Smoke Signals
Tribal Bow Hunters Get An Adrenaline Rush
Practice is more traditional than using today's high-powered, high-tech weapons.
4 JANUARY 1, 2003
By Ron Karten
A bond that Tribal bow hunters share is the expe
rience of elk or deer running by so close that the
hunters can just about reach out and touch them,
but they are too close to actually pull up the bow and
arrow and shoot.
When it comes to equipment like calls, there are
plenty of opinions and maybe the only definitive thing
you could say is that Tribal member Nathan Rolston
has the winner name with the "hoochie momma"
that his dad, Cliff, recommends. "The only draw
back," he said, "is you've got to stop to get your hands
on the bow when (an elk) gets close."
For that very reason, Tribal member Bryan Lan
gley likes a mouth reed which he can keep calling
while he gets his bow in position. And Tribal mem
ber Shonn Leno uses a variety of mouth reeds.
"I look forward to it all year," said Langley. "I'm
always looking for new places to hunt." He also stud
ies with the professionals to improve his techniques.
Most recently, he took a course with Larry Jones on
how to locate elk using topographical maps and stud
ied different kinds of calls.
Of course, some days you can call until you're blue
in the face and the elk just won't answer. Langley
recalls walking with his wife through a trail of "thick
stuff' when "a whole herd jumped up and took off."
"Sometimes," he said, "you may only get one shot
opportunity the whole season."
It took Rolston a few years to get into it. Cliff
Rolston always hunted with a bow, and interested
Nathan five to six years ago, but then the interest
flagged for a few years before he came back to it.
This year, he guesses he went out "probably 12 times,"
but still awaits his first kill.
Langley and Leno take off to Eastern Oregon when
time during hunting season allows and most hunt
locally as well. Rolston goes out to the lower Trask
area, "as close to Tillamook as you can get without
crossing Highway 6."
Part of the attraction of bow hunting is that the
woods are still pretty much wide open during the
season. Langley has hunted with rifles before, but
"there's less hunting pressure" with bow and arrow.
"Fewer people in the woods."
Even at that, Langley said that he is starting to
see "a lot more archery hunters."
His perception is correct. According to a recent
report in The Oregonian, the number of bow hunt
ers has more than doubled in the last 10 years. More
lift am if'wj
7
mil
VlmW ?
mm 1
Setting Their Sights Tribal members Bryan Langley (left), Nathan Rolston (center) and Shonn Leno (right)
display their various bow hunting styles. The three Tribal members are at various stages in their hunting experience
as well with Langley and Leno having more experience and Rolston steadily learning the craft. Rolston has been
hunting with his father Cliff and hopes to bag his first kill sometime soon.
Be Ready For Anything According to bow hunter
Bryan Langley (left), a decent shot at an elk can be rare so a
hunter has to be prepared when that shot comes.
and more, Langley said, he is seeing "archery road
hunting" where archers call elk or deer from a
truck on the road.
Although he hunted without a kill from 1988-98,
in the last four years, he has brought home an elk
every year.
For Langley, elk is "a good source of food and a
lot of fun to hunt. It's an adrenalin rush when you
get a big 800 pound elk 10 yards from you, and
you're not sure what you are going to do with this
itty bitty stick in your hands."
Rolston agrees.
"All of a sudden something came rushing but you
don't know if it's a bear then reality sets in
you've got this string and piece of aluminum and
you've got to kill this animal. A gun would be a lot
easier but I guess that's the fun part." ,
Culture Language Specialist and Chinook Tribal
member Tony Johnson hunts with bow and
arrow "only for the food," he said. '
Others are out there year to year as well.
Tribal members Doug and Mike Colton bofv
hunt, and in fact, it is Doug Colton's elk head
in the atrium of the Governance Building,
but they declined to talk about it for publica
tion. '
Leno, a Natural Resources Technician, has
been hunting with bow and arrow for 12
years, since he was 15. Like others, he also
has hunted with rifles and muzzleloaders, but
acknowledged "archery is probably the most
challenging. You feel the most accomplished when
you do harvest an animal (with a bow). There are
a lot more variables. You have to close the dis
tance on the animal without being detected, and you
have to make a vital shot on the animal."
He has been a lot more successful with a rifle and
uses one "out of necessity, for the deer meat every
year. I just don't feel the same accomplishment."
For Leno, the time of year, with really cold weather
and snow, draws him to hunting. He said he started
using a muzzleloader "mainly to prolong my hunt
ing season." (State law sets different seasons for
bow, muzzleloader and rifle hunting.)
Because of the broad interest in bow hunting, the
Natural Resources Department allotted some prop
erty last year for an archery range. It is now half
finished, said Leno, with seven targets up and seven
to go. The targets consist of 4 cedar bales and targets.
Bryan and Dale
Langley and
friends have volun
teered a lot of time
to build the prac
tice range and a
youth crew laid
down the bark dust
on the main trail,
Leno said. For
safety reasons, it is
only available after
work hours.
Experienced
Langley and one of
his trophy kills.
" AJ
( 1
I
Fishing and Hunting Licenses For 2003 On Sale Now
Prices for 2003 are the same as the past two
years, according to the Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife. However, sportsmen and women
will notice two changes for 2003 that are the re
sult of requests from hunters and anglers .
First, hatchery harvest tags may be purchased
at any license agent through the Point-of-Sale li
censing system. In the past, these tags were sold
separately from the computerized system and
many agents chose not to sell them. The hatch
ery harvest tag allows the harvest of 10 adipose
fin-clipped hatchery salmon or steelhead. Anglers
must hold a fishing or combination license and a
combined angling tag to purchase the hatchery
harvest tag. The price is $12 for both residents
and non-residents.
Second, hunters and anglers who purchase a
SportsPac may choose to hunt either the controlled
spring bear season or the fall general bear season.
In previous years, SportsPac holders did not have
the option of obtaining a spring bear controlled hunt
tag with their SportsPac. The SportsPac, which
costs $105 for Oregon residents, provides the holder
with a combination hunting and angling license and
tags to hunt bear, cougar, elk, deer, upland birds,
waterfowl and spring turkey, and to fish for salmon,
steelhead, sturgeon and halibut.
Also on Dec. 1, hunters may begin purchasing
chances to win a deer or elk tag for a long hunting
season over multiple hunting units. Tickets for the
Access and Habitat Deer and Elk Raffle Hunts go on
sale Sunday at license agents and ODFW offices.
The following raffle hunts are offered: statewide
deer, statewide combination deer and elk, north
east Oregon deer, southeast Oregon deer, cen
tral Oregon deer, northeast Oregon elk, high
desert elk, western Oregon elk and statewide elk.
Winners have from September 1 November
30, 2003, to fill a tag.
Hunters and anglers are reminded to bring a
copy of their 2002 license with them to buy their
new license and tags. While not required, this
simple step speeds service at agent counters be
cause all the information necessary to issue a
new license is located on the old license. ODFW
also reminds Oregon resident license buyers to
bring a picture identification with them prove
residency.
4