SALEM, Ore.–It pays to be a conscientious hunter. Six hunters were awarded prizes for filling out a daily use permit at an Access & Habitat access area.

It is voluntary for hunters to fill out a daily use permit. The A&H program started the drawing to encourage hunters to fill out the permits which help estimate hunter use, harvest and satisfaction on A&H access areas. Many A&H access areas have self-serve permit stations at the entrances to the access areas.

“Daily use permits provide a needed estimate of use and harvest for A&H project evaluation and inform the decisions of the A&H Board” said Travis Schultz, ODFW’s Access and Habitat Program Coordinator.

The prizes for the drawing were donated by the Oregon Hunters Association’s Redmond Chapter and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s Pendleton Chapter. The Oregon Hunters Association donated three prizes; a Gerber EXO-MOD knife set awarded to Timothy Shaw, a Leupold BX-1 Mckenzie Binocular awarded to Matt O’Connor and a Garmin eTrex 22x GPS awarded to Jarry Jessen.

Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation also donated three prizes to be drawn; a pair of Kenetrek Boots awarded to Colby Lankford, a Eberlestock Backpack awarded to Brody Piper and an additional pair of Kenetrek Boots awarded to Tom Moore.

“Without the generosity of the Oregon Hunters Association and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation the drawing would not occur,” said Schultz “They are great partners for the continued success of the A&H Program.”

Each year the A&H Board conducts a drawing from all the daily use permits filled out during the previous hunting year for donated prizes. The drawing for 2020-2021 hunting season occurred at the October 2021 A&H Board meeting.

The Access and Habitat Program is funded by a $4 surcharge on hunting licenses. Funds are distributed through grants to individual and corporate landowners, conservation organizations, and others for wildlife habitat improvement and projects to provide hunter access throughout the state.