The Super Bowl?

Just another football game.

Halloween?

No need to don a costume to load up on empty calories.

For no small number of people, Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021, is the date circled on their calendar.

And though you won’t find the opening day of buck deer hunting season on most lists of official holidays, it’s no less a milestone for hunters.

The arrival of the season is the culmination of a considerable amount of anxiety for many.

They waited for weeks this spring for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) to announce the results of the computer lottery that determines who gets to hunt and who has to wait until next year.

Or the year after.

And those who drew the coveted tag then had to wait through the summer, through scouting trips and the frustration of seeing a great buck weeks too early, for Oct. 2 to get here.

The wait is almost over.

And although the effects of the devastating winter of 2016-17, when hundreds of deer died in Northeastern Oregon, still linger in some places, deer numbers have risen in others.

The season that opens Oct. 2 continues through Oct. 13 in most units east of the Cascades.

Following are forecasts from around the region based on deer counts from the spring of 2021 conducted by ODFW biologists:

Beulah, Sumpter, Keating, Pine Creek, Lookout Mt. units

Over-winter survival was fair in Baker County with an average fawn ratio of 30 per 100 adults counted in the spring. Animals will be the most active early in the morning and late in the afternoon when temperatures cool off. Hunters should concentrate their efforts in areas of good forage near north slopes that provide good bedding cover.

The Beulah unit is still recovering from the winter of 2016-17 with a fawn ratio of 24/100 adults. The buck ratio is 14/100 does, which is just below the buck management objective of 15/100 does. As a result, tag numbers will remain at lower levels into the future to allow population to recover. With last year’s tag cuts, hunter success was 35%, which was down 10% from the previous year. There will be a few more yearling bucks available for harvest this year, but only a small increase.

Tag numbers for the Sumpter, Lookout Mountain, Pine Creek and Keating units, which were cut by 50% in 2017 following the hard winter, remain at those levels four years later.

Sumpter’s 2021 tag allocation is 825. Lookout Mountain is at 161, Pine Creek at 193 and Keating at 275. Beulah, which had a 40% cut in tags for 2017, has 1,155 tags this year, slightly fewer than the 1,188 in 2017.

Murderers Creek, Northside, Desolation, West Beulah units

Deer populations remain below management objectives in all units. Buck ratios were below management objective in all units. Spring fawn ratios were lower than desired but higher than last year. With slightly better fawn ratio expect a few more yearling bucks available for harvest this year.

Last year, archery and rifle hunters had below average success for Northside and Desolation but above average for Murderers Creek. Similar or slightly better results are expected this year.

Deer hunters should look for areas where fire has occurred in past five to 15 years as deer tend to favor vegetation that occurs following fires. The Shake Table fire on Aldrich Mountain, Canyon Creek Complex, and the Monument Rock burns are starting to show signs of increasing deer and may be a good place to find a buck.

Heppner, Fossil, East Biggs, southern Columbia Basin units

Last year deer survival was much better with a mild winter and decent spring conditions. Mule deer numbers in all of the units should be slightly improved over last year.

The lack of spring rains and a very hot and dry summer have created very poor conditions across the landscape. Unless conditions change, early season hunters will want to focus on areas of good forage and water.

Public lands hunters in the Fossil unit have historically had better success in the Wheeler burn, but deer numbers and success rates in that area have decreased the last few years. Fossil unit hunters might look to other areas for better deer hunting this fall. Public land hunters can also hunt the Heppner Regulated Hunt Area in the Heppner unit.

The Columbia Basin is mostly all private land so hunters will need to secure access or hunt on some of the limited private land where ODFW has access agreements with the private landowners to allow public hunting access, such as the Open Fields access areas in the Columbia Basin unit.

Starkey, Catherine Creek, E. Mt. Emily units

Deer populations remain below management objectives. Catherine Creek buck ratios have been holding steady and above management objective for several years and hunters continue to have good success. However, due to lower fawn survival last winter, don’t expect to see as many yearlings in the harvest this year. Starkey unit buck ratios are below management objectives and have been for several years; fawn survival over winter was average. East Mount Emily buck numbers are stable and above management objectives.

Matt Keenan, district wildlife biologist at ODFW’s La Grande office, said hunting conditions should be better in Catherine Creek than in Starkey, as the former unit has higher buck ratios.

But he doesn’t expect any significant difference in conditions this year compared with 2020 in either unit.

“Overall it’s looking like a pretty average year in Union County for deer hunting,” Keenan said.

White-tailed deer numbers remain stable across the county. The Grande Ronde muzzleloader hunt is a great opportunity for hunters to harvest an animal.

Wenaha, Sled Springs, Chesnimnus, Snake River, Minam, Imnaha units

While mule deer populations are still low, white-tailed deer have had better fawn survival and buck season is expected to be fair in all units. Deer populations are below management objective in all units.

Walla Walla, Mt. Emily, Ukiah, eastern portion of Heppner, northern Columbia Basin units

Mule deer survival rates were good considering the long winter. However, mule deer numbers are still below management objectives in all units, but the buck to doe ratios are all at or above objectives.

In the fall of 2019, Umatilla County experienced a Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) outbreak in low elevation areas, but as expected the area is seeing a large increase in white-tailed deer which should help in hunter success.