E AST O REGONIAN
SATURDAY, JANUARY 29, 2022
FOLLOW US ON
TWITTER @EOSPORTS |
FACEBOOK.COM/EOSPORTS
SPORTS SHOTS
B1
Hunter remembers era
of the hunting hound
By EMRY DINMAN
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Blue Mountain Community College’s Jaelyn Brainard leaps with the ball toward the basket Wednesday, Jan. 26,
2022, during the Timberwolves’ 60-45 win over the Yakima Valley Yaks at BMCC, Pendleton.
WALLA WALLLA — On a
cold January morning, the snow
from a recent storm largely melted,
Brian Hergert sat inside the living
room of his cozy Walla Walla
home, surrounded by houseplants
in every corner and furnishings
he’s fashioned out of antlers and
animal hides.
In a few hours, he would be
headed to his property out in the
country, ready to be back in nature
after staying home for a few days.
Outside, two coonhounds, Maisie
and Tracker, howl at newcomers
and passing cats before curling up
again for a nap inside their chain-
link kennel.
An avid hunter, Hergert has
been running hounds since the
early ‘80s. Before the practice was
largely banned by voters more than
a decade later, his hounds often
helped him hunt big game preda-
tors, including cougars, in the Blue
Mountains.
“We used to take, in a good
year, I’d kill six, seven cats,”
Hergert said. “It was nothing to
take out 40, 50 cats out of the Blues
from here to Dayton between me
and my friends.”
In 1996, however, Washington
state joined Oregon in outlawing
the use of hounds to hunt or pursue
black bear, cougars or bobcats,
with some exceptions. On a wall
in a nearby hallway, Hergert has
hung several photos from that year
commemorating the last recre-
ational hunt of cougars with his
hounds.
That initiative, which also
largely criminalized the use of
bait to attract black bears, was
approved by Washington voters
by a comfortable margin, mark-
ing what many saw as a sea change
for hunters in the state.
Management of large predators
has remained politically conten-
tious in the decades since, often
fl ared by increased human-cou-
gar interactions, livestock preda-
tion and rare but high-profi le fatal
attacks.
But recently, debate over
what to do with cougars in the
Blue Mountains in particular has
increased for a diff erent reason:
dwindling elk populations.
The Blue Mountain elk herd
is estimated to consist of around
3,500 animals, according to
reporting by the Lewiston Tribune,
well below the population objec-
tive of 5,500 currently set by the
Washington Department of Fish
& Wildlife.
The herd’s calves also often are
not surviving to maturity.
A 2021 study by the Washing-
ton Department of Fish & Wild-
life monitored 125 elk calves with
radio collars — by mid-Novem-
ber, only 11 still were known to be
alive. While a number of factors
such as a recent harsh winter and
drought have contributed to the
high mortality rate, cougars are
believed to have accounted for 54
of those deaths.
While some have called for
reducing elk hunting in the area to
protect the herd, the study’s fi nd-
ings have prompted calls to extend
cougar-hunting season in the Blue
Mountains as well as for the Fish &
Wildlife to use hounds to hunt the
big cats for management purposes,
which is allowed under the 1996
law.
For Hergert, calls to increase
cougar hunting are long overdue.
Hergert’s hounds
While the veteran hunter has
owned as many as six hunting
dogs at one time, these days he
just keeps the two: a redtick-tree-
ing walker mix named Maisie,
and a redtick-bluetick mix named
Tracker.
Hergert grew up hunting birds
with his dad and brother, and when
he began using hounds, he started
with small game. He had permis-
sion to run his dogs through the
ditches alongside farm ground out
near Waitsburg and elsewhere,
chasing down raccoons.
“But they’re just kind of greasy,
stinky deals,” Hergert said. “But
big cats, they’re good eating.”
It wasn’t long before Hergert
See Hunter, Page B2
ON THE SLATE
Schedule subject to change
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Stanfi eld’s Alexis Shelby puts up a shot Tuesday,
Jan. 25, 2022, against the McLoughlin Pioneers
at McLoughlin High School in Milton-Freewater.
The Tigers defeated the Pioneers 53-45.
SATURDAY, JAN. 29
College baseball
Eastern Oregon vs. Oklahoma Panhandle State,
Glendale, Arizona, 9 a.m.
Eastern Oregon Vs. Benedictine Mesa, Glendale,
Arizona, 1 p.m.
College men’s wrestling
Eastern Oregon at Clackamas Open, 9 a.m.
College women’s wrestling
Big Bend at Eastern Oregon, noon
College women’s basketball
Blue Mountain at Big Bend, 2 p.m.
Corban at Eastern Oregon, 3 p.m.
College men’s basketball
Blue Mountain at Big Bend, 4 p.m.
Corban at Eastern Oregon, 5 p.m.
Prep girls basketball
Nixyaawii at Powder Valley, 2 p.m.
Echo at Horizon Christian/Hood River, 2 p.m.
Riverside at Nyssa, 3 p.m.
Southridge at Hermiston, 3:15 p.m.
Umatilla at Burns, 3:30 p.m.
Heppner at Stanfi eld, 4 p.m.
Ontario at McLoughlin, 4 p.m.
Weston-McEwen at Grant Union, 4 p.m.
Pendleton at Crook County, 4:30 p.m.
Imbler at Griswold, 6 p.m.
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Hermiston’s Tyler Lin (in white) goes up for a shot despite
pressure from Pasco defenders during a conference game
Jan. 21, 2022, at the Dawg House in Hermiston. The Hermis-
ton Bulldogs beat the Pasco Bulldogs 84-72.
Hermiston’s Lindsay Pasena Littlesky faces Ka-
miakin defenders during a conference game
Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022, at the Dawg House in
Hermiston. Kamiakin won 60-59.
Prep boys basketball
Echo at Horizon Christian/Hood River, 3:30 p.m.
Nixyaawii at Powder Valley, 3:30 p.m.
Umatilla at Burns, 3:30 p.m.
Riverside at Nyssa, 4:30 p.m.
Southridge at Hermiston, 5 p.m.
Umatilla at Burns, 5 p.m.
Weston-McEwen at Grant Union, 5:30 p.m.
Heppner at Stanfi eld, 5:30 p.m.
Imbler at Griswold, 5:30 p.m.
Ontario at McLoughlin, 5:30 p.m.
Prep boys wrestling
Heppner, Pendleton, Irrigon, Echo/Stanfi eld,
Hermiston, McLoughlin/Weston-McEwen, Riv-
erside at Irrigon JV Invite, 9 a.m.
SUNDAY, JAN. 30
College women’s wrestling
Eastern Oregon at Washington State, 3 p.m.
Monday, Jan. 31
Prep girls basketball
Umatilla at Nyssa, 5 p.m.
Irrigon at Riverside, 6 p.m.
Prep boys basketball
Umatilla at Nyssa, 6:30 p.m.
TUESDAY, FEB. 1
Prep girls basketball
Umatilla at Vale, 3 p.m.
Bickleton at Echo, 5 p.m.
Pendleton at The Dalles, 5:30 p.m.
Enterprise at Stanfi eld, 5:30 p.m.
Hermiston at Kennewick, 5:45 p.m.
Nixyaawii at McLoughlin, 6 p.m.
Pilot Rock at Weston-McEwen, 6 p.m.
Prep boys basketball
Umatilla at Vale, 4:30 p.m.
Bickleton at Echo, 6:30 p.m.
Pendleton at The Dalles, 7 p.m.
Hermiston at Kennewick, 7:30 p.m.
Nixyaawii at McLoughlin, 7:30 p.m.
Pilot Rock at Weston-McEwen, 7:30 p.m.
SPORTS SHORT
EOU women’s wrestling ranked NO. 17 in latest NAIA poll
East Oregonian
LA GRANDE — The National
Association of Intercollegiate
Athletics released its latest weekly
Coaches’ Top-20 poll on Thurs-
day, Jan. 27, ranking the East-
ern Oregon University women’s
wrestling program at No. 17 in the
nation.
The Mountaineers dropped
one spot from their previous No.
16 ranking last week. The team
compiled fi ve individual wrestlers
ranked in the top 20 in the NAIA.
Sophomore Olivia Robinson
led the way with a No. 5 ranking at
the 170-pound level, while senior
Dempsi Talkington came in at No.
6 at the 155-pound level. Junior
Morgan Shines (130) and sopho-
more Stephanie Blankenship (109)
were both ranked No. 13 in their
respective weight classes. Senior
Macy Higa earned a No. 16 ranking
at the 123-pound division.
Eastern received 52 votes as a
team, the fourth highest ranking
for a Cascade Collegiate Confer-
ence program. Southern Oregon is
slated at No. 3, Menlo College is
ranked No. 6 and Providence came
in at No. 12. Corban is just behind
Eastern at No. 20.
The Mountaineers have not
wrestled since the Oregon Wres-
tling Classic on Jan. 15, but are
gearing up for one of the team’s
biggest duals of the season. Eastern
will travel to face No. 3 Southern
Oregon in Ashland on Feb. 5. Wres-
tling is slated to begin at 6 p.m.
Andrew Cutler/The Observer, File
Eastern Oregon University’s Morgan Shines fi ghts for position against
Southern Oregon’s Jordan Robson in November 2021. Shines is ranked
ninth at 130 pounds in the Jan. 27, 2022, NAIA Coaches’ Top-20 poll for
women’s wrestling.