The University of Idaho Farmhouse Fraternity chapter was recommended to me as a young incoming freshman in 1992.  I had heard it was the place that always  “had somethin’ dead hanging out back”  in the Fall.  I found many kindred spirits who enjoyed spending time in the outdoors in pursuit of game large and small.

One of these characters was Eric Eidam.  This native of Pendleton Oregon is now a firefighter on the West side of the state.  In his time off he is an avid hunter, and shared this photo of his 2011 archery elk from Oregon.

Eric just returned from British Columbia with a  Canada moose with a 48 inch wide antler spread.  At a glance I’m guessing that this bull may be close to book.  If that wasn’t exciting enough, he averted a disaster when his group was charged by a mean tempered grizzly.

Apologies to Jeff Foxworthy who created the “You might be..” genre with his redneck jokes. These were passed along to me on the Sage Creek Hunting Forums.

If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don’t work there, you live in Oregon.
If you’ve worn shorts, sandals and a parka at the same time, you live in Oregon.
If you’ve had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed the wrong number, you live in Oregon.
If you measure distance in hours, you live in Oregon.
If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in Oregon.
If you have switched from ‘heat’ to ‘A/C’ and back again in the same day, you live in Oregon.
If you install security lights on your house and garage but leave both doors unlocked, you live in Oregon.
If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in Central, Southern or Eastern Oregon.
If you design your kid’s Halloween costume to fit over a 2 layers of clothes or under a raincoat, you live in Oregon.
If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow and ice, you live in Oregon.
If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction, you live in Oregon.
If you feel guilty throwing aluminum cans or paper in the trash, you live in Oregon.
If you know more than 10 ways to order coffee, you live in Oregon.
If you know more people who own boats than air conditioners, you live in Oregon.
If you stand on a deserted corner in the rain waiting for the “Walk” signal, you live in Oregon.
If you consider that if it has no snow or has not recently erupted, it is not a real mountain, you live in Oregon.
If you can taste the difference between Starbucks, Seattle’s Best, and Dutch Bros, you live in Oregon.
If you know the difference between Chinook, Coho and Sockeye salmon, you live in Oregon.
If you know how to pronounce Sequim, Puyallup, Clatskanie, Issaquah, Oregon, Umpqua, Yakima and Willamette, you live in Oregon.
If you consider swimming an indoor sport, you live in Oregon.
If you know that Boring is a city and not just a feeling, you live in Oregon.
If you can tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese and Thai food, you live in Oregon.
If you never go camping without waterproof matches and a poncho, you live in Oregon.
If you have actually used your mountain bike on a mountain, you live in Oregon.
If you think people who use umbrellas are either wimps or tourists, you live in Oregon.
If you buy new sunglasses every year, because you cannot find the old ones after such a long time, you live in Oregon.
If you actually understand these jokes you live or have lived in Oregon

Archery Elk Season is in the books for Oregon and Bob postel from Novato, CA had a good hunt.

Here he is. 5 hard days of hunting ended with this. 40 yard shot, double lung complete passthrough. He died about 80 yards from where I shot him. 426 lbs at the butcher for just the 4 quarters. Awesome trip and hunt. Elk were fighting, bugling and going crazy. This bull has about 15 cows with him and I was able to sneak in on him for the shot. Another hunt I’ll never forget.

Kelly first was featured here with a stud of a moose from Canada, and later with her goofy pronghorn from Oregon. 

Well now she had added a nice gobbler to the wall, with her bow no less.  In true Western fashion she received permission to hunt on a neighbor’s ranch.  She did it solo, even though she had never been to the site before.

Here is the story in her words:

This ranch where I shot the tom is located about a mile down the road at a neighbors ranch. My boss maintains their road for free and in return they let him (and his friends) hunt turkeys if they are there. And they are there…for now. My boss informed me yesterday that I would be hunting (more…)

SALEM, Ore.—The final deadline to apply for a fall big game controlled hunt is May 15, but any hunter that applies by April 15 will be entered into a drawing to win one of 20 2011 Sports Pac (a $164.75 value). Non-resident hunters that apply by April 15 are eligible to win a Non-Resident Hunting License (a $140.50 value).

As of April 6, 63,798 hunters have applied for a big game hunt, 5,033 more than the same time last year. Substantial numbers of hunters still need to apply. “ODFW is expecting to process more than 400,000 controlled hunt applications so we have a long way to go,” notes DeAnna Erickson, license services manager.

Typically, most applications are received during the week leading up to the May 15 deadline. The high volume of sales activity in the last few days prior to the deadline has led to long lines and slowed or crashed the license sales system at times, causing ODFW to extend the deadline in both 2008 and 2009.

ODFW and the vendor that manages the license sales system have taken a number of steps to avoid a similar situation this year, including this incentive program that is giving away 100 Sports Pacs (or Non-Resident Hunting Licenses) for those that apply early. Drawings for 50 and 30 Sports Pacs were already held for hunters that applied by January 31 and March 15.

The vendor has also upgraded to faster computers that can process larger sales volumes and load-tested the system at high levels of sales activity to identify any problems in advance. (more…)

SALEM, Ore.—Thirty hunters won either a free 2011 Sports Pac or a Non-Resident Hunting License because they applied for a 2010 fall big game controlled hunt by March 15, 2010.

Twenty more 2011 Sports Pacs or Non-Resident Hunting Licenses will be given away to hunters that apply for (and are issued) a controlled hunt application by April 15, 2010.

ODFW and the vendor that manages its license sales system are giving away a total of 100 free 2011 Sports Pacs (for Oregon residents, a $164.75 value) or Non Resident Hunting Licenses (for non-residents, a $140.50 value) to encourage hunters to apply early for their 2010 fall big game hunts. (A Sports Pac includes a Combination Angling/Hunting/Shellfish License, a Combined Angling Harvest Tag, a Validation for Upland Bird and Waterfowl hunting, plus a General or Controlled Buck Deer, General or Controlled Elk, General Cougar, General or Controlled Bear and Spring Turkey Tag.)

The next drawing will take place April 19 and winners will be notified by mail. Hunters unsuccessful in the first two drawings (for hunters that applied by Jan. 15 and March 15) will be entered into this final drawing. Only one entry per hunter is allowed, meaning hunters that apply for several controlled hunts are still only entered once.

Hunters can apply for controlled hunts online, at a license sales agent, at ODFW offices that sell licenses, or by mail or fax order using the application found here or on page 15 of the 2010 Oregon Big Game Regulations.

Mail order/fax applicants should allow 7-10 days for their applications to be processed and issued. Remember, to be eligible for the drawing, the controlled hunt application must be issued, not just received, by the drawing deadline (April 15). Controlled hunt applications can be processed and issued immediately online and at license sales agents or ODFW offices.

The deadline to apply for a controlled hunt is May 15 each year. Most applications are received during the last few days. In 2009, only 68,849 of 426,921 total applications received were processed by April 15, 2009. The high volume of sales activity in the last few days prior to the deadline has led to long lines and slowed or crashed the license sales system at times, causing ODFW to extend the deadline in both 2008 and 2009.

The vendor that manages the license sales system is purchasing the Sports Pacs and Non-Resident Hunting Licenses for the winners. ODFW and the vendor will conduct similar drawings in 2011 and 2012, as part of a three-year pilot program to determine if the incentives are helping with early application. As of March 19 this year, ODFW has issued 47,328 fall big game controlled hunt applications compared to 37,761 on the same date last year.

Some of Oregon’s big game hunts are limited entry, including almost all rifle hunting of deer and elk east of the Cascades and pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, and Rocky Mountain goat hunts. These hunts require a controlled hunt application.

Jody Cyr, who has been featured here before, sent me an uplifting success story from his family the day before Thanksgiving. 

It seems he was at work on Wednesday, while his wife Sara, and her father had been combing the hills of Western Oregon for a bull elk.    That morning she missed a bull.   Her father had to leave to go to the family Thanksgiving, and Jody was working that afternoon.  Undeterred, she headed back out with their two year old daughter. 

Jody writes:

I left at about 2:30, right after she said they were going up “to kill a bull.”

While driving, I get a text that says “ I see Him”

 I reply, “go kill him!”

(Thinking how is she going pull this off with a two year old??)

Anyway, I didn’t hear another word from her until I got to Powers when my phone rang with a frantic Sara on the other end.

She had packed our daughter about 500yds down through a cut and across a creek where she proceeded to kill the bull.

I got there just in time to take care of the darn thing…Couldn’t have been more proud of the girls….

My Little one said, “Daddy, maybe tomorrow we can go get you an elk”

My friend Rich Howarth sent me pictures from his Fall elk hunting trip in Oregon.  While he didn’t tag out, He called in a great bull for his friend, Jason Callahan from Junction City, Oregon.  Now if I can just get him to rattle me in a good blacktail this November!

 

In the morning Ed, Jason and I set off to a ridge top saddle that is a primary game crossing between canyons. Having set up to locate, we pulled in a cow, but she spotted movement and calmly made her retreat. As we carefully made our way up the ridge spine, a bull bugled at the three “cows” that were making noise. He was only 30 yards away but, unfortunately; Ed was in the lead and stuck in the middle of the dog hair. I was behind and pulled the bull over to 15 yards, Ed could see his antlers and hear him breathing, but just could not get a clear shot, it was just too thick. The wind was perfect but, eventually, after a long game of cat and mouse the bull followed his suspicious cows down into the drainage.

We followed them down to the bottom, but with the bone dry conditions, we lost the trail. After hunting our way to the other side of the canyon, we set up on a high spot which allowed us to call into three separate areas. The country we hunt in is not conducive to spot and stalk, one’s best chances are to get the elk to reveal their location, move in close and pull the bull in with calls. However, this was proving to be rather difficult this year, the weather was extremely hot and the elk did not appear to be very enthusiastic. We were fairly sure elk were in the vicinity, but try as we might, we could not locate them in the midday heat. We decided to wait it out until later in the afternoon and take up the chase again.

After lounging in the shade on top for several hours, we started discussing our plans for the evening. With a sudden itch, Jason let out a sneeze. Call it coincidence, call it luck, we heard a distinct bugle only 300 yards away to the east and down the hill. It was 2 in the afternoon and the breeze was extremely unpredictable, switching back and forth, and we debated whether to sit there and wait for a better wind, or push our luck and go right at him. Ed suggested we split up, send two down to the bottom and work the bull from below, and keep one person on top to set up in a saddle to ambush the bull if he winded us and tried to escape over the top.

Jason and I made our way to the bottom and moved over to approach from below. After some doubtful moments trying to relocate the bull, he finally sounded off again about 150 yards up the hill. We carefully made our way into position, trying in vain to keep a favorable wind, until we thought we shouldn’t press it anymore. I started calling the bull with cow calls. He responded quickly, but after several minutes did not seem motivated to get out of his bed. With Jason set up hill and to the side about 30 yards, I switched to a cow call, followed by a bugle with my Chuckler tube. Immediately I heard the bull get up and start down the hill. In seconds, I spotted the bull on a fast walk, his antlers swaying as he came to investigate. When he made it to a grove of small hemlocks, he stopped and proceeded to thrash the trees. I ranged him at 70 yards and he proceeded to put on a display of tree abuse for several minutes. I watched to see if Jason would close the gap with the bull occupied, but he could only move when the bull turned his back. The breeze kept shifting and I was sure it was only a matter of time before it betrayed us. I needed to pull the bull down some more to get Jason a shot, so I looked around, spotted a suitable hemlock below me, snuck down to it, started raking the tree with a limb and hit him with another bugle.

That did the trick, and the bull quickly moved down to close the distance. I knew he was in range of Jason, and although the bull was slightly obscured, I heard the loud twang of Jason’s trusty old Hoyt and watched his arrow streak across to the bull followed by the inevitable “thwack!” The bull sprinted down the hill away from us both, but as he left our sight, we heard a distinct crash and the bull let out one last gurgled bugle.

Jason misjudged the distance and the bull turned right at the shot. While quite high, the arrow punctured both lungs and ended up lodging in the back quarter. He only made it 150 yards before he could go no further.

Well a few months ago it was confirmed that wolves moved into Oregon. the Oregon Wolf Program is headed up by Russ Morgan of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

You can find out about the status of wolves in Oregon at the ODFW Wolf Webpage.  The latest press release details a depredation that occured in Eastern Oregon

September 5, 2009

BAKER CITY, Ore.—Two problem wolves involved in five separate incidents of livestock depredation in the Keating Valley area were killed in Baker County this morning by USDA Wildlife Services.

 ODFW authorized Wildlife Services to kill the wolves on Saturday, Aug. 29 after both agencies investigated and confirmed the last two depredation incidents at a private ranch in the Keating Valley area of Baker County.

The first incident occurred the evening of April 9, 2009 and the last occurred the evening of Aug. 27, 2009 on the same ranch. ODFW and Wildlife Services documented the loss of 29 domestic animals in the five separate incidents, all of which occurred on private property. Four of the five incidents occurred on one ranch and the fifth occurred at an adjacent ranch.

Evidence including bite marks and other wounds on the livestock, track sizes, the wolves’ historic use of the area and the style of the depredation itself confirmed that the same two wolves were involved in all of the livestock losses.

After the first incident, ODFW, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Defenders of Wildlife and the landowners worked together to try non-lethal measures to keep the wolves from killing livestock again. Those measures included radio-collaring one of the wolves so they could be monitored, installing fladry (flagged fencing that can be a wolf deterrent), using a radio-activated-guard box that makes noise when a radio collar approaches, double-penning livestock, keeping livestock near homes at night, burying carcass piles and using guard dogs.

ODFW hazed the wolves out of the Keating Valley area multiple times with an airplane or helicopter and also used cracker shells (noise making devices) to discourage them from remaining in the Keating Valley area around livestock operations.

“Under Oregon’s Wolf Conservation and Management Plan our first response to wolf-livestock conflict is to use non-lethal measures to deter the wolves,” said Russ Morgan, ODFW wolf coordinator. “If non-lethal efforts are ineffective, then lethal measures are taken. It’s unfortunate that we got to this step but these wolves continued to kill livestock despite our many efforts to keep them out of trouble. We cannot allow chronic losses to continue.”

Wolves in Oregon are protected and listed under the state’s Endangered Species Act. Wolves are also protected by the federal Endangered Species Act west of highways 395/78/95.

The state’s Wolf Conservation and Management Plan provides livestock producers and wildlife managers with specific tools to manage any wolf depredation. Ranchers may not shoot a wolf without a permit, even when it is in the act of attacking their livestock. The rancher that experienced four out of the five depredations had tried non-lethal measures to deter the wolves and ODFW and Wildlife Services had documented his continued losses. Because of this, he was given a permit to kill the wolves should they return to his ranch and be caught attacking his livestock again.

The two wolves that were killed were yearling animals and never bred. Their genetics link them to Idaho wolves, but it is not clear if they were born in Oregon or dispersed to Oregon from Idaho. For unknown reasons, the wolves were on their own at a young age, which could have contributed to their inability to survive on wild animals rather than livestock.

ODFW is currently monitoring two wolf packs in Wallowa County. In July, two pups were observed with one of the packs, marking the second confirmed instance of wolf reproduction in Oregon. Besides these two packs, other wolves continue to disperse into Oregon from Idaho.

If you have seen a wolf or wolf sign contact Russ Morgan the Wolf Coordinator for ODFW.  GPS coordinates and as many other details as possible will help determine the true number of wolves in the state. Track size, stride, direction of travel, scat location, etc. is all valuable informatin and may allow more wolves to be collared. 

With enough information, Oregon will be able to truly manage the wolves sooner

Here is Russ Morgan’s info:
541-963-2138 Ex.231
Russ.L.Morgan@state.or.us

After a dry run earlier this spring, Kirk returned to Western Oregon and glassed clearcut units for spring black bear.

On the Second day of his hunt he spotted a bear feeding on grass on a clearcut 550 yards away. He moved in to 300 yards, took aim and the cartridge didn’t fire.

Expelling the bad round, I jacked in another one and settled in for the shot. The bear was at 308 yards, so I put the cross hairs just below his spine, at the shot, the bear turned quickly downhill and appeared to be hit hard. He ran into a small patch of brush and disappeared.

Putting another round in the gun, I looked up and saw the bear walking out of the brush pile, appearing to be unharmed as he continued to feed.

Aiming just at/over his spine, I touched off another shot and bear crumpled, sliding a few yards downhill. Coming to rest on a downed log.

Luckily the shot took out the bears heart. She was a younger sow, probably 3-5 years old, very healthy with a great coat. I’d say she went roughly 175lbs.

Although I was hunting alone, I had some great hospitality and hand drawn maps from one of the locals.

Well done Kirk!