A10
NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Beds
that have gone out on deliveries with
us,” she said. “It is also heartwarming
Continued from Page A1
to know you have helped a family in
need, no matter what their situation is.
McDaniel branded one of the 20 We are here for the kids, and it’s our
beds with the Sleep in Heavenly Peace pleasure to be able to serve them.”
logo.
One mother said she would like to
Brown said no special skills are pay it forward in the future, Susie said,
needed to help build bunk beds.
and another couple expressed interest
“Just the desire to help families and in volunteering for the cause.
get kids off the fl oor or into a bed of
The nationwide nonprofi t, started
their own,” she said.
by Luke Mickelson, has grown from
She and her hus-
nine chapters before
band Mark started the
Mike Rowe’s TV show
Eastern Oregon chap-
to over 131 chapters in
ter last summer after
36 states.
seeing Mike Rowe
There are fi ve chap-
highlight the Twin
ters in Oregon, and
Falls, Idaho, organi-
Grant County has the
zation on his TV pro-
only chapter in Eastern
gram “Returning the
Oregon.
Favor.”
The nonprofi t relies
The
Browns’
Contributed photo on monetary donations
daughter
Nato- Nancy Buhler of Twin to purchase lumber, hard-
sha McLeod, also of Falls, Idaho, helps Natosha ware, equipment, tools,
John Day, jumped in McLeod of John Day as they mattresses and bedding.
as well, and all were stain the bed frame pieces.
Donations of new
trained in running the
bedding, such as com-
nonprofi t and building the beds.
forters, quilts and pillows are wel-
Their inaugural build day was in come, but the nonprofi t cannot accept
Dayville with six bunk beds, made in used items. Also, they have to build the
honor of the late Jake Streeter.
beds according to specifi c plans that
Susie said, while she and her hus- have been approved and are insured.
band do a lot in the background, it’s
Each bunk bed costs $350.
not just them working at it.
Susie said they can hold corpo-
“It’s a community project,” she rate builds with a business sponsoring
said.
a number of beds and hosting a build
With other helpers, they’ve given day with employees.
away 12 beds, so far, and 14 more will
“What a great service project and
be delivered to John Day, Mt. Vernon, team-building activity,” she said, add-
Prairie City, Burns, Vale and Morrow ing individuals can also sponsor the
County by Christmas Day.
building of a bed.
Susie said being involved in the
She said a friend of hers is involved
nonprofi t has been rewarding.
with starting a chapter in Jackson
“We are all volunteers,” she said. County. Susie is also in contact with
“We have full-time jobs, so we do a person who may start a chapter for
Sleep in Heavenly Peace things in the northeast Oregon (Union, Wallowa,
evening and on the weekends — it’s Morrow and Umatilla counties).
basically our part-time volunteer job.”
“I’m recruiting,” she said. “If there
She said families who have received is a kid in need, I’m going to do my
the beds for their children have been best to try to help them.”
grateful, adding one young boy from
For more information or to volun-
Burns made sure to thank each one of teer or make a donation, email susie.
the volunteers as they left.
brown@shpbeds.org. The main web-
“There have been tears and a lot of site, where bed requests can be made,
smiles from the parents and the kids is shpbeds.org and their Facebook
as well as from us and the volunteers page is shpjohnday.
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Hunt
Continued from Page A1
California and desert. Some
hunting organizations only
recognize four subspecies, so
a hunter only needs to bag four
to qualify for the grand slam.
It’s considered the most chal-
lenging grand slam for hunting.
Kight bagged a Dall sheep
in Alaska and a stone sheep in
British Columbia. He doesn’t
expect to bag a desert sheep,
which are found in Mexico, Ari-
zona, New Mexico and Utah,
because of the limited lottery
chances, so he may never com-
plete the grand slam recognized
by the Wild Sheep Foundation.
Kight knew from his expe-
rience transplanting sheep
around Oregon there were an
abundant number of California
sheep in Oregon. The current
state record holder shot a Cali-
fornia sheep in the Catlow Rim
district near the Steen Moun-
tains south of Grant County in
1997.
But getting a tag for a sheep
in Oregon is not easy. Kight
applied for a tag every year for
48 years. Unlike other hunts in
Oregon, there are no preference
points awarded to hunters who
don’t get a tag, so the years
piled on.
Finally Kight got his tag. It
was for the third hunting sea-
son on the east side of the John
Day River canyon. The dis-
trict extends from Spray north
to McDonald Ferry. Kight esti-
mated 600 sheep live in the can-
yon, and each season allowed
three animals to be harvested.
River canyon
Much of the district is
Bureau of Land Management
land, but Kight had permission
to hunt on some private prop-
erty, where he also camped.
The 56,763-acre Stubblefi eld
fi re had burned in the area in
August, so that limited some
of the hunting area and raised
the possibility sheep might
move out of their normal hab-
itat, Kight said.
The third hunting season
kicked off on Nov. 10, but
Kight wanted to begin scouting
weeks in advance. Low stream-
fl ow prevented him from raft-
ing the river until late Octo-
ber. He was joined by his wife,
Kathy, on the fl oat from Thirty-
mile Creek to the Cottonwood
Bridge.
He spotted the ram he
wanted 10 days ahead of the
hunt. Not only did it have a
large set of horns, but the ram
stood out because its horns
were chipped from fi ghting
other rams. He nicknamed the
ram Chiphorn.
Kight tracked the ram for the
next 10 days, occasionally los-
ing sight of the sheep and then
fi nding him again on the talus
slopes dotted with boulders
in a side canyon. He said he
never saw any other hunters.
His hunting crew showed
up the night before the hunt.
They included his longtime
hunting friend Carl Stout,
Kight’s stepbrother Chris Grif-
fi n, Griffi n’s son David Grif-
fi n, David’s fi ancee Nicole Sit-
ton and David’s friend Jimmy
Hurley. Their job was to help
with the scouting and packing
out the animal after the kill,
but Kight had already done the
necessary scouting.
The hunt
Opening day for the season
began with a hiccup — Chiph-
orn couldn’t be found. Then
Kight located a group of sheep
about 800 yards away and saw
Chiphorn join them. Kight,
David and Nicole moved
within 600 yards of the group.
They changed positions sev-
eral times and then crawled
to within about 320 yards to
take the shot. All told, several
hours passed between spotting
Chiphorn and the kill, includ-
ing half an hour of crawling,
Kight said.
Kight used a custom-made
7 mm magnum rifl e made by
Benchmark Barrels of Arling-
ton and Oregonsmithing of
Pendleton with a Leupold
VX-6 scope. The 162-grain
Hornady ELD-X bullets were
handloaded by Stout, Kight
said. The setup provided a fl at
trajectory at 3,000 feet per
second.
Kight said he’s mostly a
bowhunter these days, so he
doesn’t see as much time at the
target range as he used to, but
all those years of hunting paid
off. It was afternoon when he
made the kill and dark when he
hauled the 55-pound head and
cape back to camp.
The hunting crew scored
the ram at their camp, and
Kight knew it was “knock-
ing on the door for a new
state record.” Later at home in
John Day, a local Boone and
Crockett representative and an
ODFW offi cial scored the ram
at 185 2/8 with 40-inch curl
horns. That’s a green score and
is still pending — the horns
must go through a 60-day dry-
ing period, Kight said.
Scoring by the Boone and
Crockett Club includes tip to
tip spread, length of horn, cir-
cumference at the base and cir-
cumference of the horns. Age
can be determined by count-
ing rings on the horns, start-
ing from the tip. ODFW per-
sonnel estimated the ram’s
age at 11 1/2 to 12 years
old.
Kight said he plans to have
the head and cape put on a ped-
estal mount by Merle Rempel
in Vale, the same taxidermist
who is remounting an ante-
lope he shot in 1999. That was
a No. 2 record holder, he said.
We wish you a
Merry Christmas!
and a happy New Year,
from all of us at
60643 US 26, John Day
541-575-2102
Mission Statement:
CENTRAL
OREGON
MOBILE VET
CENTER
WHEN/WHERE
To welcome home and
honor those who served,
those still serving, and
their families by reaching
out to them, engaging
their communities, and
providing them with quali-
ty readjustment counsel-
ing and timely referral.
READJUSTMENT
COUNSELING
Civilians...they just don’t
get it!
Come down and let’s
talk...Veteran to Veteran.
John Day-Elks Lodge-
December 19th
BENEFITS
Find out about what is
available that you may
have earned.
WHO ARE WE?
CENTRAL OREGON VET CENTER
1645 NE FORBES RD, SUITE 105
BEND, OR 97702
541-749-2112
WWW.VETCENTER.VA.GOV
For more information contact
Grant County Veterans 541 620-8057
61008
80939