PAGE LABEL
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, July 31, 2019
A9
WEDNESDAY
July 31, 2019
SHOOTING
THE BREEZE
The .25-06
Remington
T
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
John Day swimmer Sierra May high-fives a Lakeview opponent at the East Cascade District Finals on Saturday.
John Day Sea Dragons host
East Cascade District Finals
May earns team-high
25 points
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Swimmers in the Cascade
East District enjoyed the season
finale district championships as
they flocked to Gleason Pool Fri-
day-Sunday, July 26-28, in John
Day.
A total of 182 swimmers from
four teams competed.
Prineville’s team won with 885
points and 76 swimmers on their
roster.
Lakeview was second with 641
and 55 swimmers, John Day third
with 365 points and 37 swimmers
and Hi-Desert (Burns) fourth with
243 points and 25 swimmers.
Sierra May, 11, was the high-
point swimmer for the John Day Sea
Dragons, contributing 25 points.
May said she set personal
records last year.
“I have to try even harder this
year to set records,” she said at the
meet.
Quinn Larson, 14, was the high-
point swimmer for John Day’s
boys team with 19 points.
Larson and Brady Wyllie, 14,
said the sport is fun and they like
being with friends at the meets.
The two compete in several
sports, including basketball and
baseball together, plus Larson
plays football.
Wyllie said he’s also on the
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
John Day swimmer Morgan Walker, center, competes with teammate
Olive Thunell, right, and a Lakeview opponent at the East Cascade District
Championship Swim Meet.
middle school cross country team.
“This is an all-in-one sport,” he
said. “It works out every muscle in
your body.”
“This is my all-time favorite,
right here,” Larson said.
John Day swimmer Russell
Hodge, as he was getting ready to
compete in the 100-yard freestyle
event, said everyone was compet-
ing well and swimming hard.
“My goal is to make it to finals
for each race. You have to be in the
top five, and there’s one race for
each event,” he said.
John Day head coach Sabrina
Howard said a highlight from the
championships was seeing Russell
and his brother Justin race each
other in the finals.
“It definitely gave a thrill for all
the spectators, cheering to see who
will touch the wall first,” she said.
“I’m tickled at how our team
performed in our district champi-
onship, for the size of our team,”
she said. “They worked super hard
and are very deserving of third
place — we should be very proud
of that.”
Howard said the growth from
the John Day Invitational Swim
Meet, held the previous weekend,
to the district championship was
amazing.
“Some swimmers even shaved
up to 17 seconds off their time,”
she said.
The sad part, she said, is that
some of the swimmers are at the
peak of their season, and they have
to close the chapter.
“I’m hopeful that we have
returning swimmers for next year,
along with having inspired other
kids in our community to want to
join our swim team family,” she
said.
Howard said it takes many peo-
ple to run the meet, including par-
ents who help “in every aspect”
including recording times, serving
as deck officers and helping with
food.
“It’s amazing,” she said.
She said Shanna Hunt helps
keep track of medals, Julie Lar-
son is the meet director and Chan-
tal DesJardin adds stats into the
computer.
Howard said that Gleason Pool
is a big part of the Cascade East.
“With the jeopardy of losing our
pool, it will affect a larger spec-
trum of athletes across the state,”
she said, adding the revenue that
comes from the local meets makes
a “big economic impact on the
community.”
She said at the meets visitors
hear about places to explore in the
area, and they talk about returning
to Grant County.
She said what the pool provides
to families, promotes the growth
of the town.
“You want to be able to offer
these things,” she said.
An awards banquet for the team
and family and friends will be
held at the John Day city park at
5:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 31.
Golfers ‘lend a hand’ at a health care foundation scramble
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Dozens of players soaked up
the sun at the 13th annual Blue
Mountain Healthcare Foundation
Golf Scramble Saturday at the
John Day Golf Course.
It was a cool 70-degree day to
start, and the Roof Creek Gutter-
ing team, with Scott Myers, Colt
Carpenter and Clay and Bree
Waley, was enjoying the event.
Myers, who is the Grant County
Court judge, said he and Carpenter
have been competing in the event
for 13 years — since the scramble
had its start.
“It’s always really fun, and
always perfect weather,” Myers
said.
There were a total of 65 golfers
taking part.
“We had an excellent turn-
out, and it looked like everyone
enjoyed the day,” said Chris Cro-
nin. “We appreciate all the sup-
port for health care services here
in Grant County.”
“All money raised this year
will be put into our Helping Hand
Fund,” said Jena Knowles, who
is the foundation and public rela-
tions director.
She said the foundation board
will meet in August to determine
how the funds will be spent this
fiscal year within the hospital
district.
In gross results, first place,
with a score of 57, went to the
Labhart/Avera team, includ-
Bree and Clay Waley were enjoying
Saturday’s scramble at the John
Day Golf Club in support of
the Blue Mountain Healthcare
Foundation.
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Scott Myers takes a swing during the Blue Mountain Healthcare
Foundation Golf Scramble Saturday at the John Day Golf Club.
ing
Brent
Labhart,
Lacy
Avera, John Avera and Anna
Avera.
There was a two-way tie for
second and third with a gross
score of 61, Southworth Broth-
ers Ranch No. 2 team with Brad
Smith, Billy Colson, Jay Kenyon
and Matt Wenick and the Bank
of Eastern Oregon team, includ-
ing Bob Quinton, Sawyer Quin-
ton, Nicole Propheter and Gary
Propheter.
Winning first place net with a
score of 51 was Chester’s Team
No. 2, including Dan Gorley, Tim
Dentler, Alex Bremner and Chip
Grove.
In a second and third three-
SCRAMBLE RESULTS:
KP Women: Lacy Avera, 14 feet, 2
inches
KP Men: Greg Jennings, 10 feet, 4
inches
Longest Drive Women: Nicole
Propheter
Longest Drive Men: Jesse McMa-
nus
way tie, with net score 53, was
the NW Quadrant team, includ-
ing Gary Miller, Virgina Miller,
Troy Reinhart and Forrest Rine-
hart and the St. Charles team
with Jeremy Buller, Tracy Bloo,
Thad Labhart drives the ball at
the start of the Blue Mountain
Healthcare
Foundation
Golf
Scramble.
Erin Olson and Bryce Camp-
bell and the Southworth Broth-
ers Ranch No. 1 team with
members Lucas Moore, Trevor
Wilder, Micah Wilson and Shane
Koppel.
he “quarterbore” does
not enjoy the popular-
ity it deserves these
days. The various .24 calibers
on one side and the shiny new
6.5s on the other seem to cast
a giant shadow on the once
popular 25s. But if someone
does own a .25-caliber rifle,
chances are good that it’s a
.25-06 Remington. Legiti-
mized in 1969, this laser beam
of a cartridge has been around
in wildcat form since the
1920s. With-
out exception,
it may be the
best deer, ante-
lope and sheep
cartridge ever
conceived.
My intro-
duction to
Dale Valade
the round goes back to high
school. When my grandfather
passed away, I inherited his
.25-06. A barely used Rem-
ington Model 700 ADL with
an inexpensive 3-9x32 scope,
it quickly became a favor-
ite. To me it made perfect
sense. I had a light-recoiling
rifle pitching 120-grain bul-
lets faster and flatter than the
various 6mm cartridges could
huck 100-grain bullets. I am
not sure why I thought that 20
grains made much difference at
that age, but I digress.
A favorite deer rifle, I’ve
also taken a couple of boat
loads of coyotes with it. I’m
still waiting to draw a prong-
horn antelope or bighorn sheep
tag, though. Having used it
to take two elk, I’ve come
to believe that there are bet-
ter choices for an elk rifle. It’s
adequate for elk in the same
way the .22-250 is adequate for
deer, though neither are ideal
for such employ, respectively.
In those days I didn’t do
much handloading, but since
the 120-grain Corelokts came
at a then-precious $12.95 a
box, within a year or so I pur-
chased dies. While I think I’ve
tried almost everything under
the sun in .25 caliber, like I
do in every other caliber, I’ve
come to rely on a couple of
“go-to” bullets for everything.
In factory loads, I espouse
the aforementioned 120-grain
Remingtons or the Federal Pre-
mium 117-grain Sierras, while
in handloads I’ve come to pre-
fer the Nosler 115-grain ballis-
tic tip. Dubbed “blue cyclone”
by a friend of mine, they are
absolute dynamite on every-
thing I’ve used them on. I’ve
used the lighter 80- to 100-
grain bullets as well but find
they don’t hold up as well at
higher velocities on deer as
the 115- to 120-grainers; while
some use their .25-06 as a var-
mint rifle, mine is used for deer
et cetera. The blue cyclones
shoot flat and hit hard, what
more can you ask for?
Since those days I’ve made
a few improvements to my .25-
06. Namely I acquired a BDL
stock and had Marc LeQuieu
glassbed it for me. One of the
older ones with the fleur-de-lis
pressed checkering that used
to come standard. A trigger job
and a Nikon 4.5-14x Buck-
master scope set in a Leupold
mount and rings have been
welcome recent accoutrements.
My favorite handload featur-
ing that 115-grain Nosler and
Retumbo powder will regu-
larly shoot three-quarter inch
five-shot groups at 100 yards
if I hold my mouth the right
way. If you’re in the market
for a reliable, accurate, low-re-
coil deer rifle, give the .25-06
Remington an honest chance.
It compares quite favorably
to anything out there includ-
ing the seemingly anointed 6.5
Creedmoor. Compare the bal-
listics before you drink the
Kool-Aid. It may surprise you
how similar they are for hunt-
ing applications.
Are you a fan of the .25-
06? Write to us at shootingth-
ebreezebme@gmail.com!
Dale Valade is a local coun-
try gent with a deep love for
handloading, hunting and
shooting.