B6
OUTSIDE
East Oregonian
Saturday, March 21, 2020
SHED HUNTING THE WHEAT COUNTRY
By BRAD TRUMBO
For the East Oregonian
PENDLETON — March is a
fine time to work a bird dog on
the Palouse. With the upland sea-
son a couple months past and the
snow freshly off the wheat fields,
my girls and I took to a secluded
parcel for a run and maybe put
up a rooster or two. A bitter wind
howled across the emerald green
of the thriving winter wheat, bat-
tling the warmth of vibrant sun
rays cast sharply from a bluebird
sky.
Approaching an island of black
locust and wheatgrass about 20
acres in size, a white object caught
my attention. Beneath a golden
fold of grass mashed flat from
its former snow blanket shone a
heavy chunk of what appeared
to be bone. “How sweet would
it be if that were a giant shed!” I
thought to myself as I approached.
You can imagine my surprise
when I unearthed the only drop-
tine whitetail antler I will ever
lay hands on, complete with a
split brow tine and soda-can base
circumference.
The antler was weathered and
cracked and had clearly lay there
for several years. I wondered
where that buck had come from.
There was no other cover for
miles and we were nearly 20 miles
from a brushy river corridor in
any direction. How had that buck
dodged the modern firearms sea-
sons so many years to put on such
character?
I may never have such for-
tune to stumble upon a better
shed in my lifetime. Whitetails
are known for their adaptation to
postage-stamp, patchwork cov-
ers. True to form, this guy clearly
followed the playbook, shedding
where no one would think to look
in a relatively tiny and inaccessible
patch of cover.
Bagging elk sheds is exciting,
but in my experience, it’s deer in
the wheat country that offer the
best shed hunting. A solid rule of
thumb is to seek out bedding and
feeding areas. South and west
aspects are the warmest this time
of year and typically offer bet-
ter food sources. Deer spend the
majority of their time in these areas
and are more likely to shed there.
While well-worn travel routes are
hard to pass up, I have found so
few sheds on trails that a nice walk
or the occasional small forky ant-
ler is about the main prize.
You can dodge the masses
by knocking on a few doors and
maybe find some ground all to
yourself. Small woodlots and eye-
brows with a few trees to provide
a windbreak should be given fair
inspection. Deer will paw at the
ground around these trees to cre-
ate flat beds on steep slopes.
Deer generally shed their ant-
lers from late December through
March. Mule deer tend to yard
up in large, visible groups on the
Photo courtesy of Brad Trumbo
A common find — a fork-horn mule deer shed below a wheat field eyebrow.
Photo courtesy of Brad Trumbo
A fine pair, but better sheds can be found in the wheat country.
open, grassy slopes, while white-
tails commonly feed in the unseen
crevasses of wheat fields this time
of year.
Cabin fever pushes most big
game hunters to wit’s end by now,
and the prospects of shed hunting
are too enticing to ignore. How-
ever, there is an ethical consider-
ation to early shed hunting. March
on the Palouse can be a deadly
month for wildlife, as they have
hit rock bottom on fat reserves and
food sources. A year like the pres-
ent causes little winter kill as snow
accumulation is minimal and tem-
peratures are generally mild. But
tough years with lingering deep
snow and single-digit temperatures
can take its toll on a deer herd.
Waiting to hunt sheds until
about the time that spring gobbler
opens is a best practice to leave
critters unperturbed when they
cannot afford to suffer additional
stress and energy expense. The
Oregon Department of Fish and
Wildlife doesn’t enforce restricted
shed hunting seasons, but does
offer tips to keep wildlife healthy,
such as not pushing a herd too hard
or pursuing them over consecutive
days. One advantage to shed-hunt-
ing the wheat country is being able
Photo courtesy of Brad Trumbo
A four-point mule deer shed found on a flat spot at the base of an ever-
green.
to spot sheds in stubble or green
wheat with binoculars before hik-
ing through feeding or resting crit-
ters with nothing to show for it.
Additionally, respect for public
and private land and landowners is
paramount. Sheds are the property
of the landowner where they fell,
requiring permission to collect
them on private land. If you run
a shed-hunting dog, ensure that it
doesn’t run deer or elk as you hunt
for antlers.
Bottom line: Shed hunting is a
lot of fun and a great way to get
outdoors, kick the cabin fever, and
grab some sun and exercise while
waiting on spring gobbler or fish-
ing seasons. Load up your pack,
grab the binoculars, and enjoy the
warmth of the sun on your back
for a welcome change from winter.
You just might find that shed of a
lifetime.
———
Brad Trumbo is a fish and wild-
life biologist and outdoor writer in
Waitsburg, Washington, where he
also actively serves the Walla Wal-
la-based Blue Mountain Pheas-
ants Forever chapter. For tips and
tales of outdoor pursuits and con-
servation, visit www.bradtrumbo.
com.
CAUGHT OVGARD
A boy and his rod at the end of the world
BY LUKE OVGARD
For the East Oregonian
our cultural identity without los-
ing our humanity in the process.
Without a doubt, I always
expected the events of Sept. 11,
2001, to be the cause of the single
greatest crisis Americans would
face in my lifetime. I no longer
believe that to be true.
When this whole COVID-19
business got off the ground, my
immediate response was to dis-
miss it out of hand as political
maneuvering and overreaction
to what is to the vast majority of
those infected: a milder version of
the common cold.
I viewed it as an inconvenience,
an unfortunate reality borne of a
chain of knee-jerk reactions to
something that, at the current
death toll, won’t even break into
the top 20 leading causes of death
in the United States — as if there
ever were an “acceptable” num-
ber when referring to the loss of
human life.
But now, I view it as something
that could be a turning point in the
United States and the world.
While the virus itself certainly
scares me — particularly for my
older relatives — it is the effects of
our reaction to the virus that scare
me more.
Today, I’m not going to write
about fishing. Well, not much, any-
way. I’m going to write my reac-
tion to the science fiction reality
we’re now living and how we can
save our nation, our economy and
Books
Last year, I listened to a lot of
audiobooks while fishing and trav-
eling around the country to fish,
and two of them have been on my
mind a lot in the past week or two.
The first is titled “The Ware-
house” by Rob Hart. It tells the
story of a post-crisis United
States, devastated and shaken.
Though many people die, many
more refuse to leave their homes
to carry out basic functions out
of fear. As a result, the economy
collapses on a scale that makes
the Great Depression seem like a
slight economic downturn in com-
parison. Millions lose their jobs,
homes and very way of life as
small businesses and entire sec-
tors of the economy simply cease
to exist.
In the resulting economic vac-
uum, one company excels: an
Amazon stand-in named “Cloud.”
As Cloud grows in strength, the
economy migrates almost entirely
online, driven by social isolation
and fear-mongering. By creating a
fleet of automated drones to per-
form deliveries, Cloud puts logis-
tics companies out of business.
It eliminates traditional retail. It
gains a market share almost over-
night that makes Walmart’s seem
laughable. Cloud becomes the
unstoppable force in the world
that is ultimately more power-
ful even than most world govern-
ments, driven solely by the inertia
of panic and fear, much like what
we’re seeing with COVID-19.
In the face of hoarding and the
rampant fear of public spaces,
online retail giants like Ama-
zon are already benefiting. Ama-
zon’s stock prices were up almost
7% when I wrote this column —
despite the downward spiral of
most major players in the econ-
omy and some of the largest sin-
gle-day drops in world history.
Tragedy has befallen us, and
it’s not over yet. In the United
States and around the world, those
who have died deserve every bit
of respect and mourning they
receive; however, what we cannot
do is allow their sacrifice to be in
vain, nor can we use it to justify a
lack of humanity.
When I wrote this column,
Gov. Kate Brown had just banned
all gatherings of 25 or more peo-
ple, limited restaurants, bars and
coffee shops to takeout and deliv-
ery services only and extended the
school closures through the end of
April. I have mixed feelings about
these actions, but I think the move
will ultimately save lives at the
cost of thousands and thousands of
jobs, foreclosures, evictions and a
rampant increase in homelessness.
This, far more than the virus
itself, terrifies me.
As someone who derives most
of his income from the state and
federal governments (teacher and
member of the National Guard),
I’m fairly blessed in these uncer-
tain times to know I’ll still be
receiving a paycheck, but most
people aren’t so lucky.
What happens to the small
business owners? The restaurant
waitstaff, baristas, bartenders and
everyone else who depends on
the in-person, service economy?
Many businesses are already lay-
ing off employees. Not because
they’re heartless monsters, but
because they have to feed their
own families and make sure they
don’t have to close their doors
entirely. It’s a horrible time, and
those of us that still have access to
an income must continue to sup-
port the economy, help our friends
in need and do everything we
can to curb the real danger of the
coronavirus: complete economic
collapse.
The other book I mentioned,
called “A Boy and His Dog at the
End of the World,” was written by
C.A. Fletcher. It tells the story of
a world decimated by “The Geld-
ing,” an event that leaves most
humans infertile. It is another
take on the apocalypse, but rather
than focusing on limited natural
and economic resources like “The
Warehouse,” it focuses on a lack
of human resources as the titular
characters range across the land-
scape in search of supplies while
trying to find their way home.
Like most dystopian science
fiction, these books are caution-
ary tales to problems we never
thought we’d see. Yet here we
are. We’re closer than we’ve ever
been in peacetime to the brink of
collapse.
I cannot simply say “Go fish-
ing” and, in good conscience,
hope that’s enough to stem what
will likely be the largest quarterly
spike in unemployment in Oregon
since the collapse of the logging
industry nearly 30 years ago.
What I can say is appreciate
what you have. Tell your fam-
ily members you love them. Be
there for those who need you
and don’t be afraid to share. Help
those around you, and if you are
fortunate enough to catch some
fish while trying to keep yourself
from going mad with boredom,
don’t be afraid to keep them, clean
them and give them to that elderly
friend or neighbor or recently laid-
off waiter you know.
The America we know doesn’t
survive with every man for him-
self; it survives with us reaching
out and helping one another in
their darkest hour. Even if we can’t
physically unite in solidarity, we
can do it with our time, our money
and the resources some of us have
been so blessed with.
God bless, stay healthy and
stay human.
———
Read more at caughtovgard.
com; Follow on Instagram and
Fishbrain @lukeovgard; Contact
luke.ovgard@gmail.com.