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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 2019)
PAGE LABEL MyEagleNews.com Wednesday, August 21, 2019 A13 WEDNESDAY August 21, 2019 Bullfighting draws standing-room only crowd By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle Six freestyle bullfighters took on Hamsher Fighting Bulls Satur- day in John Day, thrilling a stand- ing-room only crowd at the fourth annual freestyle bullfights during the Grant County Fair. A small delay at the start came when the first bull in the chute crashed around, breaking the gate, but that was just an indicator of how raucous the show would be from that point. None of the six had an ambu- lance ride, but one bullfighter, Jerry Jacobs of Buckeye, Arizona, took a stomping from his “oppo- nent.” He stayed in the ring and fought the good fight for 82.5 points. He was topped by champion Coy Kraut of Queen Creek, Ari- zona, who won the $1,500 prize with 84 points against a bull named Leap Frog. The remainder of the $3,000 payout was broken down for the other competitors. Kraut was in the ring at the Grant County Fairgrounds a cou- ple years ago at age 15 for an exhi- bition round. Tyler Lingbeck of Salinas, Cal- ifornia, who was last year’s cham- pion and is currently in the top 40 in the world standings, scored 80.5. Organizer Trever Hamsher said his bulls will have traveled to about a dozen freestyle fights by the end of the year in Oregon, Canada, Washington, Nevada, Idaho, Utah and California. Hamsher said he’s grateful to all Healthy habits A The 2020 Grant County Fair and Rodeo court was announced Saturday night. From left, 2020 Queen Kelsei Kiser of Fox Valley, 2020 Princess Katie Barker of Dayville and 2019 Queen Courtney Nichols of Dayville. Contributed photo/LindseyWyllie.com Bullfighter Jesse Tennent of Springfield finds himself in a compromising situation with his ‘opponent.’ Coy Kraut, 17, of Queen Creek, Arizona, takes the bull by the horns for the win Saturday night. ney Nichols handing out flowers. The new queen is Kelsei Kiser of Fox Valley and Katie Barker of Dayville will reign as princess. Barrelman and entertainer Clint “Wolfy” Selvester kept the audi- ence engaged as he bantered with announcer Marty Campbell. At one point, when the crowd wasn’t quite noisy enough, Camp- bell joked that they might turn the bulls loose in their backyard if they didn’t fire up — the audience obliged. Other bullfighters in the ring included Clay Moore of Belen, New Mexico, 78; Jesse Tennent, Springfield, 76; and Cody Esc- obedo, Gilbert, Arizona, 72. Tennent came back for an encore exhibition round to close the night. Contributed photo/LindseyWyllie.com the volunteers behind the scenes who make the event possible. “I feel extremely blessed that we had the turnout that we did and that people support the bull fights at the fair,” he said. At the halfway point of the night, fair court adviser Deanna Maley announced the 2020 Grant County Fair and Rodeo queen and princess with 2019 Queen Court- Junior Rodeo has a record 107 contestants Volunteers make a difference at traditional Grant County Fair event By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle This year’s Grant County Junior Rodeo was well attended Aug. 11 at the Grant County Fairgrounds in John Day. Organizer Shilo Bur- ton-Harper said 107 contestants entered, “a record for this little junior rodeo” that’s part of the Grant County Fair. Burton-Harper and co-orga- nizer Brittany Desadier hosted the event with the assistance of over 25 volunteers. “This is one of the few sin- gle-day junior rodeos still being put on in Oregon,” Bur- ton-Harper said. Chad Finley, who won the calf roping event at the Aug. 9-10 Grant County NPRA Rodeo, was out in the arena as a volun- teer at the Junior Rodeo. “I have nephews and my cousins’ kids involved,” he said. “I like to help out and get young kids involved in rodeo.” He was in the arena assist- ing when 6-year-old Bransyn Harper charged out of the gate in the mutton bustin’ event, staying on for several sec- onds, though he was not offi- cially competing with that age group. “I couldn’t keep up on foot,” Finley said. Burton-Harper said she appreciated all who helped with the event. “This would not have been possible without sponsors and supporters of America’s rodeo youth,” she said. Volunteers included: announcer Jake Taylor, Brit- tany Doherty, Emma Winkel- man, Andrea and Jeff Finley, Christy Finley, Chad and Whit- ney Finley, Monte Legg, Trever McCoin, Jim Hamsher, Trever and Marley Hamsher, Trever Faulkner, Daryl Burton, Jim and Carrie Merek, Jordan Desadier, Meghan Tremblay, Colleen Wyl- lie, Tonya and Jason Rosebrook, Tara Finley, Nicole Israel, Kyla Emerson, Denali Twehues and more. SHOOTING THE BREEZE Contributed photo/Carrie Merek Clay Merek of White Bird, Idaho, has his rope tightened during the steer riding event Aug. 11 at the Junior Rodeo at the Grant County Fairgrounds in John Day. Merek won the event for his division. ALL-AROUND WINNERS Dummy roping Peewee: Kingslee Green Youth: Paysen Green Junior: Gabby Bartolotta Senior: Talyn Sandifer First: Kingslee Green Second: Jace Davis Third: Blake Kimball PEEWEE DIVISION Mutton bustin’ First: Raynes Russell Second: Madison Rockhill Third: Kingslee Green Barrel racing First: Rhilynn Compton Second: Jace Davis Third: Millie McCoin Pole bending First: Kingslee Green Second: Cole Holly Third: Kane Robison Goat tail untying First: Kingslee Green Second: Raynes Russell Third: Jace Davis YOUTH DIVISION Calf riding First: Tatyn Harper Second: Paysen Green Third: Emmett Oliver Barrel racing First: Cooper Holly Second: Paysen Green Third: Tavin Desadier Pole bending First: Lainee Winebarger Second: Paysen Green Third: Cooper Holly Goat tail tying First: Jadon Snow Second: Cooper Holly Second: Paysen Green Dummy roping First: Tate Turner Frankie Beam of Prairie City, left, and Clay Merek of White Bird, Idaho, show off their steer riding awards. Beam took second place, and Merek took first in the senior division at the Aug. 11 Junior Rodeo in John Day. Contributed photo Carrie Merek Second: AJ Freese Third: Tatyn Harper SENIOR DIVISION Steer riding JUNIOR DIVISION Steer riding First: Clay Merek Second: Frankie Beam Third: Coy Schaffield First: Steven Davidson Second: Kase Schaffield Third: Gavin Foglio Chute doggin’ First: Kase Schaffield Second: Coy Mathiasen Third: Earl Oliver Breakaway First: Earl Oliver Second: Zoey Beam Barrel racing First: Carlie Palmer Second: Corley Holliday Third: Gabby Bartolotta Pole bending First: Gabby Bartolotta Second: Bailey McCracken Third: Zoey Beam Chute doggin’ First: Garrett Foglio Second: Cody Eskew Third: Coy Schaffield Breakaway First: Talyn Sandifer Second: Brooke Blevins Barrel racing First: Talyn Sandifer Second: Sarah Clark Third: Laramie Kizer Pole bending First: Sarah Clark Second: Talyn Sandifer Third: Brook Blevins Goat tying First: Brook Blevins Second: Macey Moore Third: Clay Merek Kingslee Green of Madras won All Around Contestant in the PeeWee division for ages 5 and under at the Junior Rodeo. Contributed photo Brittany Desadier nyone I’ve ever talked to about hunting has a story or two where they’ve expe- rienced some- thing which could be described as a sterling example of “what not to do.” Whether Dale Valade greenhorn mis- takes or veteran omissions, anyone can have accidents. I bang the drum of safety quite often, but I feel it continually deserves merit. I know, I know, these “pep talks” and statistics could bore the socks off of sev- eral dozen hot wings waitresses, but it’s when we get lax that accidents happen. I, for one, cringe when I see streaming videos of cheecha- kos indulging in complete idi- ocy with firearms. Reckless- ness, immaturity and ignorance fuel these beer-guzzling imps and their fatuity. As an aside, alcohol and guns have no place together. Not only does it give responsible shooters a bad name, it’s exceedingly dan- gerous. I think shooting is and should be fun, but safety can never be compromised. We are constantly representing shoot- ers everywhere with our actions and must never fail to cast a positive light on the shooting and hunting community. Each year, approximately 1,000 people in the U.S. and Canada are involved in hunt- ing-related accidents. Around 10% result in fatalities. Recent estimates claim there are almost 6,000 hunting accidents involv- ing tree stands nationally. In Indiana alone, 55% of hunting accidents involve folks falling out of tree stands. According to the Loder-Far- ren report of 2014, there are approximately 123,000 firearms accidents in the U.S. annu- ally, though only 144 resulted in fatalities that year. It’s not clear how many of those were hunting related. In Oregon, between 2008-2017, accord- ing to ODFW stats, there were 41 hunting accidents, 10 of which resulted in fatalities. Some of these were self-in- flicted, some were due to mis- taken or no identification of tar- get but all could be attributed to negligence. Safety, you make it happen. Many states require blaze orange apparel to hunt on pub- lic land. Oregon only requires it for youth under the age of 18. Though it’s not required by law, I highly recommend wearing it. It’s pretty cheap insurance and tough to be mistaken for a game animal when wearing it. Blaze orange is no sure thing and cannot replace responsible gun handling in any case. Treat every gun like it is loaded, never point your gun at anything you don’t intend to shoot and be sure of your target and what’s beyond it. Don’t even touch the safety or the trigger until you’re ready to shoot. Following basic gun safety rules, dressing appro- priately and taking the time to really identify our targets will result in safer hunting and shooting experiences for everyone. The future of hunting and shooting very much depends upon what we do. There are many who would like to see both banned from existence, and when carelessness leads to accidents, it provides these antagonists with literal ammu- nition in the fight for our rights. Let’s take extra special care when we are out enjoying our hunts and plinking. When everyone goes home, every- one wins. Do you enjoy our articles? Write in to shootingthebree- zebme@gmail.com! Dale Valade is a local coun- try gent with a deep love for handloading, hunting and shooting.
