Brooke Hanson and her dad pose with Brooke’s bull – taken near North Powder through the Hunt of a Lifetime program. RAY FOSTER

Growing up in a family of hunters, Brooke learned how to shoot a rifle at age 11 and took her first whitetail buck at age 12. White-tailed deer are the primary target for hunters near her home in Baudette, Minn. — a land of bogs and swamps surrounded by heavy timber.

DOGGED BY THE PINKERTONS, the James-Younger Gang decide to split up and attempt to throw the deputized Pinkerton agents off their trail. From left, are Jim Whitherspoon, Jack Armstrong, Rick Hagen, Frank Edward and Glen Edmondson. - Photos by Jerry Gowins

Screaming Flea Productions, Inc. (formerly Belo Productions) is an award-winning producer of non-fiction and documentary programming for leading networks such as National Geographic, A&E and The History Channel. Its most current film about Jesse James was produced by Sandy Dang-Asher. The re-enactments were directed by 32-year-old Billy McMillin and filmed by his father, Bill McMillin.

4-H Leader Ken Patterson was honored as leader of the year at the recent 2009 4-H Recognition Dinner. - Photos/TRISH YERGES

Ken Patterson, who was named the leader of the year at the recent 2009 4-H Recognition Dinner at the Ag Service Center, has been involved in numerous aspects of 4-H since becoming a leader 15 years ago.

The 4-H leader of the year award is given to a member who inspires others to greater personal achievements and does so by example.

Duck hunting season opens at 6:35 a.m. Saturday. Observer file photo

So might anyone selling duck calls and decoys.

The Ladd Marsh parking lot will be percolating as hunters await the opening of duck season Saturday.

FLIGHT TO FREEDOM: From left, Grant, Gavin and Madison Young, known as the “pheasant whisperer,” take part in the Sept. 18 pheasant release in preparation for the weekend’s Youth Hunt. Photo/JIM WARD

The 75 hunters participating, all age 17 and younger, took 76 pheasants and three quail during the two-day hunt, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Many of the pheasants taken were among the 212 released Sept. 18 at Ladd Marsh. The Oregon Hunters Association and the Oregon Department of Fish each paid for 100 of the pheasants, and Les Henderson of Oregon Trail Trader paid for 12.

Clancy Strand

Just ask Phil Hassinger, an environmentally conscious Union County farmer.

Hassinger is using American kestrels to help him grow 200 acres of mint and peppermint, thanks to a major assist from La Grande Boy Scout Clancy Strand.

Mark Penninger finds the traditional bow an effective tool for gathering small game like this blue grouse in the Eagle Cap Wilderness.

Many modern archery equipment manufacturers want us to believe that the only way to be a successful bow hunter is to spend a fortune on the latest and fastest compound bow, complete with fiber-optic sight, drop away arrow rest, vibration silencers, mechanical release aid, the lightest and skinniest carbon arrows, and broadheads that have catchy names and cost more than $12 apiece.

TEXAS STAR: Jess Roberts sets up plates for the Grande Ronde Rifle and Pistol Club’s new Texas Star targets. Roberts is a member of the club’s Grande Ronde Practical Shooters and International Defensive Pistol Association groups. Roberts is also a Union County Sheriff’s Department reserve deputy. The Observer/DICK MASON

The NRA recently awarded the club a $3,005 grant used to purchase 11 new targets for the club’s practical shooting pistol range.

The range is used by the club’s Grande Ronde Practical Shooters and International Defensive Pistol Association groups and the Union County Sheriff’s Department. The range is also open to members of the La Grande Rifle and Pistol Club.

Cathy Nowak was stunned.

She was so shocked a feather from a mallard could have knocked her over.

Nowak, an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist, had just spotted a sandhill crane at Ladd Marsh. The crane was one of more than 100 that come to Ladd Marsh in the spring. This one, though, was different.

The crane had punctuation — an exclamation mark on a green leg band.