New salmon, steelhead, sturgeon endorsement – Beginning Jan. 1, 2014 anglers fishing for salmon, steelhead or sturgeon in the Columbia River and its tributaries will be required to have a Columbia River Basin endorsement. See a map of the Basin and get more information. Report your tags by Jan. 31—even if you didn’t hunt or weren’t successful – Hunters are required to report on every deer, elk, cougar, bear, pronghorn and turkey tag purchased. Hunters who fail to report their 2013 deer and elk tags by the deadline (Jan. 31, 2014 for most hunts) will have to pay a $25 penalty fee to purchase a 2015 hunting license. Report online or call 1-866-947-ODFW (6339). Don’t overlook winter trout fishing – Oregon offers diverse winter trout fishing opportunities — Garrison Lake and Lost Creek Reservoir in the SW Zone, Crooked and Metolius rivers in Central, Walter Wirth Lake in the Willamette and ice-fishing on Campbell Lake and Wolf Creek Reservoir in SE, to name a few. Check out the zone reports for even more winter trout opportunities. Bird hunting winds down – Most remaining duck and goose seasons close Jan. 26, though goose hunting in NW Oregon and parts of the South Coast, Klamath and Malheur counties have a third hunting period later in the year (see regs). The rest of Oregon’s upland bird seasons close Jan. 31. Spring bear hunt applications due Feb. 10 – Apply for a controlled hunt no later than Feb. 10, or purchase one of the SW Oregon first-come, first-serve tags, which have been selling out by about Feb. 15.
