At Denman This Winter, the Hall Tract Keeps a Three-Day Hunting Week
Since November 1, the Hall Tract of the Ken Denman Wildlife Area has been open to hunting on only five kinds of days: Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. That limit lasts "through the end of waterfowl season," which this year means late January. For anyone who walks, birds or brings visiting relatives to the ODFW land between Table Rock Road and Agate Road, the next ten weeks follow a weekly pattern. Four weekdays stay quiet. Three days are shared. Two holidays break the pattern, and both fall on days that would normally be quiet.
The 2026-27 state wildlife area regulations spell out the Hall Tract rule in a single sentence. Applied to this winter's calendar, it works out like this:
| Day | Hall Tract hunting, Nov. 1 through end of waterfowl season |
|---|---|
| Monday | Closed to hunting |
| Tuesday | Closed to hunting |
| Wednesday | Open |
| Thursday | Closed to hunting, except Thanksgiving, Nov. 26 |
| Friday | Closed to hunting, except Christmas, Dec. 25 |
| Saturday | Open |
| Sunday | Open |
Thanksgiving is always a Thursday. Christmas lands on a Friday in 2026. Both holidays therefore turn a normally quiet day into a hunting day. For anyone planning a long holiday walk with family in town, Thanksgiving morning and Christmas morning fall on the tract's open days, while the Fridays after Thanksgiving and after Christmas go back to quiet.
The day limit applies to the Hall Tract specifically. Elsewhere on Denman, the regulations allow big game and game bird hunting during the authorized seasons, and every hunter checks in and out each day at self-service stations across the wildlife area.
The rule only means something if you know where the tract sits. ODFW's regulations define it as the department's land north and west of East Gregory Road, east of Table Rock Road, south of Avenue A and west of Agate Road. Anyone who drives Antelope Road to Agate Road on the way to the wildlife area is skirting its eastern edge.
The same regulations also mark two areas where hunting is prohibited at any time of year: posted safety zones around Whetstone Lake and a posted area north of TouVelle Road. Those zones are closed to hunting, and the rule does not close them to visitors.
Whetstone is also where ODFW put the wildlife area's most accessible viewing spot. A paved, ADA-accessible path runs out into Whetstone Pond to a covered viewing station that looks over turtles, waterfowl, egrets, raptors and songbirds. The Denman visitors guide describes a 0.7-mile Interpretive Trail loop through six ecosystems, reached from TouVelle Road and TouVelle State Park, along with trails following Little Butte Creek and crossing oak savanna and marsh. The guide lists red-tailed hawks, kestrels and osprey among the common raptors, with great blue herons, mallards and cinnamon teal in the wider mix. The safety zone around Whetstone applies all season, whatever day of the week it is.
On a Wednesday or a weekend, the hours matter too. Jackson County is in Zone A of Oregon's legal shooting hours table, and the window shifts every week. Here is how it moves through the heart of winter:
The wildlife area itself is open from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. Even on a Saturday, then, there is a stretch of dusk after legal shooting hours end, around 4:40 p.m. through most of December, while the gates are still open.
A few more rules apply to everyone on the land. Firearms may be discharged only while hunting authorized big game or game bird seasons, and rifles and handguns are prohibited at Denman. Dogs on department lands have to be leashed unless they are with a licensed hunter hunting game birds, in a posted dog-training area, or under direct control in a posted parking area, designated campground or open public road. The statewide rooster pheasant season runs through Dec. 31. ODFW recommends that pheasant hunters wear a blaze-orange hat or vest.
The Hall Tract rule names one season, but this winter's migratory game bird calendar has two of them, and they don't line up. Duck season in Zone 2, which includes Jackson County, runs Oct. 10 to Nov. 29 and then Dec. 3 to Jan. 24, 2027. The regular Canada goose and white-fronted goose seasons in the Southwest Zone run Nov. 10 to Jan. 31, 2027. Laid over the weekly pattern, those dates produce a few days worth marking:
Audubon's listing asks participants to buy an ODFW parking permit before they come, and its page notes that dates and times can change, so a check of the RVAS site on the morning of the walk is part of the routine.
The other rule every Denman visitor has to follow is the Wildlife Area Parking Permit, and its timing works against anyone who buys one in late fall. According to ODFW's permit page, a one-day permit costs $10 and an annual permit costs $30. The annual permit is valid from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31. An annual permit bought in the third week of November covers about six weeks. The same $30 spent on Jan. 1 covers twelve months, and three day passes cost as much as a full year.
Permits are sold online, at ODFW offices that sell licenses and through license agents. Rogue Valley Audubon names the ODFW office, Sportsman's Warehouse on Delta Waters and Highway 62 in Medford, and Bi-Mart as places to buy one. An annual Oregon hunting license, a combination fishing and hunting license, or a Sports Pac includes a free permit. An annual fishing license or a daily license does not. If you can't print the permit, ODFW lets visitors write their ODFW ID number or guest transaction number on a piece of paper and leave it on the dashboard.
The first big date of 2027 brings the wider community out to Denman. Rogue Valley Audubon's Medford Christmas Bird Count is set for Saturday, Jan. 2, 2027, with Rebekah Bergkoetter as coordinator. The count circle is 15 miles across and centered about a mile west of the Highway 62 and Highway 140 junction in White City. RVAS's map of the census area takes in White City, Denman Wildlife Area and Agate Lake. Newcomers are welcome and get assigned to a group by the coordinator. People who live inside the circle can join as feeder watchers, which means a backyard feeder in White City can count without anyone leaving home. Jan. 2 is a Saturday, so it is also a Hall Tract hunting day, with shooting hours from 7:17 a.m. to 4:48 p.m. It also falls one day after any 2027 annual parking permit takes effect.
After that, the waterfowl seasons wind down. Zone 2 duck season closes Jan. 24, 2027, and the regular Southwest Zone goose seasons close Jan. 31, 2027. The Hall Tract's three-day hunting week is tied to "the end of waterfowl season." A separate statewide Veterans and Active Military Personnel waterfowl hunt is set for Feb. 6, 2027.
ODFW publishes and updates these rules, so check the current wildlife area regulations before you go. This post is general information and not legal advice, and ODFW's Denman office at 541-826-8774 can answer questions about your own visit.
We love that a Tuesday morning at Whetstone Pond is part of everyday life in White City. If knowing the area's seasonal rhythms is as important to you as square footage, Leiser Real Estate Group is happy to talk about what life looks like near Agate Road and TouVelle, and when you're ready, to start with a free home value estimate.
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