The rain may drive some folks indoors, but we’re ready to get outside and take advantage of this time of year. With elk season starting today, and the terrific run of Chinook salmon on our Southern rivers, we almost have too much opportunity in the outdoors!

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is reporting a very good carry-over of bull elk for both the Sixes and Tioga Units. The rains will start us off with the elk out of the brush and moving later in the day and afford us greater opportunity. Hunters have a habit of piling on the clothes to stay warm and dry, but they fail to realize that this can change your point of impact if you haven’t practiced with all your foul weather attire on. Because of the extra clothing, remember to mount your rifle a little more deliberately when you’re staring at the biggest elk you’ve seen in years and you’ll have better shot placement.

Many of us have received a letter from Coos County Sheriff Andy Jackson concerning Concealed Handgun License holders. The reason for the letter is a statewide issue regarding the disclosure of the names, addresses, and other identifying information of persons who have Concealed Handgun Licenses. This stems from a request by the Medford Mail Tribune for the names of license holders as public record. The Jackson County sheriff refused the request based on Oregon law that states these records are not public if they could reveal a person’s security measures or weaknesses.

Jackson County Circuit Court ruled that each individual must specify that he or she does not want any personal information released. If persons do not specify this, the court will consider the names as public record. Sheriff Jackson is asking all of us to return this letter to his office so he will not be forced to disclose our personal information. I encourage you to check both boxes “Yes,” on the letter and return it.

The sheriff’s office has over 4,000 letters to mail and they will not be arriving simultaneously. Please be patient, but if you do not receive a letter in the next few weeks, contact the Coos County Sheriff’s Office. I applaud Sheriff Jackson’s proactive response to this problem.

Local anglers have a chance to get out of the high wind and rain on some of our lakes as the ODFW has released large numbers of rainbow trout that average from 14- to 16-inches in Bradley Lake, Empire Lakes and Powers Pond. I’ve had great reports of folks taking the family, especially the kids, and catching some really good trout.

Our fall Chinook on the Coos and Coquille River systems have moved up into the spawning grounds. The Elk and Sixes Rivers are reporting excellent catches of Chinook salmon. If you’d like to go further south, you might want to try the Chetco River near Brookings as it is producing limits of Chinook and is very fishable.

The Oregon State Marine Board will be holding two public meetings to gather input from the public concerning proposed motor restrictions on the South Fork of the Coquille River. The marine board received a petition seeking motor restrictions on portions of the South Fork from Broadbent to the Forest Service boundary above Powers. This petition addresses the concern of conflicts on the river during congested periods. The first meeting will be on Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. in Medford at the public library. The second one will be on Nov. 18 at 7p.m. in North Bend, also at the public library. Public comments will be welcome at both meetings.

Some good news for our 2009 Chinook season is coming out of the Klamath and Trinity River systems: Counts of adult fish and 2-year-old salmon, which are a strong indicator of a good 2009 run, are up dramatically from last year.

I hope you are enjoying these articles as much as I enjoy writing them!  If you have a story or topic regarding our great outdoors, please e-mail them to me at  info@oregonoutdoorsradio.us and I may use your ideas in future articles.

Good luck fishing and hunting!

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Listen to the Oregon Outdoors Radio Show Thursdays from 3-5 p.m. on KWRO 630 AM, and rebroadcast on Fridays from 7-9 a.m. on ESPN 1230 AM.