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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 2015)
FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 Outdoors / Sports THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 7 Is the .30 Remington a dead cartridge? magazine, is a rifl e that has been in the hands of both of my grandfathers, and though it’s certainly not in mint condition and has seen better days (bluing, anyone?), I wasn’t all THE OUTDOOR COLUMN that con- cerned about By Todd Arriola winning a beauty contest For my fi rst article as the with it. I cared about helmsman for this column, whether I could shoot I recalled how my experi- it--and whether I could hit ment last fall as a rookie anything with it. bowman went. Before I even acquired Well, Legolas I’m not, it, however, I was given but I did have a new (to the verdict by more than me) addition to my arsenal one local gunsmith, who during the same year, inspected the rifl e in its which eased the pain of gun rack: leave it on the licking my wounds from wall. Unfortunately, or that venture, in the form of fortunately for me, I’m too the Remington Model 14, stubborn to give up that in .30 Remington. easily. So, I asked again The Model 14, pump about the condition of the operated with a tubular rifl e from an expert’s point of view, and I was told it was probably safe to shoot, and the bore looked okay, but don’t expect miracles. Fair enough. I went home with both the rifl e and the scab- bard that was made for it, neither of which I’ve determined the exact age of to this day, though that’s not essential knowledge, as far as I’m concerned. My next step was to clean the rifl e, which I did, and I was thoroughly delighted with the fact that it’s a take-down model, easily separated, with the loosening of a screw on the side of the receiver. And the bore did look nice, especially with some cleaning. The next task on my agenda included fi nd- ing something not read- ily available at your local sporting goods stores- -ammunition for the rifl e. This was seen as a slight problem, since I actually wanted to shoot the rifl e, rather than use it as a big club. I’m not THAT good a hunter. After thinking about how I was going to fi nd some loaded cartridges for the rifl e, which proved to be an almost impossibility, I de- cided to fi nd them the hard way, of course, by way of reloading myself. As luck would have it, sometimes, you can fi nd the strangest things by using social media, and I placed an ad, stating I was looking for .30 Remington cartridges, or even just the brass. Shortly after that, a local gentleman responded that he did, indeed, have brass (100 of them), and he also had the two reloading dies I would need. Jackpot. We made the deal, and I became the proud owner of two reloading dies and brass for my rifl e. The hunt wasn’t over yet, as I had to fi nd other criti- cal components--primers, powder and bullets. I got lucky again, and found the bullets and powder at the same local store (well, in La Grande, which is as lo- cal as I could get). I had everything I need- ed, and after thoroughly cleaning the brass, I put together some reloads, with different charges of powder. It should be mentioned that, though the magazine of the rifl e is of a spiral de- sign so that one could load it with pointed bullets, I’m glad the only ones I could fi nd are round nose bullets. I’m not brave enough to take the chance of a bullet tip striking a primer acci- dentally in the magazine. Pleased with my ac- complishment thus far, I wanted to take the rifl e out to see how it would shoot. I would be lying to you if I said that I wasn’t nervous about whether the rifl e would malfunction during that fi rst shot. But, I’m happy to report, after many rounds through it, I haven’t had a problem yet. I’m still tweaking the loads to improve the balance of accuracy and range, and I don’t expect it to be a 1000-yard sniper rifl e, but it will get the job done. The pump action is very slick and quick, and at about seven pounds with a scope (it was already set up for one), compared to about nine pounds with my usual .30-06 with a scope, it’s defi nitely a lighter boomstick to carry around. At 40 ½” long, it’s a shorter rifl e than the 44” long .30-06, so it’s more compact, which is person- ally something I like. Considering I’ve been close enough to big game to make doubts about the range of the rifl e a non- issue, and the caliber is certainly large enough, I’d say I have a total winner. Is the .30 Remington a dead cartridge? Not by a long shot, in my humble opinion. Good luck with your adventures. BHS wrestlers take on Ontario, Imbler Ontario. The “Underdogs” launched an all-out attack on the Ontario Tigers in Ontario last Tuesday. Getting things started for the Bulldogs was Isiah Madison with a forfeit at 220lbs. Will Goodwin showed the rest of the team what they needed to do with a fi rst round pin. Next up was newcomer Dawson Dollarhide. Dollarhide had a 6-5 lead when he sunk a nice half nelson and secured the fall over Chew of Ontario. I have never seen that kind of intensity from Dawson. He knew his team needed him to make something happen. This built some momentum for the Bulldogs and next up was freshman Elijah Banister. Banister got in on a nice shot but was unable to fi nish it and was thrown to his back. Throughout the match he battled his way back to a 4-4 tie and then was also able to catch his opponent Cesar Nunez in a half nelson for the fall. Elijah is our go to guy. I know we can depend on him to get the job done, whether it be bumping up a weight class or in this case dropping to a lower class for the team. Jace Hays had his hands full with Francisco Barrera who was 2nd at state last season. Barrera won by fall. James AhHee lost a close match 3-6 to Solano of Ontario. He got caught on his back and refused to give up a fall to his Ontario opponent, which saved valuable team points. It was peer heart that got him to fi nish the match. Logan Valentine had the closest matchup of the night. He gained a takedown right at the end of the fi rst period against Jeff Kovach. Kovach scored a reversal in the 2nd period to tie the match 2-2. Kovach was able to ride Val- entine for most of the third round until Valentine caught him out of position for a two-point reversal right at the end of the match for the 4-2 win. Nick Blair recieved a forfeit at 138. Marco Vela took on a much larger oppo- nent Gissel. He wrestled smart and used good technique to secure the 6-3 win. Dylan Feldmeier wrestled Johnny Carpenter one of Ontario’s better wrestlers. Dylan got caught on his back a few times and was able to fi ght out of it instead of giving up a fall to Ontario. He lost 10-1. Derritt Gwynn lost at 160 lbs. by fall. Next up was Team Captain Peter Baker. At this point the dual score was 36-25. Ontario was still within reach of being able to take the win if they scored two falls. There is no one else I would rather have as a closer than Peter Baker. He faced Gage McAvoy. Peter had built a 5-2 lead in the second round when he was able to secure an armbar on a tiring opponent for the fall, which would secure the win for the Bulldogs! Next up was Sam Harper who lost by fall to Isiah Martinez to conclude the dual 42-31. This is the fi rst time Baker has beat Ontario since the 2005 season and keeps our League Dual Championship goal alive! The Bulldogs season record is now 3-3 and are currently 1-0 in the GOL. Imbler. The Bulldogs were a little stingy with letting their opponents have many opportunities Friday. We tallied up 19 wins and only 8 losses. It is diffi cult to single out one individuals standout performance when so many of our kids shined! It’s a great problem to have! Freshman Nick Blair had his best performance of the year winning two close matches, one 8-7 and the other 10-6. He also lost a close one 2-6. Nick has got a lot of grit. Jesse —ODFW Recreation Report— Baker County Hunting. Chukar, Hun, and California Quail season end Jan. 31, 2015. Hunters should expect another season very similar to last year. Chukar numbers are still low for the county, however quail numbers showed a slight increase from last year. Remember to purchase your 2015 license before going hunting after the fi rst of January. Cougars can be found throughout Baker County but hunters should target ar- eas with high concentrations of deer and elk. Setting up on a fresh kill or using distress calls can all be productive techniques. Hunters are required to check in the hide of any cougar taken, with skull and proof of sex attached. Remember to pick up a 2015 tag. Coyote numbers are good throughout the district. Try calling in early morning and late afternoon. Remember to ask for permission before hunting on private properties. Baker County Viewing. Bighorn sheep can be seen in the Burnt River Canyon west of Durkee or along the Snake River Road south of Richland. The best viewing is in the early morning and late in the evening. Bald and golden eagles can be seen along the Snake River. Take the Snake River Road between Richland and Huntington. Deer and elk are returning to the valley to winter. Early in the morning and late in the afternoon are good times to view wildlife. Driving through the foothills of the Baker valley and through the Keating valley can turn up good numbers of deer. Elkhorn Wildlife Area. Elkhorn Wildlife Area is known for the Rocky Mountain elk and mule deer herds that frequent the area during the winter. When snow covers the ground, ODFW staff feed elk and deer to encourage them to stay in the higher elevations and out of agricultural fi elds. There are two good viewing sites. The Anthony Creek site is located about eight miles west of I-84 on North Powder River Lane. From I-84 take the North Powder Exit (Exit 285). About 150 elk can be seen here on any given day. From the overlook on Auburn Road, watch hundreds of elk and mule deer. It is on the south side of Old Auburn Road, which branches off Highway 7 about six miles south of Baker City. Reporting. Don’t forget to report your hunt results no later than Jan. 31, 2015 for most hunts. Report online or by phone (1-866-947-6339). Hunters need to complete a report for each deer, elk, cougar, bear, turkey and pronghorn tag purchased (or picked up as part of a Sports Pac)—even if they didn’t hunt or weren’t suc- cessful. Deer and elk hunters who don’t report will have to pay a $25 fi ne to get a 2016 hunting license. Hamann also had one of his best performances of the sea- son. Dawson Dollarhide has gone undefeated 2 weeks in a row. Dawson was trailing against Imbler’s Taylor Lane 1-12 when he got a reversal and was able to hold Lane for the fall. That’s what we try to coach and I hope that attitude catches on with a few of our other wrestlers. Just because we are down big doesn’t mean the match is over. All we need is one good move and we can pin our op- ponents. It’s diffi cult to reach this mentality, but we have to learn to believe in ourselves even when the scoreboard is not looking so good! Logan Valentine won the most exciting match of the evening over Clay Johnson one of Grant Union’s stand outs. It was a great match from the beginning all the way to the end. Valentine took a one point lead in the fi nal 40 seconds of the match. Johnson was able to get an escape to tie the match and then Valentine earned a takedown in the fi nal 2 seconds of the match. Next up is Mac-Hi in Milton Freewater next Thursday. They are likely going to our toughest opponent in the GOL races for League Dual Champions and Regional Champions. Mac-Hi did well at the Oregon Classic and are looking to avenge a loss to the Bulldogs from last season. Next Friday we go to John Day and then split forces with our veterans going to Madras for a tournament on Saturday and our more inexperienced wrestlers going to Imbler. Submitted by Brandon Young. Alexandra Hunter is pretty much alone in the world—except for her matchmaking boss and contrary friend, Mary. After a “Date with the Living Dead” and a brush with executive espionage, she’s focused on climbing the corporate ladder. Romance just isn’t worth the effort. Then enigmatic playboy Scott Falconer comes along in cowboy boots and a tuxedo to cut the rungs out from under her. Try A COWBOY IN DISGUISE on Kindle today! 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