Outdoors
B
Saturday, August 7, 2021
The Observer & Baker City Herald
TEMPTING
Wallowa River redsides
WITH FLIES
DENNIS
DAUBLE
THE NATURAL WORLD
“Sorry to leave you, but I’ve got happy feet,”
I say to a fellow writer after we polished off
a three-course breakfast in the Wallowa Lake
Lodge dining room. What I didn’t share was
early departure from the summer conference
would allow me to toss a fl y on the way home.
After spending two nights in a pup tent staked
next to a gurgling mountain stream, wild rainbow
trout called.
One hour of driving north on Highway 82 pro-
vides a close-up glimpse of the Wallowa River
and roadside access to several miles of water. I
ease my truck over to a gravel shoulder where a
slow meander beckons and hike through waist-
high orchard grass only to fi nd a sign, “Private
Property. Subject to Arrest.”
Motoring on down the road, I look for another
See, River/Page B2
Dennis Dauble/Contributed Photo
The stretch of the Wallowa River visible from Highway 82 is popular
with anglers and recreational rafters alike.
On the track of the bear
Hunting bruins in the Pine Creek unit
GARY
LEWIS
ON THE TRAIL
There was a time
when bighorn sheep were
numerous as deer in
these canyons. And more
recently, there was a time
when deer were too many
to count. In our corner of
the Pine Creek Unit, we
saw a lone mountain goat, a
small herd of elk, a precious
few mule deer and bears,
maybe too many bears.
On this hunt with Pine
Valley Outfi tters and guide
Lucas Simpson, of Halfway,
it took three days before we
found the bears, all together
in one canyon feeding on
the hawthorn berries.
We had four hours
maybe, for this last eff ort.
Out in the August sun now,
the temperature hovered in
the mid-80s.
Up onto the hog back
we climbed, saving our
strength, going slow, one
foot in front of another.
Hundreds of yards up the
rising plateau we stopped.
Sweating, we folded our
mountain-burned legs in
the shade of a grove of
trees. Here there was a
spring and some cooling in
the shade.
Shadows lengthened, yet
the sun was still full on the
rock faces of the mountain.
This is how it happens, I
reminded myself. Sit in one
good place. Let the ani-
mals move. Let them show
themselves.
There comes a moment
in days like this when the
animals have to move. A
time for water. And there
is no giving up. Hunt till
dark. Stay at it. Believe in
the process.
A bear. It was on a level
as high as the goat had
been the day before, and
it strolled a narrow ledge
like it was a sidewalk.
Black. Almost silver-black
against the granite cliff s,
its coat seemed to glint
in the afternoon light. It
turned and showed a white
patch on its chest. When
it reached the shoulder of
the ridge, it angled into a
stand of hawthorn and fed
through it and out into the
open again. It was on a
course straight for us, but
when it went out of sight, it
veered into a side canyon.
MORE INFORMATION
The fall black bear hunting
season opened Aug. 1 in
Oregon, and continues through
the end of 2021. The deadine to
buy a tag is Oct. 1.
Samuel Pyke/Contributed Photo
Back down to the creek after an “easy” morning hunt. So far the trophies included a shed mule deer antler
and one cow elk whistler. The hunt was drawing to a close with no bears sighted.
We had found where the
bears were. They were in
the hawthorn patches and it
did not matter that apples,
plums and seven other
kinds of berries were on the
bushes. The bears wanted
hawthorn berries. And here
were hawthorns. And fresh
piles of scat on every trail.
In the last 15 minutes
of light, a dark chocolate
brown shape material-
ized on the brush line and
then the bear stood up on
its back legs. Not the black
one I had seen earlier, a dif-
ferent bear. Watching its
Samuel Pyke/Contributed Photo
One last eff ort during a bear hunt.
back trail, it seemed to be
looking for our guide Lucas
Simpson in the canyon
below. How many other
bears were in there?
In the scope, I could see
the white hair on the bear’s
chest. Under my thumb,
the safety clicked through
into “fi re” and the cross-
hair found the white patch.
Finger on the trigger, three
pounds of squeeze, the
punch of the rifl e on my
shoulder.
Down in the creek
bottom at sunrise, we
found the bear where it had
cooled to 40 degrees, and
skinned it for a rug and
for the burger and steaks it
would provide.
At this time of year in
the Blues, in the Wallowas
and the Elkhorns, a hunter
should prospect for bears
in the high meadows and
old burns. Patches of haw-
thorn berries are a favorite
food source, but not the
only one. Where huckleber-
ries and blackberries grow
wild, a hunter can fi nd a
bear by watching trails that
lead from bedding areas to
feeding areas.
When the weather is
unseasonably hot, expect to
see bear earlier in the day
and again later in the eve-
ning. But a person should
commit to hunting the
whole of the day; bears
feed any time they feel like
it.
Berries are a food
source that can be counted
on year after year. Some
seasons are not as produc-
tive as others, but when the
berries are ripe, the bear
know it.
———
Gary Lewis is the author
of Bob Nosler Born Bal-
listic and Fishing Central
Oregon and other titles.
Gary’s podcast is called
Ballistic Chronicles. To
contact Gary, visit www.
garylewisoutdoors.com
Gary Lewis/Contributed Photo
Pine Valley Lodge in Halfway, about 53 miles east of Baker City.
