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64 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, March 8, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend February 24, 2005 O’Conner’s trophy animals highlight this weekend’s outdoor show By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune The trophy antlers from one of America’s most famous gun writers as well as the those tucked away in local attics and garages highlight this weekend’s Jackson County Sportsmen’s and Outdoor Recreation Show in Central Point. The show, now in its fifth year, features the only opportunity for southwest Oregon hunting aficionados to view the Jack O’Connor Legacy Tour of trophy animals. Show visitors are also invited to bring in their own trophy antlers for official measurement and possible inclusion in the upcoming edition of Oregon’s Record Book of Big Game Animals. Those hunters whose antlers or horns qualify for the book will get a shot at more than $20,000 worth of prizes. "This gives people incentive to bring out some of these trophies that I know are still out there but haven’t been measured," says David Morris, the record book publisher who also presents the O’Connor exhibit. "This has brought out another great round of animals that need to be recognized." Advertisement O’Connor was the former shooting editor of Outdoor Life magazine and considered one of America’s foremost gun writers and hunters of the 20th century. He traveled the world to hunt the globe’s greatest game, and brought the stories to readers for decades. The Legacy Tour is housed in a specially designed trailer that opens to reveal a trophy-room environment containing many of O’Connor’s prized animals. It also contains information about the hunt where they were collected. Morris says the tour speaks especially well to middle-aged hunters and older — those avid outdoors readers during O’Connor’s career as America’s first globetrotting hunting writer. "We’ve had people come to the display who have read so much about Jack O’Connor," Morris says. "They’re floored that they can see some of the animals they remember reading about." The tour, arranged by Beaverton-based optics company Leupold & Stevens Inc., has been on tour since January 2003. The antlers and horns are part of 65 trophies O’Connor bequeathed to the University of Idaho after his death in 1978. "I’ve had people come up to me and say, ‘He was the reason I went to college’ and ‘He was the reason I read,’ " Morris says. "It’s unbelievable." The tour is scheduled to end later this year after stops in Redmond and Jackson Hole, Wyo. Morris also oversees the record-book measuring Friday and Saturday. Trophies that qualify for the Oregon book’s upcoming fourth edition, or those previously entered in the book, are entered in the prize drawing. Top prize is an Arctic Cat ATV. The contest is open to anyone who had a trophy entered in the record book from the show’s stops in Medford, Roseburg or Eugene. The top three trophies from each category will be displayed daily at the show, Morris says. "We’re creating a display as the show goes on," Morris says. Other attractions include the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s giant fish tank filled with various Oregon game-fish species and the Tour of the Northwest Big Game display. Returning to the show is the live Great Cats of the World Show, with several shows planned daily at Olsrud Arena, and the U.S. Army Matterhorn climbing wall. The show also contains several attractions targeting kids. They include the DewClaw Archery Range, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s shooting gallery, the Bi-Mart "Monster Truck" and the trout-fishing pond. Several guest hosts will hold seminars on everything from sturgeon fishing and calling wild turkeys to steelhead fly-fishing and crabbing strategies in the Sportsmen’s Theater. Daily schedules are available at the show. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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