OUTDOORS
Blue Mountain Eagle
A12
Wednesday, October 12, 2022
Don’t play with ﬁ re State OKs killing of Union wolves
SHOOTING THE BREEZE
The Observer
T
he other night my
family built a ﬁ re to
roast some hot dogs.
As I stood there looking at
the ﬂ ames, I started to think
of all the times I have spent
huddled around a ﬁ re in
some far-oﬀ place. Surely,
harnessing ﬁ re to provide
warmth, safety and work
must rank as the greatest
discovery of all time.
A ﬁ re is a wonderful
thing in miserable weather.
I have never had to spend
an unexpected night in the
woods, but I have come
close. In college some bud-
dies and I decided to pack
Rod Carpenter/Contributed Photo
in for elk, but there weren’t
enough horses to go around. Waiting out the rain by the ﬁ re.
That was OK with me, I’m
not a fan, so I started hiking ﬁ re going to stay warm
and wait out the weather. I
up the trail while they got
never head out without at
the horses ready.
I ﬁ gured they would
least two ways to start a ﬁ re
catch me easily. It
in my gear. My
started to snow, then
personal favor-
got dark and still no
ites are a lighter
buddies. I built a ﬁ re
and a box of
under a tree for shel-
wind/waterproof
ter and waited, and
matches. I also
waited. They ﬁ nally
carry some form
showed up around
of ﬁ re starter.
Rod
midnight. Turns
With these, I have
Carpenter
out they weren’t
never been unsuc-
the master pack-
cessful in getting
ers they thought they were,
a ﬁ re going, no matter how
and ended up repacking
bad the weather.
the horses several times on
Personally, I don’t like
the trail. A warm ﬁ re was
to rely on ﬂ int and steel or
awfully nice to have that
similar friction-type ﬁ re
day.
starters. They take some
Last year my family
practice and skill to be suc-
hiked into Aldrich Ponds
cessful. Typically, when
to do some ﬁ shing. It had
I want a ﬁ re, I want it
been rainy all week, but my right now, and I’m usually
weather app promised me
cold, tired, and the wind is
there would be no rain that
blowing.
day. Halfway there it started
Whatever form of ﬁ re
to drizzle. By the time we
starter you decide you like,
got to the ponds, it was
I strongly recommend you
really coming down. We
make a habit of always hav-
huddled under a tree and
ing it with you when you ven-
built a ﬁ re to wait it out.
ture into the woods. Life has a
I assured my family that
way of changing really fast.
we were having fun, but
What is your go-to ﬁ re
they weren’t buying it. As
starter? Let us know at shoo-
soon as the rain let up, we
tingthebreezebme@gmail.
headed home.
com.
Those are just two
Rod Carpenter is a hus-
examples of times I was
band, father, and a huntin’
happy I was able to get a
fool.
LA GRANDE — The Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife has authorized
the killing of wolves in Union County’s
Balloon Tree Pack.
ODFW announced the lethal removal
authorization Thursday, Sept. 6, after non-
lethal measures failed to stop depreda-
tions. The department is allowing USDA
Wildlife Services to take up to two wolves
on private land pastures where the depre-
dations occurred. The permission is valid
until Oct. 15.
The pack is known to roam north of
Elgin. In late 2019, OR63 dispersed from
the Noregaard Pack and became a resi-
dent in the southern portion of the Wen-
aha Wildlife Management Unit. OR63
was documented with another wolf in
early 2020. The breeding pair produced
three pups in 2021 that survived to the end
of the year, and the family group became
known as the Balloon Tree Pack.
Currently, there are at least six wolves
in the pack, two of which are juveniles
born this year, according to ODFW. Two
of the wolves in this pack currently have a
working GPS collar.
The producer requested lethal removal
of wolves after ODFW conﬁ rmed four
depredation events on a private land graz-
ing allotment in September, resulting in
the death of four sheep. An additional
depredation was conﬁ rmed in July result-
ing in three dead goats belonging to a dif-
ferent livestock owner and private land
pasture.
“That level of depredation meets the
deﬁ nition of chronic livestock depreda-
tion under Wolf Plan Rules (minimum
of two conﬁ rmed depredations in nine
months),” according to the ﬁ sh and wild-
life department, which can authorize the
killing of wolves in chronic depredation
situations when there is signiﬁ cant con-
tinued risk to livestock present in the area
and nonlethal preventative measures were
used prior to depredations.
The state said the producer uses human
presence and livestock protection dogs to
protect his sheep and has employed extra
herders, moved camps more frequently to
move away from where wolves had dep-
redated previously, and also used fox-
lights, airhorns and gunshots in an attempt
to scare wolves away.
Sampling central Oregon’s trout waters
By DENNIS DAUBLE
the Oregon Department of Fish and Wild-
life. Spare hours were spent drifting a Tied-
awn breaks with dew heavy on new-
Down Caddis below a single split shot when
mown grass. I sit on the deck of a
the sun was high, switching to a PED when
rental condo at Eagle Crest Resort
canyon walls shaded deep runs. Nostal-
and stare at the Deschutes River
gia calls me back to wet a line, but
while our 14-year-old corgi licks my
hot weather, drought, and low ﬂ ow
breakfast plate clean of crumbs. A
threatens a trout population that
sky ﬁ lled with smoky haze turns the
deserves a break.
sunrise into a glowing orange ball.
That leaves the Deschutes River,
An advertisement headlin-
“le Riviere des Chutes.” The lower
ing a tourist rag on the breakfast
100 miles attracts the most anglers,
table reads, “What is a Harmonic
particularly during the summer
Dennis
Egg?” Choosing not to spend the
salmon ﬂ y hatch. Half a dozen ﬂ oat
Dauble
day in an egg-shaped chamber that
trips taught me to ﬁ sh early, ﬁ sh
uses the power of sound, light, and
late, and save the midday for nap-
sacred geometry to “realign your energies,”
ping. Time being of the essence, I don my
I ponder choices. For me, wellness is best
ﬂ y vest, grab a 5-weight rod and hike down
achieved with a ﬂ y rod in hand.
an engineered trail to the river. The sharp,
Just last year I ﬁ shed the nearby Meto-
resinous scent of juniper penetrates my nos-
lius, a crystal-clear stream gushing a con-
trils. A gray-haired woman with a Doberman
stant 50,000 gallons a minute from two
on leash and a bearded man wearing poly-
springs that emerge at the base of Black
ester running tights nod polite hellos as they
Butte. A well-trodden trail the width of
pass. The golden bloom of rabbitbrush lends
a county road, stately cabins, and public
a festive look to an otherwise subdued, high
campgrounds run parallel to much of its for- desert landscape. The shadow of a turkey
ested banks. Securing a place to cast a ﬂ y
vulture soaring high over the narrow canyon
between other eager anglers is not easy, but
passes over me. Hopefully, not an omen. It’s
I managed to land a nice trout on a No. 16
peaceful in the narrow canyon with only the
Purple Haze after trying a dozen patterns.
sound of rushing water and the thought of
If nothing else the day taught that purchas-
rising trout to consider.
ing a proven pattern from a local ﬂ y shop
Forcing my way through a snarl of wild
increases your chances of success.
rose, red osier dogwood, and brush wil-
However, been there, done that. What
low, I wade out to where swift current swirls
other choices exist in this Central Oregon
around a volcanic boulder the size of a pool
trout mecca?
table. Ten minutes later a pan-size rainbow
It’s less than an hour down the road to
trout straightens the curl in my ﬂ y line. A
Prineville. The once bustling mill town
No. 10 Golden Stimulator proves to be the
where our daughter was born almost 50
ticket.
years to the day. (My, how time ﬂ ies!) At the
Navigating the tricky shoreline requires
time, I worked as a seasonal ﬁ sh checker for grabbing onto overhanging branches and
D
avoiding drop-oﬀ s in the stream bottom.
Several missed strikes later, I tie on the same
tiny purple ﬂ y that fooled a Metolius River
trout and validate the experience with a foot-
long native “redside” trout.
A ﬂ ock of two-striped grasshoppers up
to 2 inches long struggle to avoid me in
their bed of reed canary grass. I toss one into
slow-moving transition water and watch it
ﬂ oat out of sight with nary the sign of a hun-
gry trout. Later that evening, at my book
signing in nearby Sisters, a local ﬂ ycaster
shares, “Not many people ﬁ sh that part of
the Deschutes, but attractor patterns gener-
ally work well.”
The scenic route home follows Ochoco
Creek to its headwaters, past meadows lush
with ﬁ eld grass, and winds over three moun-
tain passes. A circus-like gathering of Cycle
Oregon bikers greets us at Mitchell, many
wearing “Painted Hills” T-shirts.
Three bikers taking a roadside break
inform they are halfway through a testing
70-mile loop. “Too much ﬁ rst gear pedaling
on steep hills for me,” I tell them. We stop
for lunch at Service Creek where the John
Day River meanders below muﬃ n-shaped
hills and basalt-rimmed buttes. Long languid
pools and ankle-deep riﬄ es are in evidence
following the 2019 ﬂ ood. I am tempted to
cast a ﬂ y, but don’t string up my rod because
the native rainbow trout population has been
replaced with invasive smallmouth bass.
It’s been a good road trip, but familiar
Blue Mountain waters and the October cad-
disﬂ y hatch are now on my mind.
Dennis Dauble is a retired ﬁ shery sci-
entist, outdoor writer, presenter and educa-
tor who lives in Richland, Washington. For
more stories about ﬁ sh and ﬁ shing in area
waters, see DennisDaubleBooks.com.
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