Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 26, 2022)
Outdoors Rec B Saturday, February 26, 2022 The Observer & Baker City Herald Sonoran sojourn “¿A dónde vas?” he said. “Perdóname,” I bleated, “mi Español es no bueno.” He nodded. I had carefully rehearsed the phrase over and over as I moved towards the fl ashing lights, and now I delivered my line as if on cue: “Voy a pescar con mis amigos en Puerto Peñasco por tres días.” Onward My headlights peeled away LUKE the consummate blackness of OVGARD the worn pavement as I made my CAUGHT OVGARD way to the Airbnb I’d booked in Puerto Peñasco with my friends, ull from some roadside the Moores. Chris and his boys, Carson and adobada sopes I’d Braeden, were frequent visitors purchased in a tiny town to this little town dubbed “Arizo- na’s Beach,” and I was and eaten outdoors venturing into Mexico in the 115-degree for the fi rst time to heat, the meat sweats fi sh with them for a long weekend, hoping hit me. Soon after, I they’d share some of was pounding cold the secrets to their drinks left and right pioneered success in the area. as I headed east into It was too late to the desert. wet a line that night, I had been warned but we were up fi rst about police corruption thing the next morning in Sonora. As I slowed for a boat we’d rented, for the turn that would and I could scarcely put me onto the fi nal contain my excitement. leg of a remote desert Our guide spoke very highway between little English which Luke Ovgard/Contributed Photo Guadalupe Victoria was perfect because The striped mullet is one of the world’s most common fi shes, found we spoke very little and my destination, in fresh and saltwater environments worldwide in warm climates. Puerto Peñasco, the Spanish. Regard- The author caught a few in the Puerto Peñasco Harbor. fl ashing lights in the less, we managed to distance made me a bit get out and face the apprehensive. high winds to catch Isolated hardly felt some fi sh. Chris and The stopped vehicle looked sketchy enough Braeden took sea- adequate to describe the barely main- sick early, and after in the fl ickering wash of the spasming red tained desert roads fi ghting through it for and blue lights from the police cruiser. that were mostly paved hours, Chris decided to but rarely signed and head back to shore — never painted between a few pounds lighter. the Calexico/Mexicali border The boys and I managed to add Crap. Should’ve been para, not crossing and my destination atop dozens of fi sh, representing sev- por. the Sea of Cortez. eral new species, which made Regardless, he got it and The stopped vehicle looked the queasiness that much more shined a light through my open sketchy enough in the fl ick- acceptable to me, but Braeden window into the cab. I had a ering wash of the spasming stack of fi shing rods, a cooler and continued to chum the waters in red and blue lights from the between catches. enough corroborating evidence police cruiser. Seeing my cau- Our trip ended, and we were that he nodded. He asked for my tious approach, the offi cer insurance. I’d purchased Mexican pleased to fi nd solid footing moved slowly into the inter- again. We continued fi shing in the auto insurance to cover my days- section and motioned for me to harbor, and it was late afternoon long venture into the country, stop. A bit apprehensive, I rolled when I had another run-in with and I handed it to the offi cer. He down my passenger window and the policia. nodded again and let me go. No attempted to discuss my plans en tickets, no bribes. I was pleasantly See, Sojourn/Page B2 roto Español. surprised. F Luke Ovgard/Contributed Photo The Americanized name for Puerto Peñasco is Rocky Point, so named for this rocky peninsula where the author fi shed. Tom Claycomb/Contributed Photo Here are the Clamtainer Ammo Buddy boxes that I’ve started us- ing. Notice how the 9 mm box is already getting torn after one trip. Tips for fl ying with fi rearms TOM CLAYCOMB BASE CAMP Can you fl y with a gun? Yes, but there are rules and regulations that you must follow. Some set by the government and some by each individual air- line. We’ll cover some of the regulations but fi rst, if you’re new to the gun world you may ask the question why would you want to fl y with a gun? I see three reasons right off : • You’re fl ying some- where to hunt. • You’re a competitive shooter and fl ying to a match. • We live in a dan- gerous world and you want to have a gun for self-protection. It doesn’t matter what the reason, the rules are the same. When you get to the ticket counter you have to declare that you have a fi rearm. They will ask you if it is unloaded and locked in a hard container. They will then have you sign and date an orange Declaration card which is later taped to the gun box. In Boise you will then be directed to go down to the left to the have TSA check it out. The fi rearm must be locked in a hard-sided container. Many pis- tols come with a trav- eling case. For rifl es you will have to buy one. For- ty-some ears ago Frontier Airlines would rent you a case for $20. The fi rst time I fl ew with a rifl e I was headed to Texas for a deer hunt. The ticket lady told me that if I didn’t bring it back that they’d keep my $20. She said if I wanted to keep it, she’d go get me a new one in a box. Now, there are a plethora of guns cases to choose from. Most are lined with foam to protect your scoped rifl es. These types of gun cases work fi ne but all that you can fi t into them is your guns and maybe a knife or two. So you’re paying the air- line for one bag that has only your guns in it. Seven years ago I dis- covered a gun case made by Explorer that had no inner foam. They utilize a canvas carrying case. At fi rst, I didn’t like it. I thought, that’s stupid, it won’t protect my scope. But I used it on a trip to Alaska for a brown bear and duck hunt and fell in love with it. Here’s why: When you go on a hunt, you have to take a ton of gear. Clothing — pants, shirts, base layers, coats, gloves etc. etc. Then your guns, ammo, optics, knives, camera, maybe waders and the list goes on and on. With my foamless case I could lay shirts/pants on the bottom, lay the canvas case on top with the guns in it and then lay more clothes on top. Wow. This was almost like having an extra bag of clothes. Plus, I could put my binocu- lars in the case and they’d be padded. I fell in love with this concept of luggage. It is the only one like it that I’ve seen on the market. But what if you already own an expensive gun case and can’t (or don’t want to) buy another one? It just hit me while I’m sitting here typing but I guess you could remove the foam from your existing case and be set. That’s better than fl ying a luggage half full of foam around the country! So, if you go the above route, I’d recommend get- ting a canvas gun case to put your gun in to stick in the case. Plus, you can carry your gun around in the canvas case when hunting. For a pistol you can lock it in a smaller case and put in your unlocked suit case. Some gun cases have holes for two locks. My Explorer case has holes for six locks which is a pain because Delta requires you to have a lock in every hole. You don’t want a real long- necked lock because a thief may be able to pop open the closures on the gun case and be able to stick his hand into your case and pull some- thing out (Plus TSA will ding you). On the other hand, I like longer-necked locks to ensure that they can be locked. To alleviate any problems with TSA I carry a baggie of washers. I put a few on the back- side of the neck of the lock and then lock the lock in place. Then, even if a thief opens the clasps on the case, he cannot pry open the top. I started doing this years ago. I always carry one or two extra locks in case one malfunctions, which would be a disaster. I’ve never had a problem until the other day. TSA wanted to open my case to inspect it upon arriving at their booth and for some reason the key wouldn’t work. No biggie. I let them cut the lock since I had an extra one. See, Firearms/Page B2