WEDNESDAY
November 7, 2018
Contributed photo
Emma Valade shot this doe
in 2018.
S HOOTING
THE B REEZE
Double
slam
doe hunt
By Dale Valade
For the Blue Mountain Eagle
For the meat hunting purist,
antlerless big game tags pro-
vide a means to
get your win-
ter provender
without having
to be as par-
ticular in your
search efforts.
Ideally, no one
with such a tag
Dale
should blast
Valade
the first antler-
less deer that
they see. Consideration must
be given to age, size and, most
vitally, whether or not she has
a fawn. To fail to do so is im-
moral and frankly defeats the
purpose of these hunts.
To maintain a proper buck
to doe ratio, ODFW issues doe
tags annually, providing hunt-
ers additional chances to fill
the larder. In my opinion these
hunts are perfect for rookies
and veterans alike. There are
lots of opportunities, and suc-
cess is as close to guaranteed
as it gets while still providing
the challenge of the hunt.
Emma and I were out bust-
ing the brush again this year
on opening day. Having filled
my damage control elk tag and
buck tag, this was my last ef-
fort for the year. Since it was
the only tag my wife drew,
I wanted her to take the first
shot. She brought along her
trusty .243. I decided to take a
Savage 99 in .308 that my fa-
ther gave to me 20 years ago.
Having never used it to take a
deer, it was past due.
We spotted several deer
right off, but they were farther
away than Emma felt comfort-
able shooting. So we made a
stalk to try to get in closer. We
moved extra slow due to the
steep, open country providing
very little cover. But while
crossing an open hillside, the
wind hit us in the six, and the
deer busted us. It was a bit dis-
appointing after the hike we
put in trying to close the gap,
but that’s hunting. Later that
afternoon, we happened into a
little band of does and fawns.
After we watched them for
a short spell, Emma took aim
and dropped her doe with a
single shot. Contrary to nor-
mal, the rest of the deer didn’t
run off but rather stuck around,
curious. I picked one out and
let fly, hitting her behind the
shoulder. Two does down in
just a matter of seconds!
And just like that, we had
venison! After taking pictures,
we field dressed the two deer.
Thankfully, it wasn’t very far
back to the truck — that’s al-
ways a blessing. And I finally
got to take a deer with Dad’s
legendary old .308. What a
wonderful day!
Although the antlerless
deer tags aren’t as easy of a
draw, I encourage you to keep
putting in. It’s a great hunt
with a delicious pot of veni-
son-flavored gold at the end of
the rainbow!
Got any good hunting sto-
ries to tell? Email us at shoo-
tingthebreezebme@gmail.
com!
Dale Valade is a local
country gent with a deep love
for handloading, hunting and
shooting.
Contributed photo/Brandi Girvin
The Grant Union Prospector volleyball team earned second place at the OSAA 2A State Volleyball Championships in Redmond. Front row, from
left: Kaylee Wright, Yui Asami and McKeely Miller; back, Alcie Moore, head coach Ali Abrego, Sydney Brockway, Trinity Hutchison, Hailie Wright,
Kori Jo Girvin, Aidan Broemeling, Kaytlyn Wells, Taylor Allen, Baylee Combs and assistant coach Erin Beil.
Grant Union finishes volleyball season second in state
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
T
he Grant Union Pros-
pector
volleyball
team finished their
season in second
place at Saturday’s OSAA
2A State Championship title
game, falling in a tight 3-2
battle against the Portland
Christian Royals.
Grant Union’s uphill
climb at the tournament, held
at Ridgeview High School in
Redmond, included victories
over the Coquille Red Devils
and the Central Linn Cobras.
“Opening with Coquille
was a good indicator of how
intense the tournament was
going to be for us,” said
Grant Union head coach Ali
Abrego. “When you get to
Redmond, every team is of
state champion caliber.”
She believed Coquille
should have been ranked
higher, but her team gave a
solid performance Friday,
sweeping with scores of 27-
25, 25-21 and 27-25.
The pressure increased as
the Prospectors faced Cen-
tral Linn Friday night in the
semifinal round, Grant Union
winning 22-25, 25-14, 25-14
and 25-19.
“Going into that game, I
really tried to keep my girls
focused on the end goal,
which was to play Saturday
night,” Abrego said. “These
girls worked incredibly
hard to eliminate our own
Eagle file photo
Grant Union Prospector Kaylee Wright blasts the ball past a Union blocker.
Sydney Brockway
Hailie Wright
Kaylee Wright
mistakes and make it to the
championship match on Sat-
urday night.”
Portland Christian entered
the tournament as the No. 4
team and beat No. 1 Kennedy
3-2 on their way to the cham-
pionship game.
The Royals defeated
Grant Union 28-26, 23-25,
25-11, 24-26 and 15-13.
With Prospector Hailie
Wright up to serve in the final
set, Grant Union earned their
first 3 points off kills from
Brockway, Hutchison and
Brockway again.
The teams kept within a
3-point margin of each other
the rest of the way.
After tying the score 8-8,
Portland Christian took a
slim lead. Grant Union, down
12-9, started a comeback.
With Prospector Aidan
Broemeling serving, Hailie
Wright made two consecu-
tive kills from Alcie Moore
to tie the score 12-12.
The Royals got the
ball back, and Brockway
slammed a kill to make it 13-
13.
Portland Christian’s Sim-
one Gordon made the final
two kills to secure the win.
Gordon, 6-foot-2, was a force
for the Royals with 29 kills,
one ace and four blocks in the
five sets.
Prospector Kaylee Wright
led Grant Union in the match
with 13 kills and two aces,
followed by Hailie Wright
with 12 kills and one ace.
Sydney Brockway had nine
kills, four aces and one block,
and Trinity Hutchison had
eight kills and two blocks.
“We played our hearts
out,” said Kaylee Wright.
“We knew it was going to
be a tough game,” she said.
“We had to work for those last
points, and we were working
hard all year for those last
points. There is nothing we
shouldn’t be proud of.”
See VB, Page B3
Grant Union falls to No. 1 Monroe at state football playoff
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Grant Union Pros-
pectors battled No. 1-ranked
Monroe in the OSAA first
round state playoffs Saturday,
Grant Union falling 49-0 on
the Dragons’ turf.
Grant Union, No. 16, end-
ed their season with a 5-5
overall record, finishing sec-
ond in the 2A Special District
6 with a 3-1 record.
Grant Union head coach
Jason Miller said a pivotal
moment in their season came
when they defeated the Uma-
tilla Vikings 30-20 on Sept. 21
in John Day.
“We were able to hit some
key passes offensively and
make some big stops on de-
fense against a talented team,”
Miller said. “I think that game
was a big confidence boost.”
The Prospectors hosted
Monroe early in the season on
Sept. 9, Grant Union taking a
20-8 loss.
In Saturday’s game,
the Dragons showed their
strength. Miller said his boys
fought hard but were out-
matched by a bigger, faster,
stronger and more experi-
enced team.
File photo
Grant Union’s Quinton
Hallgarth and Peyton
Neault (66) wrap up
Heppner quarterback
Jayden Wilson in the
Mustangs’ 47-17 win
against the Prospectors
this season in Heppner.
File photo
Grant Union’s Justin Hodge looks for a break in the Heppner line while rushing the
ball this season.
Besides the size differ-
ence, Monroe’s team, led by
Bill Crowson, included seven
seniors to Grant Union’s two.
The score was 28-0 at the
half.
“We were able to string a
couple of drives together that
ended near the 20 but could
not punch it in,” Miller said.
He said his younger play-
ers gained experience and im-
proved their football knowl-
edge and fundamentals over
the season.
If all the Prospector juniors
return, Grant Union will have
six seniors next season.
Running backs Russell
Hodge and Taylor Hunt and
lineman Drew Lusco plan to
return for their senior year of
football.
Hodge said the team is
proud they made it further
than many thought they
would.
“I think we’ll be a lot better
next season,” he said. “We’re
not going to be as young.”
Hunt said the team played
hard in Saturday’s game.
He said next year they’ll
have greater numbers, with
potentially eight freshmen.
“We’re going to be a lot
more experienced,” he said.
“I’m pretty excited for what’s
going to happen.”
Lusco said the team now
needs to prepare.
“We have to focus on next
year — work in the off sea-
son with weights and other
sports,” he said. “We had a
great year with a great group
of guys.”
Miller hopes this season
will be one they can build off
of to make another run into
the playoffs.
“I am extremely proud of
the progress and success of
this team,” he said. “All of
these young men should be
proud of their season.”