PAGE LABEL
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, March 31, 2021
A9
WEDNESDAY
March 31, 2021
SHOOTING
THE BREEZE
The .270
Winchester
I
’m an unabashed Jack O’Connor fan.
Over the course of his hunting career,
he used many diff erent cartridges and
rifl es in the hunting fi eld. It’s no secret as
anyone who read his books and columns
for Outdoor Life knows,
the .270 Winchester was
his absolute favorite.
The fi rst and for a
long time only .277-cal-
iber rifl e cartridge came
available in 1925 in the
Winchester Model 54
Dale Valade
bolt-action rifl e. It was
not an immediate hit
to say the least. Ammunition availabil-
ity was partly to blame — at the time
you could walk into any store in the con-
tinental U.S. and buy .30-06 or .30-30
shells amongst several others with rela-
tive ease. Bad reviews by some of the gun
writers of the day did little to help. Elmer
Keith, for example, felt the diminutive
130-grain bullet would fragment rather
than penetrate to the vitals on anything
larger than coyote or pronghorn. Despite
these poor reviews, some went out and
bought one anyways. Even though .270s
killed quickly, complaints arose that the
thin-jacketed bullets ruined too much
meat. A remedial, lower-velocity 150-
grain bullet at 2,650 feet per second was
released, but dismal sales caused it to be
dropped shortly thereafter. It’s comparably
pedestrian velocity defeated the main pur-
pose of owning a .270.
No, it was Cactus Jack who really put
the .270 on the map. With it he hunted
mule deer, whitetail deer and Coues deer
in the southwest and Mexico. He took it
for Rocky Mountain elk in Wyoming, for
sheep, moose and bear in Alaska. From
there he went abroad to Africa, again
proving the usefulness of the light recoil-
ing, super accurate and deadly high veloc-
ity 130-grain bullets.
The Winchester Model 70, the rifl e-
man’s rifl e as it came to be called, was
released in 1937. Although originally sold
in only seven diff erent caliber choices, the
.270 and .30-06 calibers alone accounted
for well over half of all Model 70 Win-
chesters sold. As many began to fi nd out,
the .270 was and is a real keeper. Even on
animals like elk, moose and bear, which
traditionally take a bit more killing than
deer or sheep, the .270 has more than
proven itself. Like so many other classic
cartridges, innovations in propellant and
bullet technologies have only made them
better. While most factory loads have been
dialed back slightly from their original
advertised ballistics, handloaders can and
still safely do achieve the amazing high
velocity and accuracy that .270 owners
have appreciated for 96 years now.
While it may lack the versatility and
military record of rounds like the .30-06
or .308, and it may not seem as glamorous
as the 7mm Remington Magnum or the
new 6.5s, the .270 is a classic, and clas-
sics endure. And let’s face it, there is prac-
tically nothing that any of those rounds
can do that the .270 isn’t just as capable of
doing. To put it simply, the .270 is one of
my top three favorite all-around hunting
cartridges, as the pluses far outweigh any
minuses. The popularity of this cartridge
is very well founded and without sensible
dispute; it is still a national top 10 seller in
guns and ammunition annually.
My own favorite .270 is an heir-
loom Browning BBR. Topped off with a
Leupold 3-9 variable scope, it shoots very
well with 130-grain Sierra Gamekings on
top of H4831 powder, a combination that
Mr. O’Connor was quite fond of. If I ever
draw a sheep or pronghorn tag, the .270 is
defi nitely coming along!
Are you a .270 fan? Write to us at
shootingthebreezebme@gmail.com!
Dale Valade is a local country gent
with a love for the outdoors, handloading,
hunting and shooting.
SPORTS SCHEDULE
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31
Grant Union volleyball vs. Prai-
rie City, 5 p.m.
THURSDAY, APRIL 1
Prairie City volleyball vs. Day-
ville/Monument, 5 p.m.
Grant Union volleyball vs. Hep-
pner, 5 p.m.
FRIDAY, APRIL 2
Grant Union cross country
hosts Gold Rush Run in John
Day, 1 p.m.
Grant Union football vs. Uma-
tilla, 6 p.m.
SATURDAY, APRIL 3
Dayville/Monument football vs.
Echo, 1 p.m.
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
The Grant Union Gold dance team performs in front of an audience on March 19.
The return of the gold
standard of dance
Grant Union Gold dance team unite, doing what they love
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Grant Union Gold dance
team is making a return this year as
the seven girls unite to outshine the
pandemic.
Head Coach Carli Bremner said
having a season this year is exciting
since it means the team can compete
again and participate in an activity
they enjoy.
Bremner said the girls have
taken the new season well as a few
brand new dancers joined along
with returning dancers leading the
team.
“The ones that have danced
before, it is challenging (this sea-
son) because we know what we’re
missing, but at the same time we’re
so excited to have this opportunity
just to be able to compete again and
do what we love, even if it’s diff er-
ent this year,” Bremner said.
Grant Union senior Leah Comer
said she was really excited to dance
with the team again, and they have
been lucky to practice in person.
“Defi nitely diff erent than it has
been in past years, but it’s exciting
to have one (season) at all,” Comer
said.
Bremner said the team usu-
ally travels to the west side of Ore-
gon as they compete in big compe-
titions with other schools, but this
year many of the competitions are
virtual.
She said, in April, there will be
in-person judging, but judges will
be traveling to schools instead of
schools meeting at one facility.
Several other changes this sea-
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
This is Carli Bremner’s fi rst year
as head coach of the Grant Union
Gold dance team.
From left, Leah Comer, Mariah Olson, Emma Schlarbaum, Hailey Mecham,
Laramie Kiser and Emily Finley.
son are the mask requirements
for dancers, dancers keeping 6
feet apart from each other in their
routine, which limits formation
changes, and the prohibition of
lifts and stunts due to the distance
requirements and minimal contact
allowed.
“Your face, every emotion that
we can show, connects you to your
audience, and when you can’t show
your face as much, we have to
work 10 times as hard to show that
we’re hitting everything precisely,”
Bremner said.
Grant Union junior Emily Fin-
ley said, even with the diff erent sea-
son, she enjoys working with the
new dancers this year and watch-
ing them improve as the season
continues.
“Defi nitely just being able to
have a season and watching new
dancers improve have been a good
thing,” Finley said. “I’ll talk with
Leah, and I’ll say, ‘Look, they
improved their turning today,’ and
it’s cool to see that growth.”
Comer said she values this sea-
son because she started dancing
when she was 4 and wanted another
chance to dance with the team for
her senior year.
“Dancing for my senior year has
been really important, but it’s been
fun so far this season,” Comer said.
Comer and Finley both agreed
that their favorite part of dancing
has been performing the choreog-
raphy they practice in front of an
audience and the chance to express
themselves through dance.
This is Bremner’s fi rst year as
head coach, and she said she is lov-
ing the responsibility. She grew up
in the county and danced since she
was 4. Bremner, who was assis-
tant coach last year, competed all
through high school and knew she
wanted to coach one day so she con-
tinued to dance in college.
“I came back and I said I have
to get back in this,” Bremner said.
“This year, I gave everything that
I have into coaching, and I love
being here. I love seeing the girls
being able to develop through their
dance, and I love being able to
coach them, and they get to experi-
ence what I got to experience back
in the day and the joy that dancing
brings.”
The assistant coach is Megan
Pass, and the dance team this year
includes Leah Comer, Mariah
Olson, Emma Schlarbaum, Hai-
ley Mecham, Laramie Kiser, Emily
Finley and Madison Spencer.
A disc sport for people of all ages
Frisbee golf course set
up at Seventh Street
Complex in John Day
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
Get your disc ready this spring.
John Day-Canyon City Parks
and Recreation District recently
made available again a nine-hole
Frisbee golf course at the Seventh
Street Complex called the Rattle-
snake Ridge Disc Golf Course.
The nine baskets are out for
people of all ages to enjoy.
“We wanted to get people out-
side to enjoy a COVID-friendly
activity and give them a chance
to exercise by walking our course
on nice days,” said Program Man-
ager RC Huerta. “It’s a game for all
ages. Kids can play it, adults can
play it, older adults can play it and
enjoy the sport.”
Huerta said the course is still
a work in progress as new tee
boxes and course signage are being
added, but the course is available
for anybody to use.
The new tee signage will
include the distance from tee to
basket and have a QR code, which
can be scanned with a cellphone to
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
The disc golf tee boxes are current-
ly painted and will be constructed
in the near future.
or new discs, according to Huerta.
The baskets are available all day.
Frisbee golf can be played by everyone at their own pace on the course at
For questions on the program or
the Seventh Street Complex.
to request equipment to play, peo-
ple can get in contact with Huerta
take a player directly to the course and tees, and the signage will show at jdccparksandrec.rc@gmail.com
map image and details. A map of them which number tee they’re at or leave a message at the offi ce
the course is available on Google along with QR codes at each tee number at 541-575-0110. Huerta
Earth that details the tee locations sign,” Huerta said. “I’m going to said to make sure to give a notice
and the distance from tee to basket. also build four-by-eight-foot tee in advance to rent discs.
“This is a big opportunity for
Huerta said to fi nd the map, boxes that are standard tournament
anybody because this can be played
people can go jdccparksandrec.org, size.”
hover the mouse over “Parks” and
There are no fees at the moment at any time,” Huerta said. “Ide-
then over “7th Street” on the home to rent out the discs, but there are ally, the long-term goal of this is to
page. Click on the Frisbee golf tab plans to make a donation box or have a drop-in disc golf league or
and then click on “Google Earth kiosk at the beginning of the course bring in people from outside of the
Course Map” to access the map.
along with information on the county, when the time is right, to
“We just got signage ordered, course. The donations would help host tournaments and have every-
and I fi nished up with the baskets cover maintenance, the program body enjoy the course and park.”
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz