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94 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, May 26, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Britt Festival Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Biz Connection 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 Ashland News 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 April 22, 2004 Opening pronghorn bid surpasses expectations Outdoor Notes By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Oregon’s jump into a greater emphasis in pronghorn management turned into quite a leap from an antelope benefactor from the West’s best pronghorn state. A Wyoming doctor paid $13,000 during an auction of the state’s first Pronghorn Auction Tag whose proceeds will go toward funding pronghorn management in eastern Oregon. The top bidder, Rick Ullery of Casper, will have the right to shoot any pronghorn in any pronghorn hunting unit except Hart Mountain during all of August and September. The bid raised some eyebrows at the Klamath Falls Chapter of the Oregon Hunters Association, which hosted the April 10 auction. Most western states that offer pronghorn auction tags typically raise $6,000-$10,000, with the pronghorn Mecca state of Arizona fetching as much as $40,000 for one of these tags. Advertisement "I had no idea what we’d get the first time out," says Don Whittaker, who manages the state’s pronghorn program for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. "At $13,000, though, I’m pleased." The money will go into the ODFW’s pronghorn account, which will fund antelope-management projects much like the highly successful wild sheep account that feeds agency programs that have spread California and Rocky Mountain sheep throughout vast parts of far eastern Oregon. "If we can do with our pronghorn account what we have done with our sheep account, who knows what we can accomplish here," Whittaker says. The Oregon Legislature last year created the pronghorn auction and raffle tags as a spin-off from the sheep-tag raffles and auctions. In it, the ODFW is allowed to offer one special pronghorn tag to the highest bidder, while the agency sells raffle tags for a second, identical tag. The proceeds all go toward pronghorn management as seen fit by the ODFW. Raffle tickets, which have various prices depending upon how many tickets are in a package, are on sale now through May 12 at point-of-sale licensing outlets statewide as well as ODFW field offices. Each tag allows the bearer to hunt Aug. 1 through Sept. 30 for one pronghorn in any legal pronghorn unit except Hart Mountain. The tag drawing will be May 22 at the Oregon Hunters Association statewide convention in Portland. The Rogue River Guides Association is taking reservations for its popular Slam-N-Salmon golf tournament, banquet and salmon-fishing derby planned for late June. Already, about two-thirds of the 40-plus guides scheduled to fish the June 25 derby on the Rogue River have clients assigned to them, derby coordinator Janelle Dunlevy says. The stepped-up golf tournament, sit-down banquet and a day’s fishing for spring chinook on the Rogue has helped the association increase its fund-raising 10-fold in the past four years. The golf outing, fishing derby and enhancement auction will be held June 25-26, and the events will take place at several locations throughout Jackson County. The weekend begins with the "Slam-N-Salmon" golf tournament at the Eagle Point Golf Course. It's a four-person scramble event set to begin at 9 a.m. Friday night will see the banquet and auction at the Red Lion Hotel, 200 N. Riverside Ave., Medford. It begins with a 4:30 p.m. social hour, then a 6 p.m. sit-down dinner followed by a raffle and auction. The following morning will be the traditional salmon-fishing derby in which angling duos will fish with a guide somewhere along the Rogue. Participants then weigh in their catches, with several individual and team prizes presented. The association is offering several different ticket packages, including participation in one or all the events. For prices and more information call Dunlevy at 734-2179. 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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