Hunting Journal

This story begins like every summer as we hunters patiently await the draw results to come out on June 20. I was hoping to be one of the lucky ones to draw a coveted archery elk tag for one of…

Many try, but few succeed in getting a tag to hunt for bighorn sheep.

For the record, I love horses, and my husband loves hunting. This is how our anniversary worked.

As the deer population in Eastern Oregon has dwindled by roughly 50% in the past 40 years, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Eastern District is proposing requiring archery hunters …

Fresh snow had just melted and the scent trail was more than a day old when a yellow Labrador retriever named Buck went in search of evidence linked to an elk that had been poached on March 19…

As far back as Jake Reynolds can remember, hunting season is what always brought his family together.

It’s the magic number for many young hunters: 12, the first year you can apply to hunt big game.

Some years ago, I was elk hunting in Umatilla National Forest up above Spray, and near the end of my stalk, I came upon an old skid road and decided to walk it out to the main road where I cou…

While we’ve had a series of hard winters, last winter was mild throzecause of reduced cold-weather mortality on big game populations.

Trinyty Howard, the granddaughter of Neil and Jan Bauer, shot this buck last year.

Kaden Madden, 17, has bagged a big game animal every season since he was 12, but last year was epic with a buck, a doe, a bull and a near-record black bear.

My first book bull will always hold a dear place in my heart as “finally I’ve arrived!” Ha!

When Andy Day of John Day went out for bow season in the fall of 2017, he wasn’t hunting for a trophy deer but for prize memories with his grandsons, 6-year-old Noah Cobb and 4-year-old Cooper…

If you haven’t tried a one-pan meal yet, and you’re looking for a new recipe for elk steaks, here is a winner for you. The mixture of three types of mustard and honey along with spices creates…

Rylee Browning doesn’t remember the earliest times she went hunting with her parents. She was still an infant riding in a pack carried by her mother, Winnie.

The Tamaracks of gold, like the ancients of old, since the beginning of time,

Everyone likes shooting nice tight little groups, and I must admit that is really fun. Lord knows I’ve spent and will yet spend many an hour doing just that. But from a practical point of view…

It was early in the third week of a rainy elk season. We always get wet in September, but this year was extremely wet.

Chelsea McDaniel thinks the unicorn bull that came running right at her last year might have been a sign from heaven. She had hunted elk for 18 years without success, and now a big bull was ru…

Hunters spend a lot of time hoping. We hope we draw a tag, hope the wife lets us go, hope the weather is good and hope we can find a buck that wants to come home with us. However, you should n…

Filling the freezer after a successful hunt is rewarding, but if you find yourself in a recipe rut, here are a few ideas to bring that bounty to the dinner table.

When I was a young man, my father sold real estate, and every now and then, brother and I would get selected to clean up a house that was to be listed.

His camo is in the closet and his bow is on the wall,

When we started dating back in 2014, my wife-to-be had only once fired a gun. During that endeavor, an ex thought it would be hilarious to turn her loose, for her first time ever, with a 12 ga…

Hard winters often play havoc with big game herds, making forage harder to find and causing deer and elk to be more vulnerable to predators as they are forced to struggle through deep snow. Fo…

For every rifleman and hunter, there exists a certain weapon of somewhat enchanting, if not mystical, properties. This is the one they would grab if the house was on fire and let the rest go t…

Chelsea McDaniel thinks the unicorn bull that came running right at her last year might have been a sign from heaven. She had hunted elk for 18 years without success, and now a big bull was ru…

Make them simpler. That’s the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s aim for big game regulations for the 2019 hunting season.

A hunter education class begins July 17 in John Day.

Mentored by their mom and dad, three siblings — Cinch, Raney and Monel Anderson — enjoy rifle hunting as a family.

Around September 2002, I went up near Vinegar Hill with my good friend and hunting partner, the late Dave Kline.

There’s just something about the opening couple days of the Oregon bow elk hunting season, especially in the big meadow areas like the big cattle ranches like the great Holliday Ranch, JC’s, S…

Jackson DeRosier’s bullets have killed everything from grizzlies to a zebra.

She was going through some papers, when something caught her eye.

Winter weather conditions always plays a significant role in how big game numbers, and therefore hunting opportunities, shake out for the following hunting season that includes both how many a…

Local retailers are seeing increased sales of ammunition, attractants and other items for hunting season.

Hunting — the way of life in the West that connects so many of us to our families and ancestors is also one of the truest expressions of human nature in a historic sense.

Brad Armstrong ventured out into the Juniper Unit, south of Burns and north of the Hart Mountain Wildlife Refuge, the morning of Aug. 18 with his .338 Lapua and a long-awaited antelope tag.

The Bear Creek Rifle Range plans to offer archers a place to hone their skills.

Jonna Bishop describes her shop as “the humane society for mounts,” because her storefront is nearly overflowing with trophies that have been handed down or discarded.

Kenny Mills fondly remembers the good old days as he stares around his storefront full of elk, deer and mountain lion mounts. The owner of Mills Building Supply Co. for 32 years, Mills still h…