The Red Hat Days Story - Oregon State University

September, 1957

Volume XII, Number 9

Published Monthly by theOREGON STATE GAME COMMISSION

1634 S.W. Alder StreetP. 0. Box 4136Portland 8, Oregon

MIRIAM KAUTTU, EditorH. C. SMITH, Staff Artist

MEMBERS OF COMMISSIONKenneth G. Denman, Chairman MedfordDon M Mitchell TaftJ. H. Van Winkle Oregon CityRalph T. Renner LakeviewMax Wilson Joseph

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFFP. W. Schneider DirectorC. B. Walsh Assistant DirectorW. D. DeCew ControllerJohn B. Dirnick_Chief, Supply and PropertyRoy C. Atchison AttorneyC. J. Campbell___Chief, Basin InvestigationsR. C. Holloway_ Chief, Info. and Educ.John McKean Chief of Oper., Game Div.H. J. Rayner Chief of Oper., Fishery Div.George Keenan.__ Engineer

REGIONAL SUPERVISORSLeslie Zumwalt, Region I,

Route 1, Box 325, CorvallisJ. W. Vaughn, Region II_ Box 977, RoseburgL. M. Mathisen, Region III___ 222 E. 3rd, BendW. H. Brown, Region IV Box 742, La GrandeW. C. Lightfoot, Region V Box 8, Hines

Entered as second-class matter September 30.1947, at the post office at Portland, Oregon, underthe act of August 24, 1912.

Please report promptly any change of address.Send in both the old and new address with noticeof change.

At the present time the Bulletin is circulatedfree of charge to anyone forwarding a writtenrequest.

the coverMany persons go hunting just for the

pleasure of outdoor camping. These biggame hunters are enjoying everything, in-cluding the art of spud peeling (he prob-ably wouldn't be caught dead doing this athome). (Photo by Ron Shay)

ELK APPLICATIONS DUEApplications for controlled and unit

elk hunt permits must be in the Port-land office of the Game Commission by5 p. in., September 18, in order to be in-cluded in the drawing to be held a weeklater, September 25. Application formsmay be secured from license agencies.Each applicant is required to have ahunting license and general elk tag. Atotal of 2000 permits will be issued forthe 12 areas open to hunting for elk ofeither sex.

Page 2

The Red Hat Days StoryThe Red Hat Days story began early

in the winter of 1955 when a group ofsportsmen asked themselves the ques-tion, "What can we do to reduce theproblems that have strained relationsbetween sportsmen and landowners?"

They were agreed that two courses ofaction were available: (1) more restric-tions in the nature of limited access,more stringent laws and regulationsand costlier enforcement; or (2) astate-wide educational program aimedat making sportsmen aware of theiroutdoor responsibilities. The lattercourse was chosen; groups, associations,and agencies interested in the problemswere contacted, the state's chief execu-tive endorsed the program; a state com-mittee was appointed and the wheelswere set in motion for the initial ob-servance of Red Hat Days in 1955. Twochapters of the Red Hat story have nowbeen completed, one in that year andthe second in 1956. The third is nowbeing written.

What has the story disclosed thus far?What gains, if any, have been made? Areview of the activity for the past twoyears may help answer these questions.

Since its inception the Red Hat Daysprogram has been cosponsored by ap-proximately 26 state-wide organizationsrepresenting a variety of land use andrecreational interests. A state commit-tee appointed by the Governor providesdirection for the program but its suc-cess at the grass roots level has beendependent upon a county organizationheaded up by Red Hat Days countychairmen, also appointees of the Gov-ernor. The program has been financedand publicized through voluntary con-tributions of money, services, and ma-terials. Sportsmen's groups and timbercompanies have provided almost all ofthe cash contributions. Other agenciesand business firms have contributedmany hundreds of dollars worth ofservices and materials without charge.Radio and television stations, and news-papers have provided much free timeand space to publicize the Red Hat Daysprogram. The two primary publicityitems have been the Red Hat Pledgecards and buttons; posters and windowdisplay cards have also been used ex-tensively.

The objectives of the program arebest described by the RED HATPLEDGE which reads:

I give my pledgeTo be law abiding

To respect the rights and propertyof others

To be careful with fire and firearms.These are the points that have been

emphasized in the Red Hat story thusfar. The program has been directedprimarily at hunters but the principlesof the pledge are applicable as well toall users of the out of doors. Has hunterbehavior improved as a result of theRed Hat Days program? First of all itshould be made clear that the majorityof hunters are and always will be con-scientious, courteous, and law abiding.It has been a relatively small minorityof the hunting fraternity who have cre-ated the problems. It is for them thatthe Red Hat program is designed.

A summary of observations followingthe 1955 hunting seasons disclosedprogress in areas where previous sta-tistics, such as on hunter-caused firesand firearms casulties, were available.This was extremely encouraging con-sidering that more efficient methods ofassembling such information were de-veloped and considering the additionalpublicity and interest aroused oversuch activities. Reports from farmer.---N,timber owners, and land managemeiagencies revealed that hunter behaviorwas improved over previous years. Thisis not to imply that there were not actsof vandalism, trespass and other un-lawful activities.

In its initial year the Red Hat pro-gram was received with considerableenthusiasm and was well accepted inall parts of the state.

Last year Red Hat Days, with thenewness worn off, made less of an im-pact on the public although publicityefforts were approximately the same asin the previous year. This was to be ex-pected and it does not necessarily meanthat the program was received with lessenthusiasm. Progress was again notedin the reduction of the number of hunt-ing casualties and hunter-caused fires.It is difficult to assess the total pictureof hunter behavior. Many reports camein to the Red Hat Days Committee in-dicating that hunter behavior was thebest that had ever been observed. Otherreports were received painting a ratherpoor picture of hunter behavior. Lastyear, more than ordinary efforts wereexpended in assembling information onhunter conduct. The Oregon Cattlrmen's Association made the most inten-sive survey in this respect. Their survey

(Continued on page 4)

SEPTEMBER, 1957

EACH year toward the end of theEACHmy wife says that she be-

/....,gins to detect a growing absent-minded-less on my part. She says that while sheis talking to me, she will notice a far-away look in my eyes and she suddenlyrealizes that I haven't heard a word thatshe has been saying. After many years,she has come to recognize the symptomsand she knows exactly what to expectnext. The absent-mindedness and far-away look increase at a rapid rate. Thenext step follows soon. Guns that havebeen in the rack for months are cleanedand recleaned. Old camping gear comesout of the closet and is spread out overthe living room floor. What causesthese strange reactions? It's obvious, ofcoursehunting seasons are approach-ing.

Now this strange malady is notunique, I am certain. The same thinghappens to at least a quarter of a millionothers here in Oregon and it invariablyfollows the same pattern. The build-upstarts with the first crisp mornings offall. Each day the feeling becomes a lit-tle more intense. This continues untilthe opening day of the first hunting sea-son. By that time the tension has builtto such a point that it is almost ex-plosive. We have all observed this andhave experienced it but have you ever:topped to wonder just what causes this

mass phenomena? Probably you haven't.It just happens to you. I doubt if I hadever given it any particular thought, or

GAME BULLETIN

By C. B. Walsh, Assistant Director

if I had, I merely passed it off with thethought that it is all because I like tohunt.

Just recently I began to think a littlemore about it and strangely enough, thething that made me stop and think aboutit was an article about fishing. Fishing,of course, doesn't usually start one tothink about hunting, unless luck is un-usually bad, but this particular articlebrought out a point that I felt was worthpassing along.

In this story, a small boy had walkedup to an angler, who was busily engagedin casting a plug. The boy watched theangler for some time, then out of a clearsky asked the simple question, "Whatyou fishin' for, Mister?" The answerfrom the busy fisherman was just oneword, "Bass." The story would havebeen the same if the answer had beentrout, salmon or any other game fish. Inthis case, however, after answering thequestion the fisherman began to won-der. Just what was he fishing for? Itwas certainly a simple question but itcould be taken two ways. Changing itjust a bit it could have been stated,"Why are you fishing?" Was it a factthat he was fishing for the sole purposeof catching a fish or was there more tothis sport of angling than just catching afish. Surely he was fishing for morethan a bass.

At the time that I read this article, Iwas the victim of the strange maladythat we have just described. As the

fisherman in the story, I began to won-der. Just why was it that I could justbarely wait for the pheasant season toopen? Why couldn't I sleep the nightbefore I left for a deer hunting trip?Why was I completely happy to slogthrough the mud of a marsh and thedriving rain to reach a duck blind? Mywife thinks no one in his right mindcould enjoy something like that. Surelythis was not just to supply a few birdsand some meat for my locker. I couldget meat at the corner market possiblycheaper, possibly better, and certainly

(Continued on page 6)

And what does our author enjoy most whilehunting? Choweven if it's nothing more thanstrong coffee and hard doughnuts.

THE Oregon State Game Commis-sion, an operating agency of the ex-

ecutive branch of state government, isresponsible for the protection and man-agement of one of Oregon's importantrenewable natural resourcesfish andwildlife. Like any other managementand service entity, either public or priv-ate, the Commission deals with manygoods and services as well as regula-tory and surveillance duties within aframework of duties imposed by thepeople of the state through the legisla-lature. The Game Code, under whichthis Commission operates, is one de-veloped over a period of many years bythe legislature. It places serious re-sponsibilities upon the Commission andits employees toward the resources in-volved which can neither be exceedednor avoided.

In the performance of the broadduties prescribed by statute in a grow-ing state and in a climate of an increas-ing demand for a product in relativelyshort supply, it has been necessary overthe years to expand the Commission'sphysical plant and operating program.As more knowledge of the resources in-volved has been acquired, a more ef-fective management and operating pro-gram has been activated. The physicalplant alone in terms of capital invest-ment represents an initial cost of ap-proximately $7,000,000. The operationand maintenance of this physical plant,as well as the execution of the numer-ous day to day functions of the Com-mission in the fish and game resourcesfield, as in any other field of endeavor,costs money.

There is an . occasional misunder-standing as to the source of revenuesavailable to the Commission in carryingout its program. If inquiries and com-

ments frequently reaching this officeare indicative, many individuals assumethat general tax funds are used. Suchis not the case. Traditionally, exceptfor certain federal funds in recent years,the sole source of revenue available tothe Commission has been and continuesto be that derived from hunting, anglingand trapping licenses issued. Only thedirect user who engages in hunting,fishing or trapping pays the direct as-sessment. From this license revenue theCommission also must meet other fi-nancial obligations such as the paymentof local taxes on certain properties andfor other state services.

Federal funds available to the Com-mission arise primarily from excise taxrevenues on sporting arms and ammu-nition and sports fishing tackle underthe terms of the federal Pittman-Rob-ertson and Dingell-Johnson acts re-spectively. These are shared in com-mon by all the states and again originatewith the direct user of fish and gamewho pays such taxes at the time hepurchases his equipment. Other federalfunds are represented by elements ofthe Columbia River Fishery Develop-ment Program and of the WillametteValley Project of the U. S. Corps of En-gineers. Willamette Valley Projectfunds are made available on the basisof restitution and protection of fish andgame occasioned by the extensive in-stallations being constructed in thisriver system.

Although the point of the above com-ments is to make clear that general taxmonies are neither used nor availableto the Commission for its program, nev-ertheless, license revenues constituteoublic funds which must be used ef-fectively and prudently. Every possiblevalue must be and is realized from every

expenditure made. With the increasingdemand for fish and game and more in-tensive use of land and water for otherpurposes, the management of our fistand game will become more complexand costly. Under the present methodof financing, the scope of the programwill be determined from year to year byboth the license structure and the num-ber of license holders. It may be that, asin some other states, a new concept anda re-evaluation of the fiscal aspect ofour fish and game program must bemade.

P. W. SCHNEIDER.

THE RED HAT DAYS STORY(Continued from page 2)

revealed an unfortunate incidence oftrespass, damage to property, and thekilling of domestic stock. However, thiscannot be interpreted as meaning thathunter behavior was worse than inprevious years. The effort expended inassembling the information plus the at-tendant publicity merely brought tolight a situation that has existed inprevious years to which public attentionhad not been drawn before. As a matterof fact it is entirely possible that hunterbehavior generally was better last yearthan in previous years. A true pictureof these conditions can be obtained only'following many years of systematic col-lection of such information.

Visible gains have been made in morethan one aspect of hunter behavior inthe past two years. Even had there beenno gains, the Red Hat Days story hasprovided a most important lessonanappreciation of the problems that doexist and their magnitude and anawareness on the part of the public thatthese unfortunate incidents do happen.This, in itself, is worth the effort andtime that have gone into the Red HatDays story thus far.

The story has only begun. Far greatergains must be made in order to assurethe continuation of present hunting op-portunities. Whether or not the story ofRed Hat Days has a happy ending de-pends upon you and you alone. You willwrite the final chapter by the way inwhich you meet your outdoor obliga-tions.

Page 4 SEPTEMBER, 1957

How ToDress

YourPheasant

I. A bird in the hand is of prime importance.The plumper the pheasant, the better the eat-ing, especially when it has been properlycleaned and dressed as here demonstrated.

3. Reach in under the breast and pull out en-trails in one group. Lungs may be taken outseparately. Slit skin to remove crop if full offood. Wipe excess blood and intestinal juicesfrom body cavity with dry cloth, leaves, orgrass. (Cleaned gizzard, heart and liver maybe put back into body cavity).

6. Law requires identity of sex, so if bird isdressed in the field the head should be left"attached" to the body until you reach home.

4. Birds may be dressed by (a) dry picking,most easily done while bird is still warm; (b)using scalding water and wet picking; or (c)skinning as shown here. Start at any break inthe skin or start by tearing with fingers.

7. Meat may be readily preserved by freezingin plastic bag. Bird may be left whole forroasting, if that's the way you prefer it, or

2. Start by plucking feathers from around thevent area. Then with knife slit around ventand up to fop of breastbone. Pull vent and at-tached intestine out a few inches.

5. Pull skin away from breast, then pull outalong legs, wings and neck and away fromback. Sever legs at knee joint and wings atwrist joint. Tail feathers may be pulled out ortail cut off completely. Wash thoroughly withcold water, removing all shot, imbeddedfeathers and blood clots from the meat.

8. It may be cut up for frying, as preferred bymany. Soaking meat in salt water solution forseveral hours removes excess blood.

When the pigeons aren't flying, what more could you ask for than just to sit and relax in the sunshine?

WHY DO YOU HUNT?(Continued from page 3)

under easier conditions. Surely it wasnot just to try my skill with rifle orshotgun. I could do that at the trapgrounds or the rifle range. I certainlyhope it wasn't the outcropping of aprimitive lust to kill. There must bemore. There must be many values thatgo along with hunting that go far be-yond the meat value. If this weren'ttrue, this mass excitement wouldn'ttake ahold of us all as it does. The othervalues are there, there can be no doubt

These other values are always dif-ficult to put into words but difficult asthey are to describe, they are the realvaluesthe values that count.

In this day of modern game manage-ment we hear it said many times thatgame is a cropa crop to be harvestedwisely. We now realize that our winterranges will support just so many deerand if they are overstocked, not only dowe have deer losses during hard wint-ers but our range is injured as well. Wehear that we should kill a certain num-ber of deer in this area and a certainnumber in another area. We hear thatin a certain area brood counts forpheasants are up and we can kill a fewmore than last year or that there hasbeen a good waterfowl hatch so theseason will be longer and so on. This isas it should be if we are to manage ourwildlife resources wisely but it is alsopossible that with our modern scientificapproach, we as individual hunters maybe losing something that is priceless.Perhaps some of us are so used to think-ing in terms of the kill that we have be-come a little calloused, even to the pointwhere we hunt primarily to gathermeat. And perhaps some of us actuallyare hunting primarily for prestige,bragging material to put it bluntly.Some of us may be thinking of hunting

Page 6

strictly as a competition with our fellowhunters to too great a degreeget thegame before the other fellow does. Witheach of us gradually changes have come,changes in our hunting philosophies.These changes have come so graduallythat we as individuals have not noticedthem in ourselves. We notice in othersbut only in the other fellow.

It is quite possible that we have de-teriorated as a group and if we stop tolook around, we can see that this hashad some extremely bad results. Whohasn't heard the story during huntingseasonshunting accidents, vandalism,law violations, all seemingly on the in-crease. It is true that the great majorityof these unsportsmanlike acts are car-ried out by a rather small per cent ofour hunters. But stop and think of yourown actions during the past few years.Have you ever been in such a hurry tochange hunting camp location that youforgot to leave a clean camp? Have youever been tempted after a long unsuc-cessful day to take a pot-shot at a covey

Nature can always provide an amusing sight ifyou stop long enough to looklike this goldenmantel squirrel showing off for your benefit.

of quail that were running across thehighway? Have you ever been a littlecareless with your shotgun when a bigcock flushed between you and a fellothunter? Well, perhaps, none of us woulacare to admit it even though in somesmall way we may be guilty of con-tributing to this growing lack of sports-manship. Why not admit it and seeksome method of correcting this trend?

This year let's stop for a moment andre-examine our personal values. Stopwhatever you are doing and ask your-self, "Why do I hunt?" After a littlethought the answer may be somethinglike this, "To get outdoors and onceagain enjoy the crisp fall air. To enjoycamping with my friends (how thatfresh air builds up my appetite). Tomake new acquaintances among myfellow hunters. To renew my old ac-quaintances with all of the wonders ofnature. To test my skill and knowledgeat stalking." And finally, "To make aclean kill if my stalking is successful."

Let's enjoy our hunting, every minuteof it and all of it. Why not take a littlemore interest in the dog as he works outthe pheasant cover? Why not enjoy theantics of the ground squirrels whilewaiting for that deer? And when blue-bird weather keeps the ducks from fly-ing as often as you would like, instead--.,,of glowering at the empty skies why nclook around a bit. Ten towren will try to make friends with youor a muskrat will express his displeas-ure of you for sitting on his home. Thereare all manner of pleasant experiencesreadily available if we just look forthem.

It's really pretty simple. There aretwo ways we can go about our hunting.One way, we can try to beat the otherfellow to the game, pay little attentionto the landowner, be fast on the trigger,anything to fill the bag. The results ofthis type of a hunt are easy to guess.One might get meat for his locker butsomething is missing.

Let's point out two examples. Haveyou ever seen two otherwise normalmen argue over which one of them shota particular duck? One of them prob-ably eventually winds up with the duckbut both of them end up in a state ofanger that probably ruins the pleasureof their whole hunting trip. As a secondexample, have you ever heard of ahunter who was so anxious to make akill that he fired before he was certainof his target, and an accident was theresult? The tone of his hunting trip_changed at once. The joy and pleasuiof the hunt turned to tragedy in an in-stant, and the tragedy might last for a

(Continued on page 7)

SEPTEMBER, 1957

1957 Waterfowl Seasons and Bag LimitsEast and west, north and south, Ore-

gon hunters should be happy with theopen waterfowl season from October 12to January 14 allowed this year.

The federal regulations permitted achoice of dates for a 95-day seasonwithin the outside dates of October 1 toJanuary 15. The 15-day increase overlast year's season made it possible toset a general season that will morenearly fit the varying waterfowl condi-tions in Oregon.

To compensate for the extension ofthe season, the federal government re-duced the daily duck bag limit. Oregonhad a choice of either 5 birds a day, 10in possession, or 6 birds a day and inpossession. The former was chosen as itwas felt that most hunters preferred tohave a possession limit double the daily.A bonus limit of three widgeons and/orpintails is allowed in addition to thedaily or possession limit. So Oregonhunters may take 8 ducks a day, have13 in possession, provided at least threeducks are of the bonus species.

The goose limit remains the same aslast year, 6 daily or in possession, in-cluding not more than 3 of the dark

(.species. An exception to this is that not

more than 2 Canada geese may be in-cluded in the limit in Yamhill, Polk,Benton, Linn and Lane counties.

The brant season selected is from No-vember 16 through January 24 with abag of 3 daily or in possession. A 30-dayseason is again allowed for jacksnipeand will run from November 16 throughDecember 15. Bag limit is 8 daily or inpossession.

This year a separate bag limit of 5 aday, 10 in possession, will prevail forAmerican and red-breasted mergansers.Last year mergansers had to be countedwith the general duck limit.

Other general regulations on water-fowl remain the same as before.

For the public shooting grounds,shooting dates will vary somewhat.Malheur shooting ground will be openonly through December 1 and WarnerValley through November 24. SummerLake shooting ground will be open theentire waterfowl season. At the SauviesIsland public shooting ground huntingwill be allowed only on even-numbereddays in 1957 and odd-numbered days in1958 except that shooting will be al-lowed on January 14, the last day of thewaterfowl season.

WHY DO YOU HUNT?(Continued from page 6)

lifetime.Then there is the other alternative.

We can hunt for the full pleasure ofhunting, being courteous to others, law-abiding, thoughtful of the landowner,careful with our fire and firearms, andin the end achieve a thorough enjoy-ment of every minute of our trips. Thememories of a hunting trip patternedalong these lines will be with you long

after the last venison steak is fried orthe last duck is roasted. This year, be-fore we go hunting let's ask ourselves,"Why do I hunt?" and if the answer isfor the total pleasure of the hunt ratherthan just a little meat in the pot, thereis no better way to start the season thanwith the Red Hat Pledge:

I pledgeTo be law abidingTo respect the rights and property

of othersTo be careful with fire and firearms.

Down through the years the good fellowship of this old huntingone of the chief pleasures of any hunting expedition.

camp scene has represented to many

Separate synopses are being printedfor both the migratory waterfowl regu-lations and the trapping regulations.Copies will be available for distribu-tion sometime in September.

* * *

Boat fishing on North Umpqua Riverreservoirs became permissible with theexpiration in August of the statute pro-hibiting angling from boats. To replacethe law the Game Commission passed aregulation closing to boat fishing theNorth Umpqua River from WinchesterDam to Soda Springs Dam and alsosmall areas on Lemolo and Toketee res-ervoirs popular with bank anglers. AtLemolo Reservoir boat fishing will notbe allowed above lines located 1,200yards below the head of the arm in theNorth Umpqua River channel and 625yards below the head of the arm in theLake Creek channel. At Toketee Res-ervoir the area closed to boat fishing isthat part above a line designated bymarkers located about 600 yards belowthe head of the reservoir.

* * *

The calculated sport catch of Wil-lamette River spring chinooks totalled11,500 for 1957, compared to 16,400 in1956, according to data compiled by theFish Commission, assisted by the GameCommission. The fish averaged 16.1pounds, the total weight of the catchbeing 185,150 pounds or 92.6 tons.

An estimated 95,458 man days of ef-fort were expended in 1957, requiringan average of 8.1 days of angling tocatch one salmon.

The total run of spring chinook sal-mon in the Willamette River was esti-mated to be 52,800 fish. Sport catch wascalculated at 21.8 per cent of the totalrun. Of the total catch, 4,329 chinookswere taken in the lower river and 6,280in the upper river to Oregon City. Peakof the catch occurred between April 21and 28.

Page 7

4$Oregon has both the black and white

,"& crappies. Not CI native, they were first, brought here from Illinois by the USFish Commission in 18613 and released

/, in the Willamette River near Salem.

0

7 or 8 sharp spinesin dorsal

,t- "3- -* f,', o

.H0".......: .,- _..._---,-----

)40I., /AO). 4" -:.

.1).7;110r0A.'1V'..ciz'

;i11.14,jri4 31*r:A

- .miil, '1i-3, )

jj'i''igii'W'?

''' ' BlackCrappie

Robust body gold co/or with darkmarkings forming no pattern. Lengths 6"/2'.' /7'02 ths, OregonS fish average 8."

6 sharp spinesin dorsal finWhite Crappies can survive in moderal-ely

turbid waters. found in oxbows, lakes,sloughs and ponds where +he water issluggish. The black crappie prefers clearquiet water:

r, 7,1/4.

CrappieBody elongated silvery appearance with darkmarkings forming vertical bars. May be lightor dark in general color. Lengths /0"=/6: 2-.3Ibs.Oregon's fish average 8:'

% Crappies are colony nest builders, the male--.4":--------_,cons--tructs a shallow saucer- shaped nest in

3 -8"of water. White crappies /ay 2-14,000A),.sue .eggs. Black crappies /ay 20- 60,000 eggs.

Spawn in late spring or early summer

)"-----"--'Dorsal behindline

Black Crappie

Oregon State GameCommission Bulletin

1634 S.W. ALDER STREETP. 0. BOX 4136

PORTLAND El, OREGON

Crappies live mainly on insects,crustaceans, crayfish, worms &other small -Fishes.

OREGON STATI.

i40100(

GAME COMMISSION