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Features: Female pheasants are brown on top and paler underneath. They have black spots on their sides and black bars throughout their tails. The males are much more conspicuous with bright red on their head, a white band around their necks, and an iridescent copper color on their sides and backs. Their tails are long and pointed with barring. Habitat: The ringneck is a farmland species, heavily dependent on cereal grains and other seeds. They also like taller vegetation for cover. Technique: Because pheasants are tied so closely to agriculture, the majority of hunting opportunity occurs on private lands. State
Features: The mountain goat is stockily built with black scimitar-shaped horns, large black hooves and prominent dewclaws, and an entirely white, woolly coat. Habitat: Rocky Mountain goats are found in steep and rugged habitat in eastern Oregon, including the Wallowa, Elkhorn and Strawberry mountains, and the central Cascades near Mt Jefferson. Techniques: Rocky Mountain goat tags are “once-in-a-lifetime” and less than 25 are available each year. Be prepared to hunt their steep, rugged habitat if you are lucky enough to draw a tag.
A research study that began in 2012 confirmed Sierra Nevada red fox presence in the Oregon Cascades, specifically in the Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Washington, and Three Sisters Wilderness Areas. Confirmation was through genetic testing of hair and scat samples. Sierra Nevada red fox is a subspecies of Red fox that live in high elevations. They are slightly darker than Red fox and are highly specialized to montane (mountain) ecosystems. In the red color phase, the upper body is reddish-brown with white chin, cheeks, throat and belly. This fox ranges from silver to black in the black/silver color phase with silver
Features: Eulachon smelt (Thaleichthys pacificus) grow to be 6-9 inches long and live 3-5 years. They have elongated bodies with relatively large mouths. They are blueish on top and silvery on their sides and bellies. Habitat: The Pacific smelt spends most of its life in the ocean, migrating up rivers, including the Columbia and its tributaries, to spawn. The eggs attach to gravelly, woody, or sandy substrate of the river bottoms, but upon hatching the juvenile smelt get swept downstream back to the ocean. Technique: Dip netting for smelt when they run in the Sandy River is a great way
Features: Steelhead are rainbow or redband trout (O. mykiss) that migrate to the ocean during their first or second year, returning one to three years later to spawn. While in the ocean, steelhead are silvery in color and typically grow significantly larger than their siblings who never leave fresh water. Once back in fresh water, they usually turn dark-olive in color, with silvery-white undersides, heavily speckled bodies and a pink to red stripe running along their sides. Habitat: Summer-run steelhead return to freshwater between May and October and require several months to mature and spawn. Winter-run steelhead return to freshwater
Features: They are aptly named for their color pattern and appetite. They have dark stripes running vertically down their sides, which vary in color from greenish-grey to a blush hue. They can grow in excess of 4-feet long and 30 pounds. Habitat: These fish were released in Phillips Reservoir near Baker City to help control the runaway yellow perch population that was harming the rainbow trout fishery. Technique: This is a catch-and-release fishery. Tiger muskie have a reputation for being elusive and difficult to catch. Anglers who target these fish will want a strong rod and line, a reel with
Features: A medium-size shorebird, it is stocky with brown and buff coloration. The long, thin bill is a distinguishing feature. Habitats: As a shorebird, the Wilson's snipe is found along bog, marsh and wet meadow edges. It uses its long bill to forage for worms and other invertebrates. Techniques: Hunt along wetland edges. Because their coloration is excellent camoflage, they're difficult to see before flushing. Be quick on the draw and use a light load. They are small birds after all. Header photo by Dave Budeau
Wild turkeys are not native to Oregon but were first successfully introduced in 1961. Since then more than 10,000 turkeys have been transplanted to locations all over Oregon and continue to thrive in most game units through the state. Turkey hunting is a popular activity in Oregon and has grown more than ten-fold since a statewide spring season opened in 1987. Oregon’s six-week spring turkey season is among the most liberal in the United States. Hunters have an opportunity to take up to three gobblers during the spring season and up to two birds during the fall, one of which
Features: Overall, medium-gray with a white underside. Gray, bushy tail has a white "halo." Habitat: It is commonly associated with mixed forest communities in central Wasco, Jefferson, Deschutes, and Klamath counties west, except for unforested portions of the Willamette Valley, to central Washington, Benton, Lane, Douglas, Coos, and Curry counties. It is active at all seasons and exhibits diurnal activity almost exclusively. Techniques: Most hunters use a small caliber rifle, and aim for the head to avoid ruining the meat.
Features: Color varies, but walleye are generally dark olive-brown on top grading to almost white below. Walleye have two well-separated dorsal fins; the first fin has a large black spot at its rear base. The opaque eyes, giving the fish its common name, and canine teeth are other prominent features. Habitat: Walleye are found in the Columbia, Willamette and Snake rivers. In the Willamette River, the walleye fishery is generally limited to the section downstream from Willamette Falls at Oregon City, although a few have been documented as far upstream as Dexter Dam. Walleye prefer large, clean and cold or
Features: As the name suggests, these fish have rosy red strip along their sides. Other identification clues include large, profuse black spots on the body and orange and yellow tints along the belly. Habitat: Redband trout are a subspecies of native rainbow trout that have adapted to the arid, desert conditions of eastern Oregon. During drought years distribution constricts as streams dry and become uninhabitable. Trout re-colonize these streams during wet cycles, expanding the distribution. Prime trout waters are clear, clean and cold. Good trout stream habitat is complex, consisting of an array of riffles and pools, submerged wood, boulders
Features: The color of all trout varies with environment. In general, the rainbow is bluish-green on the back, silvery on the sides and belly, and has a white edge to the dorsal, anal, and pelvic fins. A generous sprinkling of black spots appear along the back, and on the dorsal, adipose and caudal fins. A pinkish band usually extends along the sides. Habitat: Rainbow trout are the most widely stocked and distributed trout in Oregon. They occur naturally in many rivers and streams, and each year ODFW stocks millions more in ponds, lakes and streams. Prime trout waters are clear
Features: Brook trout are easily identified by the worm-like pale yellow markings on their backs and red dots with blue halos and white borders on their lower fins. In small streams brook trout are often 5- to 7-inches long but can reach 25 inches or more in large rivers or lakes. Habitat: Brook trout are an introduced species, first stocked in the early 1900s. They are widely distributed from high mountain lakes to headwater tributaries, and thrive in cold, mountainous streams and lakes where other species are unable to do well. Many barren lakes have been stocked with brook trout
Features: The lake trout is not particularly colorful – usually gray with large pale spots – and can be distinguished from other trout by its deeply-forked tail. Lake trout, despite the common name, is not actually a trout but a member of the closely related char group. They can reach weights of 20 pounds. Habitat: These aggressive, fish-eating char are popular sport fish found in deep, cold water with plenty of oxygen and proper spawning areas. There also must be abundant forage fishes for them to eat. Techniques: Many anglers target lake trout in the spring, when they hang out
Features: While in the sea, sea-run cutthroat feed on crustaceans and small fish and can grow up to one inch a month. By the time they return to fresh water to spawn, these fish can be up to 18-inches long and are bright silver, much like a small steelhead. Habitat: This is a sea-run strain of the coastal cutthroat that travels into the saltwater estuaries for a few months of the year. Unlike salmon and steelhead, sea-run trout don’t migrate far from their home river and return to freshwater in late summer – July and August. Technique: Sea-run cutthroat trout