Northwest Wild Country Radio Station

All the basic rules – weather, migration patterns, etc. – apply, only on a much, much grander scale than your local duck lake. Now, throw in the influence of a little thing called tides, and you have one of the most technically challenging, potentially dangerous duck hunting options in the Pacific Northwest.

Ah, but with challenges and danger come payoffs.

The lower Columbia from Longview, Wash. to Astoria, Ore. offers thousands of acres of public hunting water, and a mix of resident and migrant birds that number in the hundreds of thousands. Stretching across a major travel route for both Alaskan and western Canadian mallards, pintail, scaup, gadwall, greenwing teal, and a mix of seldom-seen buffleheads, canvasback, ringneck and scoter, the lower Columbia can provide barrel-blistering action from November to the season ender in January.

Here are some of the primary hunt options:

Lewis & Clark NWR: This series of islands and tidal sloughs stretches out from the lower end of Tenhasillahe Island to Cathlamet Bay near Astoria. The boundaries of the refuge cover some 40,000 acres and several islands (Welsh, Marsh, Carlson, Horseshoe and Russian are the largest), but there are literally hundreds of places where you can set up for a day’s shooting.

“Not all of the 40,000 acres are owned by the refuge and most of it is covered by water, but there are probably 20 named islands and several thousand acres of land, depending on the tidal stage,” says Al Clark, biologist at the Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge (360-795-3915), which serves as the management office for the Lewis & Clark refuge. “It’s only accessible by a boat, but there are some places on some of the islands where you could set up for hunting on the shoreline.”

Regardless of where you set up, every minute of the hunt will be influenced by the tide and weather.

“Get familiar with a tide book and check the weather,” Clark advises. “The layout of the islands changes with the tides. You can be fairly protected if you’re inside those islands, but don’t let that fool you – the main channel gets pretty rough some days.”

Consequently, you shouldn’t consider hunting here in anything smaller than a 15-foot boat with plenty of power.

Early November gunning will be driven by mallards and greenwing teal, many of which winter in the lower Columbia. After that, you’ll see steady, storm-driven migrations of greenheads, greater scaup, gadwall and a mix of divers, including bufflehead and ringneck.

Launches: On the Oregon side, the best launches are at Aldrich Point east of Knappa and John Day Point at the mouth of the John Day River. In Washington, launch in Skamokowa, Cathlamet or Deep River.

Julia Butler Hansen NWR: Lewis & Clark’s “sister” refuge, just upriver on the Washington side between Cathlamet and Skamakowa, the Hansen hunt is similar in many regards: shooting is done from a bout around a handful of islands and tidal swamps.
The refuge covers more than 6,000 acres, but the majority of the land inside those boundaries are closed to foot access.

“Probably about 25 to 30 percent of the refuge is accessible on foot, but nobody really hunts it that way,” says refuge manager Joel David. “You’re hunting almost exclusively along the shoreline of the islands.”

Concentrate on the sloughs and marshland around the perimeter of the Hunting Islands, which are the two big islands just downriver from the Cathlamet launch. Incoming tides are generally best, but several other factors can influence the shooting.

“There are several wetlands on the mainland, and when it rains you’ll have puddles in nearby fields,” says David. “Birds will sometimes puddle up on those marshes fields when the weather is bad, so it’s hard to generalize about the hunting.”

Launches: The Cathlamet launch is just minutes away from the upriver end of the Hunting Islands. The Skamokowa launch is similarly close to the downriver end of Price Island. Both launches are off Highway 4.SIDEBAR
Other options for lower Columbia birds

Baker Bay: This expansive bay on the Washington side just across the Astoria-Meglar Bridge from Astoria offers dozens of tidal islands and sand bars that stretch out along the shoreline between Ilwaco and Chinook. Big boat required.
Deep River: At the head of Grays Bay, this area is loaded with sloughs and tidal flats. Hunt around major points on the incoming tide, switch to layout boats on the tidal flats on an outgoing tide.
Puget Island: Heavily pressured, but look for extreme winds or significant cold snap to turn hunting on here. Hunting can be good in both island sloughs and on the main river around the big island when weather allows.

-JS