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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (March 15, 2017)
S moke S ignals MARCH 15, 2017 15 Matt Lux wins state elk calling competition Tribal member headed to world championships on March 18 By Bethany Bea Smoke Signals Intern Grand Ronde Tribal member Matt Lux is the best elk caller in Oregon for the third time. On Saturday, March 18, he’ll see if he’s the best in the world. Lux won the Oregon State Elk Calling Championship on Feb. 25 and is headed to Salt Lake City, Utah, to participate in the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation World Elk Calling Championships. Lux, 34, has been elk calling since he was 6 years old when his father brought home elk calls and left them on a windowsill while he went to take a nap. “Don’t touch those,” his father said. “Well, soon as that door shut I pushed a chair over and grabbed the elk calls,” said Lux. He got one to make a noise and went right in to tell his father, who briefly scolded him for not following instructions. “But then he started working with me on it,” Lux said. He went to the World Champion- ships in Seattle that same year. It was 1989 and the youth division still encompassed youths up to 17 years of age, he said. Now, there is a peewee division for children 10 and younger. “So for the first few years I called with a lot of kids that were twice my age,” he said. Lux used his newfound skills to call in an elk for his father while hunting that year, but he said it was awhile before he bagged an elk of his own. “I had a very rough learning curve baseball bat. He said a cracked reed or an error is the differ- ence between placing in the finals and coming in dead last at competitions. In addition to practice and dedication, some competitors have the nat- ural advantage of a large chest, which allows for stronger calls. Lux said when he com- petes, he tries to make up his points in other ways to compensate for com- petitors who are bigger. “In order to make up that difference, I have to make sure my routine is Photo by Michelle Alaimo extremely clean and as life- Matt Lux recently won the Oregon State Elk Calling Championships and will be like as I can get,” he said. competing in the 2017 World Elk Calling Championships in Salt Lake City, Utah, on When he’s not working Saturday, March 18. or competing, Lux spends time in the woods with his their own pilots.” 5-year-old son. when I was younger, because I’m Depending on whether the hunter “We have designated his own stubborn and I have to learn things buys or draws a tag and where they grunt tube,” Lux said. “He does not my way,” he said. “My dad died when want to hunt, the fee for a guided like it if dad grabs his grunt tube.” I was 11, so a lot of the hunting stuff hunt can range anywhere from His son won’t go with him to the I kind of had to do on my own.” $4,600 to $10,000. This buys five or World Championships, he said. It’s Eventually, he got a job at Sports- six days, Lux said, but he’s usually going to be too much time in the man’s Warehouse and a co-worker done in three. car. Thirteen hours to Salt Lake taught him the rights and wrongs While his elk calling skills cer- City on Friday if weather doesn’t of hunting. Now, hunting is his tainly help with his work, he said slow him down, then competition on way of life. it’s not necessary to be a competi- Saturday followed by the long ride Lux lives on a farm outside of tion-quality caller while hunting. home on Sunday. The competition Sheridan, but spends most of the “There’s a huge difference be- consists of morning preliminaries year as a hunting guide for Mangas tween competition calling and followed by finals at noon, if every- Outfitters in the high desert of New calling out in the woods,” Lux said. thing stays on schedule, he said. Mexico. The elk won’t notice if you make He’ll be joined at the competition “I’ve seen all walks of life come a mistake or your reed cracks, he by Higher Education Manager Bry- out and elk hunt,” he said. “There’s said, but competition judges will. an Langley and four of his children, guys that have to save five, six There are different types of calls all of whom are competing. years to be able to afford to come for different sounds, from small “I’ll just have to keep my fingers out and hunt. And then I have cli- discs, called diaphragms, no big- crossed that I make the finals, be- ents who come out every year. We ger than a 50-cent piece, to “grunt cause there’s going to be some re- have guys that come out, and they tubes” the shape of a small plastic ally stiff competition,” Lux said. own their own planes and they have LIFEBOOK SUPPLIES WILL BE PROVIDED The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and the American Museum of Natural History are now Accepting youth applications to participate in our Annual Tamanowas Ceremony and Museum Internship Program. Please join us for our upcoming workshops Please bring your child's/teens: Pictures Creating a Lifebook Artwork Wednesday, March 8: 5:15pm - 8:15pm Awards Milestones The Application Process is open to High School Females that meet the Friday, April 7: 11:00am - 3:00pm following qualifications: Enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Current Sophomore, Junior, Senior in High School G.P.A. of 2.5 or above Oregon Resident Meal & Childcare Provided (must REGISTER for childcare) Family History Report Cards Birth History CTGR Community Center Building Letters 9615 Grand Ronde Road, Grand Ronde, OR & More!! Feel free to attend one, or both! Application Deadline is March 24th, 5pm Application is available online at grandronde.org Please contact Travis Stewart for further information at: travis.stewart@grandronde.org What is a Lifebook? A Lifebook is a connection to a child’s past, a record of the child’s personal history and a valuable tool for helping a child understand the difficult transitions in their life. To register or for more information please call Amanda Mercier at 503-879-2039