Outdoors
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
A7
S HOOTING THE B REEZE
Picking the right hunting scope
By Dale Valade
For the Blue Mountain Eagle
We live in a time where the mar-
ketplace for guns and related ac-
cessories is literally inundated with
good quality products. No, I have not
personally tested all of the various
brands and product lines, but from
what I’ve used and personally wit-
nessed, it’s hard to go wrong when
you open your wallet after doing
some homework.
Most of the readers here undoubt-
edly have favorite products for var-
ious reasons. My grandfather pre-
fers the old school fixed 4x Weaver
scopes. He bought one new in the
1960s, and it has been working just
fine on his favorite rifle ever since.
Don’t fix it if it isn’t broke.
I am and have always been pri-
marily a fan of the Leupold variable
power scopes. For the working man’s
dollar, I’m not sure you can ask for
more. Made here in Oregon, they car-
ry an unconditional lifetime guaran-
tee. And their product line is so vast
they carry something for everyone.
Most of my hunting and shooting
experience has been with this brand.
However, I have used Nightforce,
Swarovski, Schmidt
and Bender, Vortex,
Redfield,
Bushnell,
Tasco, Weaver, Sim-
mons and many oth-
ers as well. Big name
brand scopes are not
Dale
inexpensive, though,
Valade
and for someone on a
tight budget that can be
a buzzkill.
From here, there are two ways you
could go: save up and get the scope
you want, or get something a bit
lower grade that is still a serviceable
product. Even some of the more eco-
nomical scopes can and will take care
of most hunters’ needs.
Leupold isn’t the only one with a
lifetime guarantee. Other manufac-
turers have long ago jumped on that
boat. Vortex for example costs rough-
ly 60 percent of the price of a new
Leupold, and they seem to be com-
parable in quality in the basic models
I have owned, though they are not
made in the USA.
Several factors need to be consid-
ered besides price and brand name.
What application is it to be used for
primarily? If you hunt brushier ar-
eas, a fixed or low-power variable
Introducing the new column
Rod
Carpenter
Mark
LeQuieu
Shooting the Breeze is a new weekly outdoors column
from three local Grant County writers. Dale Valade, Rod
Carpenter and Marc LeQuieu are all avid sportsmen and
shooters. Their friendship and mutual passion for the out-
doors led to this exciting collaboration.
Their columns will focus mostly on hunting, shooting and
the outdoors, including archery, blackpowder, handguns,
handloading and fishing.
The main goal of their writing is not only to inform and
entertain existing shooters but to encourage and support
those who are interested in these sports. Mentoring inter-
ested parties not only ensures proper firearms training and
safety practices but lays the groundwork for securing a fu-
ture for hunters and shooters.
Be sure to catch up each week in print and online for the
latest and greatest in the outdoor world. Have feedback
for these writers? Send them an email at shootingthebree-
zebme@gmail.com.
range, such as 2-7, may be perfect. If
you hunt and shoot wide open areas
a higher range, such as 3-9 or 4-12,
may be necessary. Perhaps you’re
outfitting for a target rifle or 1,000
-yard long-range match; even great-
er magnification may be needed for
such a setup.
Reticle choice too is important.
For years, basic crosshairs or the du-
plex reticle seemed to fit most hunt-
ers’ needs. However, I increasingly
see more of the BDC (bullet drop
compensator) reticles in the field.
These are very nice for longer shots
if the shooter has taken the range
time to discover the calibration of
the holdover points. These take the
guesswork out of making those shots.
Some of these reticles are su-
per-engineered and can be confusing,
so make sure you know what you’re
getting into before buying. It goes
without saying that a good quality
range finder should be factored into
whichever setup you choose.
You can buy scopes with custom
reticles, illuminated reticles, dial tur-
rets, extended or intermediate eye re-
lief, adjustable objectives, first or sec-
ond focal plane and more. This is why
doing some research is so important.
Don’t let a crafty salesman pull the
wool over your eyes.
The scopes we can buy are as di-
verse as the various applications they
are used for. I tend to recommend
that simple is best, as there are few-
er things to go wrong. But again, an
honest self examination combined
with homework will be a better guide
in choosing the right scope for you!
A co-worker of mine nailed a coy-
ote at 845 yards last week with his
setup. Seems like he knows what he
has!
Have a favorite scope to brag on?
Write us and tell all about it at shoo-
tingthebreezebme@gmail.com.
Dale Valade is a local country
gent with a deep love for handload-
ing, hunting and shooting.
Oregon to make hunting regulations more simple
By Phil Wright
Learn more
EO Media Group
The Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife is making
big game regulations simpler
for the 2019 hunting season.
Nick
Myatt,
ODFW
Grande Ronde watershed
manager based in La Grande,
is leading the team tasked with
trimming them down.
Simplifying the regulations
is complicated, Myatt said,
and “a pretty heavy lift for us.
And the problem wasn’t cre-
ated overnight. It was many
decades in the making.”
The team split work into
three phases. The first was to
focus on making the hand-
book more reader-friendly,
For a full list of the new
proposals, go to
www.dfw.state.or.us/re-
sources/hunting/big_game/
Contributed photo/Corum Delyria
Corum Delyria of Enterprise shows the bear he killed on
a hunt in Oregon a few years ago.
from improving the organiza-
tion to getting rid of redundan-
cies and reducing legalese.
In this year’s handbook,
Myatt said the team collected
everything related to youth
hunting and collected them in
a two-page section.
The team also added more
maps and tables to present in-
formation.
The second phase is hap-
pening now — reviewing the
general hunting regs, weapon
restrictions and youth pro-
grams. The team came up
with 32 proposals, and Myatt
in Baker City briefed the state
Fish and Wildlife Commis-
sion about those. Some of the
major change are:
• Standardize the minimum
draw weight for bows at 40
pounds for all big game mam-
mals.
• Eliminate the prohibition
against decoys with moving
parts when big game hunting.
• Simplify requirements for
legal muzzleloaders and make
it clear sabots or saboted bul-
lets are unlawful.
Two other proposals would
require legislative approval.
The first would limit leftover
tag purchases to people who
previously applied for a tag
but did not draw. This would
allow more people an oppor-
tunity to hunt each year.
The second would stream-
line limits on non-resident
tags, capping those at 5 per-
cent of all deer, elk, prong-
horn, and bear controlled hunt
tags.
The team reworded sever-
al regulations, including pro-
hibiting rifle hunting without
a valid deer or elk tag during
certain periods and the proof
of sex requirements. The
team also culled regulations
it deemed unnecessary or re-
dundant.
For a full list of the pro-
posals, visit https://bit.ly/2sp-
D7KJ.
The commission consid-
ers the final proposals when
it meets Sept. 14 in Bandon
(except for legislative con-
cepts, which would go before
state lawmakers in the 2019
legislative session). Myatt
said hunters and the rest of the
public can come to testify or
send comments to odfw.com-
mission@state.or.us.
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