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A thick body, small head and coloration similar to a killer whale make this dolphin easy to recognize. Dall’s porpoise is mostly black with a large white patch on the belly and flanks. The small dorsal fin is partly white and the trailing edges of the tail are frosted white. About seven feet long and weighing around 400 pounds, Dall’s live only in the north Pacific. Dall’s are the fastest of all small cetaceans and can swim at up to 35 miles per hour, almost as fast as a killer whale. When swimming at the surface they create a characteristic
Features: Soles have flattened, oval bodies with both eyes on one side of their head. They are dark on top and light underneath. Habitat: They are commonly found on mud or sand bottoms from 5- to 750-fathoms deep. Techniques: Soles and other flatfish are best targeted by fishing with smaller hooks (less than 2/0) tipped with bait such as clam necks, sand shrimp, or chunks of herring or anchovy on a sandy or gravel bottom.
Features: Starry flounder are a flatfish with both eyes on the "top" side of their heads. They are dark on the eyed side with very rough scales, and alternating yellow/orange and black bands in the dorsal, anal, and tail fins. Habitat: Flounder tend to stay near the bottom, looking for food above. Technique: Drift a small jig or bait (such as shrimp, marine worm or mussel) on a #2 hook with 2-ounce sinker rigged on a 10- to 15-pound line over a sandy or muddy bottom. Header photo by Sam Grover, Flickr
This area extends from the eastern flanks of the Cascade Range through the Ochoco Mountains to the beginning of the Great Basin, making it a great place to explore.
This vast area covers the Columbia Basin through the Blue, Wallowa and Elkhorn mountains to Hells Canyon. Some of Oregon's most prized big game hunts are managed in this area.
From the eastern flanks of Crater Lake National Park through the national forests of Douglas fir and ponderosa pine forests to the California border, there's plenty of public land to find your hunt.
Southeast Oregon, with its ponderosa pine forests, sage steppe expanses and aspen pocked mountains, is a very popular area to hunt mule deer, elk and pronghorn antelope.
Densely forested hillsides from the coast through the Siskiyou Mountains to the Cascade Range offer excellent habitat for a myriad of big game species.
The lush northwest corner of Oregon offers world class bird hunting -- from waterfowl hunting on the lower Columbia River to ruffed grouse flushing in the foothills of the Cascades. Opportunities abound close to Oregon's major metropolitan areas.
Features: Drakes have a black head with a white spot below and in front of the eye -- rather than the crescent-shaped patch of the barrow's goldeneye -- white neck, breast and flanks and a black back and tail. Hens have a brown head, light neck, breast and belly, brown backs and flanks. Drakes and hens of both common and Barrow's goldeneye have a distinctive golden ring around the pupil. Habitat: It is a common migrant in northeastern Oregon and winter resident of the Snake, Columbia, Klamath, Rogue and Umpqua rivers. Techniques: These ducks travel in small groups of two
Features: A medium-size goose, adult snow geese are white with black-tipped wings that are visible in flight. Their pronounced pink bill has a dark "grinning" patch across it, and they have pinkish feet. Young of the year snow geese are grayish white with grey legs and bills. These birds are very vocal and can be heard over a mile away. Habitat: Snow geese are well-adapted to agricultural land. They can also be found in wetlands, roosting in open water. Sauvie Island, Summer Lake and Klamath wildlife areas have abundant snow goose populations during various times of year. Technique: Snow geese
Features: The most distinguishing feature of white-tailed deer is the tail. Whitetails have long, wide tails that can easily be seen, especially when they are startled and raise their tails. White-tailed deer antlers differ from mule and black-tailed deer in that there is one main beam with points coming off. Mule and black-tailed deer have antlers that fork on the main beam. Habitat: White-tailed deer share the same habitat as eastern Oregon’s mule deer. Deer both graze and browse. Forbs and browse (stems and leaves of woody plants) are favored forage during the growing season. Grasses are consumed during some
Features: Males have a ragged-crested, dark green head, a reddish-brown breast, a dark back and gray sides. Females share the ragged crest; their rufous heads and gray bodies may make it hard to tell them from female common mergansers. Their bills, however, are noticeably slimmer. Habitat: Red-breasted mergansers are common from fall through spring, mostly in coastal bays and estuaries but occasionally on the open ocean. Techniques: Their preferred habitat within dangerous ocean waters makes them inaccessible to hunters.
Features: The distinctive white band across the base of their bill gives this goose its name. It is medium in size with a gray and brown body. Adults have dark brown and black spots on their chests and breasts give this goose the "specklebelly" nickname, while the young of the year birds are a nondescript gray with yellow legs and bills. Habitats: The white-fronted goose grazes on a mixture of grasses and grains. It can often be found in agricultural lands. Techniques: Hunting white-fronted geese is not for the faint-hearted. Scouting is necessary. And since they're mostly found in agricultural
Features: Columbian sharp-tailed grouse are brown-gray with small black and white markings, a white underside, and a short tail that is white at the base. They are a medium-sized grouse. Both the males and females have a yellow-orange comb over each eye. Habitat: Columbian sharp-tailed grouse were historically found in most counties of eastern Oregon. These birds preferred the bunchgrass prairies interspersed with stream bottoms containing deciduous shrubs and trees. This habitat was particularly common in north-central Oregon and the Columbia Basin. Technique: In 1929, Oregon closed its hunting season for sharp-tailed grouse and it has never re-opened. By the
Features: Both the male and female are gray or reddish-brown on the body with dark bars and spots throughout. They have variable tail colors but always have a black band near the tip. Habitat: Ruffed grouse are most commonly found in brushy riparian areas in eastern Oregon and in early-aged mixed woodlands in western Oregon, though birds may be found in pockets of good habitat nearly anywhere. Technique: The ruffed grouse is a bird of the edge, so look in edges of meadows, clearcuts, and where brushy growth meets timber. In September, when most ruffed grouse hunting takes place in
Features: Chukars are brown-gray with a black stripe running across the head, through the eye, and down onto the chest. Their bills and feet are red, and their sides have white and black barring. Habitat: Extensive areas in eastern Oregon provide ideal habitat for chukars. Cheatgrass, an introduced plant species, was already well established through much of eastern Oregon prior to the 1950s, and provides one of the most important year-around food resources for the chukar. Their habitat is generally steep, rocky, dry, and largely unsuitable for development, agriculture or other commercial uses except grazing. Important chukar areas in Oregon
Features: Hungarian partridge have a gray-brown body with reddish brown barring on their wings, back and tail. Their beak and legs are gray. Habitat: In eastern Oregon, the best partridge populations exist in Columbia and Snake River basin counties. Although some birds may be found many miles from farming areas, the bunchgrass and sagebrush foothills adjacent to wheat and other farmlands provide the best habitat and the most stable populations. Technique: "Huns" are swift and challenging birds to hunt, usually bursting from the cover with a startling squeal and clatter of wings. They are typically hunted incidentally to pheasants or
The Northern fur seal is the smallest member of the family in Oregon. The flippers are nearly twice as large as those of a comparably-sized individual of any other species of otariid. The ears are cylindrical and the auditory meatus is covered with wax to prevent entry of water. The pelage consists of coarse guard hairs and an exceedingly thick underfur that serves as waterproof insulation. Adult males are dark gray or brown dorsally and reddish brown ventrally; a grayish cape covers the neck and shoulders. Adult females are grayish brown dorsally and reddish brown ventrally. The Northern fur seal
The California sea lion is the mid-sized Oregon otriid. The body is slender and tapering, the flippers are relatively small, and the rear flippers can be rotated beneath the body for moving on land. The short, course pelage lacks dense underfur; when dry, it usually is chocolate brown, but individuals with light-tan pelage are known to occur. The pelage appears black when wet. In older males, the pate is tan. The occurrence of the California sea lion along the Oregon coast is seasonal. The primary areas where it comes ashore are Cascade Head, Tillamook County; Cape Argo, Coos County; and