unfilled reservations are available to hunters without reservations on a first-come, first-serve basis the day of at the check station. (See specific details in the Game Bird Hunting Regulations). During the check-in process, hunters will receive a daily hunt permit for themselves and a hunt guest if accompanied by one.
  2. All other hunters (waterfowl, upland game, big game, etc.) planning to hunt in other wildlife area units or the Coyote units outside of the Reservation Waterfowl Hunt, must obtain a free-daily hunt permit at one of several self-service check stations located across the wildlife area. One half of the permit (the A-half) is completed during check-in and the harvest report half (the B-half) is completed upon check-out. (See specific details in the Game Bird Hunting Regulations).

Two types of harvest summaries are provided below, a Reservation Waterfowl Hunt Summary for the entire season-to-date and weekly summaries for areas & seasons outside of the Reservation Hunt Area.

2025/26 Fern Ridge Wildlife Area Reservation Waterfowl Hunt Summary

Hunt Blind Map 

The information provided here is intended to help you get an idea of your odds of drawing a reservation for the Coyote units. Seventeen reservations are available each day. Since you can only draw one reservation a year, here are some tips to increase your odds. If you don't draw, you can always get in the stand-by line.

  • Days that have more first-choice applicants than permits available will never be drawn as anything other than as first-choice. Meaning you are not going to draw a very popular hunt day as a second through fifth-choice.
  • If there are fewer first-choice applicants than permits, the process restarts for second-choice hunt applicants and so on. For your second and third-choice, choose a day that is not as likely to get more first choice applicants than permits available, that way you might still get drawn.
  • To increase the likelihood that you will be drawn, apply for a non-weekend hunt day or later in the season as there are typically fewer applicants. Looking at the number of first choice applicants last year can give you an idea of which days of the week and time periods typically get less applicants.
  • Check out our harvest statistics to see how the hunting has been at different times of the season.

Reservation Draw - # of 1st Choice Applicants by Hunt

Fern Ridge Wildlife Area Non-Reservation Hunt Summary

Weekly summaries of the number of ducks, geese, and upland game birds harvested each week are shown in the table below. Click on the date for a more detailed summary of total birds harvested by species and date. (pdf)

Date

Week

No. Hunters

No. Ducks harvested*

No. Geese harvested

No. Upland harvested**

Birds per Hunter

Sep 1 - 7

Week One

133

0

30

49

.60

Sep 8 - 14

Week Two

473

0

5

203

.44

Sep 15 - 21

Week Three

342

0

3

138

.42

Sep 22 - 28

Week Four

298

2

1

135

.49

Sep 29 - Oct 5

Week Five

224

0

0

117

.55

Oct 6 - 12

Week Six

93

142

0

3

1.59

Oct 13 - 19

Week Seven

123

118

0

3

1.05

Oct 20 - 26

Week Eight

76

71

0

2

1.04

Oct 27 - Nov 2

Week Nine

126

48

0

43

.80

Nov 3 - 9

Week Ten

139

93

0

13

.87

Nov 10 - 16

Week Eleven

134

61

0

22

.74

Nov 17 - 23

Week Twelve

91

44

0

34

.91

Nov 24 - 30

Week Thirteen

     
2025 Year to Date Total 

2,255

579

39

762

.65

*Ducks does not include coot
**Upland includes pheasant, quail, partridge, grouse and dove

Previous Years' Harvest and Count Data (pdfs)