There's no question about it - hair-loss syndrome is still a problem.

The striking thing about this is that hair-loss syndrome is just not consistent from one valley to the next. There are places where it is much more severe and other locations where it really doesn't seem to be much of a problem. Regionally there seems to be more affected animals in Linn, Benton and Lincoln counties with low fawn-to-adult deer ratios in the spring.

It almost looks like this may have traveled down the highway corridors. The roads go through little valleys and there are quite a few deer that go down into the farm fields in the winter for better food. The hypothesis is that the syndrome seems to have traveled down the highway corridors, where the deer population is concentrated, to the coast.

Don't feed the bears. Either directly or indirectly. It is the kiss of death to a bear. Hunters, don't leave food around camp. Homeowners, don't leave your garbage where the bears can get it. And don't give them handouts either.

The bears are too smart for their own good.

There's still crude out there that can make up for any loss in production.