A10
OUTDOORS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Popular forest road reopens
SHOOTING THE BREEZE
The consolation prize
at the end of the hunt
EO Media Group
PENDLETON — The Umatilla
National Forest has reopened a one-mile
section of a popular road along the Uma-
tilla River that was damaged by flooding
in February 2020.
The reopened section of Forest Road
32 runs from the national forest boundary
near Corporation Guard Station, about
eight miles east of Gibbon, to the bridge
near Umatilla Forks campground.
With the road reopened, Umatilla
National Forest officials plan to reopen
part of the campground, including nine
campsites, in late spring or early summer.
The rest of the campground will remain
closed pending additional repair work.
Workers finished repairing flood dam-
age to the road in the fall of 2021. They
cleared debris slides from the road,
cleaned and repaired culverts and ditches,
and removed hazardous trees.
The February 2020 flooding, caused
by rain falling on a deep snowpack,
“T
his year, I’m
holding out for
a bull,” Ron-
ald exclaimed as he and Jim
assembled the wall tent.
“You say that every
year,” Jim smirked.
It was second season and
they both had burned a lot
of preference points to draw
these tags. The weather had
been fair; a little too hot, to
be honest. Both had made
every preparation in advance
for their three-day soirée and
felt ready to go.
On opening morning Jim
and Ron
split up
to cover
more ter-
ritory.
They had
either-sex
elk tags,
Dale Valade
so any elk
they found would be fair
game.
When Ron made it back
for lunch, there was no sign
of Jim. He became espe-
cially concerned when he
couldn’t raise his old friend
on the radio. After wolfing
down a sandwich, he tracked
him southwest, deep into the
steep, timbered country.
After two hours of
searching, he was relieved to
find his friend alive but with
a twisted ankle. The bat-
teries in Jimmy’s radio had
gone dead. Upon fashioning
a crutch, Ron and Jim slowly
progressed back to camp.
About a mile from camp it
began to rain. Not a down-
pour, but the wind made it
miserably cold.
At camp Ron made a fire
and prepped a simple dinner
as Jim rested and did what
little he could to care for
the ankle. While they were
gone, some kind of rodent
had made its way into their
tent and had bitten holes in
their air mattresses, deflating
them. Ron’s .284 was soaked
from the rain, but a little
Hoppe’s No. 9 gun oil by the
campfire light and it was in
ship shape once again. After
eating, they put out the Cole-
man lantern and hit the sack.
The next morning Jim
decided to stay in camp and
give his ankle a rest. Ron
packed a sandwich and ven-
tured out alone. He saw
some huge mule deer bucks
and a bighorn ram but no
elk. A grouse flushing from
its cover nearly gave him a
heart attack. Back at camp
that night he and Jim rem-
inisced about the old days
as they played cards and
enjoyed some of Jim’s leg-
endary dutch oven peach
cobbler.
That night it rained and
blew hard. Either the rainfly
Wednesday, April 13, 2022
Contributed Photo
Bagging an elk is nice, but
hunting is about so much
more than harvesting game.
got loose or it developed a
leak because both men awak-
ened soaking wet, bobbing
in their sleeping bags like
soggy marshmallows in the
bottom of their water-filled
tent. Around 2 a.m. the
storm quit and they spent
nearly until daylight dry-
ing out their clothes, boots
and sleeping bags by the
campfire. It was a misera-
ble night.
Jim still wasn’t feeling
100% but decided to hob-
ble out of camp to make one
last hunt as the trip drew to
a close. As he neared the
crest of the ridge the ris-
ing sun seemed to shine
extra brightly off of a buck-
skin-colored rock lying just
up the trail, maybe 50 or
60 yards ahead. A closer
look at the rock through
his Leupold scope revealed
that it was no rock at all but
a nice, fat cow elk bedded
down, looking the oppo-
site direction. Shouldering
his rifle with a hasty sling
around his left arm, he took
careful aim and fired.
Ronny, still in his
clammy bedroll trying to
catch up on lost sleep from
the night before, jerked
awake at the report of Jim’s
.30-06. An excited voice over
the radio told him he needed
to get his boots and pack-
board on. At the end of the
day they had elk meat hang-
ing in camp and dined on ten-
derloin and eggs.
Although they were sad
that they had to go back
to their regular lives in the
morning, they had once again
gotten to feel the fall air,
smell the campfire smoke,
and enjoy the company of a
lifelong friendship. The expe-
rience, after all, is the whole
reason they go hunting. The
elk meat is just a bonus or,
shall we say, the consolation
prize for all the miles walked,
ankles twisted and shivering
cold and wet nights.
Are you a hunting fool?
Write to us at shootingthe-
breezebme@gmail.com and
check us out on Facebook!
Dale Valade is a local
country gent with a love for
the outdoors, handloading,
hunting and shooting.
caused significant damage to 14 roads and
trails near the Umatilla, South Fork Walla
Walla and Little Tucannon rivers on the
Umatilla National Forest.
Road 32 sustained some of the worst
damage, including five areas where the
road was obliterated.
Crews have been repairing the road in
segments. Road 32 remains closed from
the bridge near Umatilla Forks camp-
ground to where the road turns south
toward Ruckel Junction. Detailed closure
maps are available at http://www.fs.usda.
gov/umatilla and at all forest offices, and
closure signs and barriers are posted on
the ground.
Umatilla National Forest officials
urged visitors to be careful during spring,
when weather and road conditions can
change rapidly. Many parts of the forest
lack cell service, and travelers should be
prepared to spend the night by bringing
warm clothing, food and water. Condi-
tions are updated on the forest’s website
and Facebook page.
Umatilla National Forest/Contributed Photo
A section of Road 32 on the Umatilla Na-
tional Forest near Umatilla Forks camp-
ground has reopened following repairs
to sections damaged by flooding in Feb-
ruary 2020.
Another wolf killed in NE Oregon
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
RICHLAND — For the third time
this year, authorities are investigating a
possible case of wolf poaching in rural
northeast Oregon.
On March 25, state police were noti-
fied that a collared wolf — OR117 from
the Cornucopia pack — was likely dead
near Richland, about 40 miles east of
Baker City.
Troopers estimate the 1-year-old
male wolf died sometime March 12 or
13.
An agency spokesperson did not
release the cause of death, citing
the ongoing investigation. The Ore-
gon Wildlife Coalition is offering an
$11,500 reward for information to help
OSP catch whoever may be responsible.
“For us, this is definitely very appall-
ing and frustrating to watch,” said Sri-
sti Kamal, senior Northwest represen-
tative for Defenders of Wildlife, one of
the coalition’s member groups. “It has
serious implications for wolf recovery
in our state.”
It is the latest in a string of wolf
poaching cases that have made head-
lines in the area.
On Feb. 15, OSP said a collared
female wolf was shot and killed near
Cove, about 15 miles east of La Grande.
Another collared female wolf from
the Chesnimnus pack was also shot Jan.
8 about six miles miles southeast of
Wallowa.
Between February and March 2021,
eight wolves were poisoned near Mount
ODFW
A gray wolf in Oregon.
Harris in Union County, including all
five members of the Catherine pack.
Groups and individuals are offering
nearly $50,000 in reward money for tips
leading to an arrest in that case.
Four wolves were illegally killed
in 2020, according to the state Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife’s most
recent annual wolf report. One incident
resulted in no charges after investiga-
tors determined the shooter mistook the
wolf for a coyote.
Most of Oregon’s 173 known wolves
are concentrated in the northeast cor-
ner of the state. ODFW removed gray
wolves from the state endangered spe-
cies list east of highways 395, 78 and 95,
though the species is once again federally
protected in Western Oregon following a
court ruling in February.
Kamal said human-caused wolf mor-
tality is “a pervasive problem that needs
addressing in our state.” In 2020, there
were eight wolves poisoned and another
eight that were killed legally for habit-
ually preying on livestock, about 10%
of the known population at the end of
2019.
Ranchers have long argued they need
lethal control of wolves to protect their
livestock from chronic attacks. Last year,
ODFW confirmed 87 animals were killed
or injured by wolves, including 51 cattle,
28 sheep, six goats and two guard dogs.
That was more than double the number in
2020.
To help combat poaching state-
wide, the Oregon Department of Justice
recently hired a special prosecutor, Jay D.
Hall, who will focus exclusively on fish
and wildlife crimes.
State lawmakers approved $4.2 mil-
lion in 2019 to establish the Stop Poach-
ing Campaign. Part of the funding was
used to hire Hall, part was used to hire
four new OSP Fish and Wildlife troop-
ers and one new sergeant, and part will
go toward promoting education and
awareness.
Michelle Dennehy, ODFW spokes-
woman, said the agency hopes rewards
offered through the state’s Turn-In Poach-
ers program, or TIP, will also offer enough
incentive for people to come forward with
information.
The TIP program is managed jointly
by OSP, ODFW and the Oregon Hunters
Association. Anyone with information is
urged to call the TIP hotline at 1-800-452-
7888. Callers can remain anonymous.
ODFW plans online meetings to discuss budget proposal
EO Media Group
SALEM — The Oregon
Department of Fish and Wild-
life is planning four online
public meetings later this
month to present informa-
tion about the agency’s pro-
posed budget for the 2023-25
biennium.
ODFW officials will also
take questions and comments
from the public during the
meetings.
The agency is not propos-
ing any increases in hunting
or fishing license fees. The
last increases were approved
by the 2015 Legislature and
took effect in 2016, 2018 and
2020.
The agency will use pub-
lic comments from the meet-
ings to help draft its budget
Michael B. DesJardin
Dentistry, PC
Preventive, Restorative & Endodontics
request for the Fish and Wild-
life Commission to consider
during its June 17 meeting.
Prior to that, the Commis-
sion will have a special meet-
ing on May 13, also online
and open to the public, to take
public testimony about the
proposed budget.
The budget proposal
approved by the Commission
then goes to the Legislature
for its consideration in 2023.
ODFW headquarters staff
will attend each of the four
public meetings, along with
regional officials, who will
have local information for
their area.
The schedule:
• Northwest Region, April
12, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
• Southwest Region, April
13, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
• Northeast Region, April
14, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
• Southeast Region, April
15, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
All meetings are acces-
sible through the same link
and phone number. For the
video meeting, https://www.
zoomgov.com/j/1602917760.
For phone only, dial
1-669-254-5252, or 1-669-
216-1590, or 1-551-285-
1373 or 1-646-828-7666. The
webinar ID is 160-291-7760.
New Patients
Welcome!
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John Day
541-575-2725
mbddental@live.com
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Serving Eastern Oregon since 1959!
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Attend a Rocky Mountain
Elk Foundation Dinner
and Benefit Auction
A MAN
WAKES
UP in the
morning
after sleeping on...
an advertised bed, in advertised
pajamas.
Where fun and fund-raising combine for a
memorable evening.
Saturday, April 23, 2022
4:00—Doors open
5:30—Dinner
7:30—Auction
Place: Pavilion—
Grant County Fairgrounds
Ticket Information:
Gale Wall (541) 620-0455
Date:
Time:
Blue Mountain Eagle
MyEagleNews.com
Don’t get left behind, call today! Kim Kell 541-575-0710
A great time for a great cause.
Proceeds benefit elk and other wildlife.
Monday - Thursday
7am-
6pm
Monday
- Thursday
7am-
6pm
Friday
8am
- 5pm
Friday
8am
-
Mendy Sharpe 5pm
FNP
Mendy
Sharpe FNP
Apppointments
available
S283676-1
139101
Advertising is an investment, not an expense. Think about it!
S286526-1
He will bathe in an ADVERTISED TUB, shave with an ADVERTISED RAZOR,
have a breakfast of ADVERTISED JUICE, cereal and toast, toasted in an
ADVERTISED TOASTER, put on ADVERTISED CLOTHES and glance at his
ADVERTISED WATCH. He’ll ride to work in his ADVERTISED CAR, sit at an
ADVERTISED DESK and write with an ADVERTISED PEN. Yet this person
hesitates to advertise, saying that advertising doesn’t pay. Finally, when his
non-advertised business is going under, HE’LL ADVERTISE IT FOR SALE.
Then it’s too late.
AND THEY SAY ADVERTISING DOESN’T WORK?
DON’T MAKE THIS SAME MISTAKE