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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 22, 2020)
SPORTS MyEagleNews.com SHOOTING THE BREEZE A cow elk for the lady M y wife, Emma, is quite a lady. As many of our faith- ful readers know, before we started dating, Emma’s only experience with a fi rearm had been being the recipi- ent of the butt end of a cruel joke. Over the months and years, with practice, she really began to enjoy hunt- ing, and her shoot- ing skills improved rapidly. In 2017, she killed her fi rst deer Dale Valade and one each in 2018 and 2019. This year in August we were blessed with the arrival of a third member of our family hunting party, our son Andy. All through- out the fall of 2019 as we endeavored to fi ll our tags, Andy came along with us. He is a natural born hunter, but as is the case with infants, he has yet to develop his skills of stealth. Taking a newborn afi eld presents many such chal- lenges in the stalk. Needless to say, we were wondering if Emma was going to even see an elk much less get a shot at one. Then there was the ques- tion of Emma’s equipment, namely her rifl e. The .243 Winchester, Emma’s favor- ite deer rifl e, is legal to use for elk hunting, but I feel it is a bit too small to be considered ideal for such employ. Elk can take a lot more persuasion to bring down than your garden vari- ety mule deer. After acquir- ing a 7mm-08 Remington I felt like we had taken a huge step in the right direc- tion. The fi xed 4x scope was a touch to the small side, but where Emma doesn’t feel the need to shoot past 200 yards, I felt it was ade- Contributed photo Emma Valade shot her fi rst elk in 2019. quate for the job. On Dec. 23, Christ- mas Eve eve, a coworker and I were feeding cows when we spotted some elk a half mile off in the hills. We both felt that as long they were undisturbed that we could put an eve- ning hunt on them together with Emma. When the time came I handed my range- fi nder to Baldy and gave Emma a kiss for luck. It was decided that Andy and myself would remain in the rear, observing from way out of earshot while Emma and Baldy made a hunt. While I played with Andy, I kept the radio close in the cab of the pickup, certain that I would get a call tell- ing me happy news. After about 30 long minutes, my wife’s dream of getting her elk came true. As it was relayed to me by a very excited huntress, they covered the ground quite quickly and qui- etly but were nearly blown out when a herd of ante- lope were spooked and ran toward the elk. Although the elk were wary, Emma and Baldy were able to sneak into them at 235 yards. After some search- ing, Emma spotted a lone cow standing broadside to them. She sat down and, resting steadily on her knee, sent a 140-grain bullet directly behind the shoulder of the cow elk. At the shot, the cow jumped and trotted off a few yards before piling up. Just like that, my hunting part- ner fi lled her fi rst elk tag. After calling us up, they took pictures while Andy and I drove up to meet them. She couldn’t have been more excited, and I could not be more proud. What a wonderful way to end the year and start off the Christmas holiday! Do you remember your fi rst elk? Write to us at shootingthebreezebme@ gmail.com! Dale Valade is a local country gent with a deep love for handloading, hunting and shooting. Wednesday, January 22, 2020 A9 Report hunt results by Jan. 31 Blue Mountain Eagle Every hunter who pur- chased 2019 big game or turkey tags needs to report their hunt results by the deadline, which is Jan. 31 for most tags. Hunters are required to report on each deer, elk, cougar, bear, pronghorn and turkey tag purchased — even if they were not successful or did not hunt. Sports Pac license holders need to report on each big game or turkey tag issued. Hunters who fail to report deer and elk tags by the deadline will be penal- ized $25 when they go to purchase a 2021 hunt- ing license. This penalty is assessed once, regard- less of the number of unre- ported tags. Hunters have a few ways to report: • Online via Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Licensing Sys- tem, the fastest and easi- est way to report: Login to an account and go to “Outcome Reporting/ Mandatory Reporting.” Then click to “License Year 2019” to report on tags. For diffi culties, use the “Retrieve User Name/ Password” feature or con- tact ODFW for account information. Visit the ELS FAQ page for directions on initially setting up an account. • By telephone: Call 1-866-947-6339 to talk to an ODFW licensing cus- tomer service representa- tive during normal busi- ness hours. ODFW’s Licensing Department now has a callback fea- ture to provide better cus- tomer service. When there are longer hold times, any customer who calls in by 3:30 p.m. can just leave their number for a callback while keeping their place in line. • At a license sale agent: New for 2020, hunters can now visit a vendor that Contributed photo Brenda Murphy harvested her fi rst elk in the Northside Unit this hunting season. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife reminds hunters to report on tags that ended in 2019 by Jan. 31. sells licenses to complete their mandatory reporting. Reporting deadlines are Jan. 31 for all 2019 hunts that ended by Dec. 31, 2019, or April 15 for all 2019 hunts that end between Jan. 1 and March 31. “The information hunt- ers provide is used when setting controlled hunt tag numbers and hunt- ing seasons,” said ODFW Game Program Manager Tom Thornton. “We really appreciate hunters taking a few minutes of their time to complete the report, even if they did not hunt or were not successful.” ODFW used to get this data through phone sur- veys, but these became more diffi cult and expen- sive as hunters moved or screened their calls. While reporting has been man- datory since 2007, report- ing rates dramatically improved (from about 40% to 80% or more) when a $25 penalty for not report- ing was added in 2012. Information from the mandatory reports is com- piled and made available to hunters at ODFW’s Big Game Hunting Harvest Statistics page, https:// m y o d f w. c o m / a r t i c l e s / big-game-hunting-har- vest-statistics. As an incentive to report, hunters that report on time are entered into a drawing to win a spe- cial big game tag. ODFW selects three names each year, and the winners can choose a deer, elk or prong- horn tag. Hunters who win get to hunt an expanded area and extended sea- son, similar to auction and raffl e tags that can go for thousands of dollars. Last year, Ken Moyer of Bend took an elk in the Wenaha Unit after winning the incentive tag. “This tag gave me the opportunity to hunt the areas of the state I had not hunted before. The road closure and wilder- ness area made for a great secluded hunt,” Moyer told ODFW after his hunt. “This defi nitely was a once-in-a-lifetime oppor- tunity and should be an incentive for hunters to report on time.” Pros Grant County Snowballers - Event Continued from Page A8 FAMILY FUN DAY AND SKILLS TRAINING DAY Team nominated for sportsmanship award Grant Union athletic director and principal Ryan Gerry announced at the school board meeting Jan. 15 that a game offi cial nom- inated the boys basket- ball team for the Oregon School Activities Associa- tion sportsmanship award. Game offi cials have the opportunity to sub- mit a form to OSAA for a team that exhibited excep- tional sportsmanship after each contest. At the end of a season, the OSAA sports- manship award committee selects a winner from each sport. According to Gerry, this is Grant Union’s fi rst nomi- nation. OSAA implemented the award in 2018. “Coach Huerta and his coaching staff have brought a newfound enthusiasm to the program and high level of expectations for players on and off the fl oor,” said Gerry. Jan. 25, 2020 • 9 A.M. ALL ILERS B O M SNOW COME L E W ARE HOT D O WILL B GS PROVI E DED The Eagle/Steven Mitchell Grant Union head basketball coach RC Huerta on the side- lines with his team Saturday against Weston-McEwen. facebook.com/myeaglenews THE JUNIPER ARTS COUNCIL / GRANT COUNTY CULTURAL COALITION IS SEEKING GRANT PROPOSALS FOR OREGON CULTURAL TRUST GRANT AWARDS The coalition has $6,300 from the Oregon Cultural Trust to distribute in Grant County to organizations for projects relating to culture and / or heritage. Applications are available from Karin Barntish, 131 W. Main Street, John Day, Oregon, or call Kris Beal at (541)932-4892 for more information or an application. Meeting at Summit Prairie County Road 62 and USFS Road 16 Grant applications will be accepted until February 5, 2020 5 P.M. S159834-1 S165624-1
