Oregonians will have the longest duck and goose seasons allowed by federal treaty as well as a shot at two waterfowl season openers under a set of regulations adopted for game-bird hunting.

Also, southwest Oregon hunters will enjoy a week of early-season September hunting for resident geese under a host of bird-hunting regulations adopted Friday by the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission.

At the urging of state wildlife biologists, the commission accepted a waterfowl hunting package that is the most liberal allowed by migratory treaties and is split into two zones to take advantage of the 105-day season.

Western Oregon and northern counties that make up Zone 1 for waterfowl hunting will see an Oct. 16 opener for ducks and geese. Hunters in waterfowl-rich Klamath, Lake and Harney counties will have their duck and goose hunting begin Oct. 9, a Monday, while the rest of Zone 2 has an Oct. 9 opening for ducks and an Oct. 16 opening for geese.

Goose hunting will last through Jan. 30 statewide, and duck hunting in western Oregon extends to Super Bowl Sunday as well. In southeast Oregon, duck hunting will end a week earlier.

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Bag limits remain the same as last year, with a seven-duck and seven-goose limit, with sub-limits in both categories.

The split season juggles hunting dates to accommodate the needs of waterfowlers in different parts of the state that present different hunting opportunities.

"Most of the folks in the eastern part of the state are more interested in an early season opener and less interested in late-season opportunities," says David Budeau, a biologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s game-bird program. "And in western Oregon, it seems like the later the season, the better."

More mobile hunters, however, have the opportunity to enjoy first-day shooting twice if they travel between zones.

"There’s certainly that opportunity to hunt both," Budeau says.

Despite a drop in mallards nationwide, waterfowl counts have remained strong enough for federal biologists to recommend an eighth straight year with a 107-day duck hunting season — the longest allowed under migratory bird treaties.

Nationwide counts by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service show the population of mallards — the bird that drives season frameworks — are at 7.4 million, down 7 percent from last year but still 1 percent above the average over the past 50 years of duck counts.

And total duck counts came in at 32.2 million — down 11 percent from last year and down 3 percent from the long-term average.

The declines were considered strong enough to drop the 107-day liberal framework in favor of the so-called "moderate" framework that carries with it an 85-day season. But the numbers have remained strong enough to push federal computer models to justify the 107-day season, and the commission Friday took full advantage of it.

The actual general season, however, is 105 days. The remaining two days are used as part of the statewide youth waterfowl weekend Sept. 25-26.

The continued stretch of 107 days of waterfowl hunting is not generating increased harvest of ducks and geese in Oregon, where factors like weather tend to drive duck-hunting success more than the number of days allowed afield.

Last year in Oregon, hunter numbers dipped about 9 percent from 2002, and duck harvest dropped about 21 percent.

Overall harvest in all the Western states last year went up about 6 percent from 2002.

Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail mfreeman@mailtribune.com