Bowhunters will be hoping to feast their eyes and their sights on bulls like this one as archery hunting season gets under way Saturday and runs through Sept. 25. JIM WARD / photo

Patience is a virtue, something hunters are being encouraged to remember on the eve of the opening of the general bow season for deer and elk in Northeast Oregon.

Like many other species, wood ducks suffered from the loss of habitat and over-gunning in the early 1900s. Later, concerned sportsmen vigorously lobbied for stricter hunting regulations and taxed themselves to provide funding for habitat enhancement. Today, America’s game animals are some of the most un-endangered species on the planet. JIM WARD / photo

Hunters often get a bad rap. To some, all we do is tromp through the woods, shooting holes in everything that wiggles. Without any regard for the forest environment, we throw our beer cans everywhere, leave all the gates open and poke 4-wheeler ruts through every meadow. Indeed, there are slobs in our ranks, but it’s not the norm and it’s not condoned.

The scents and sounds of rutting bulls draw the attention of sleek cows in the fall. JIM WARD photo

In autumn, we bowhunters go through an annual metamorphosis. It starts out rather subtle. String fingers begin to twitch, senses become sharper and eery, elk-like calls begin to emit from evening showers. Dedicated hunters start to pour over topo maps and pre-scouting adventures begin. Mere weeks before the season opener, hunters bump up their exercise regimen and start pounding targets with carbon shafts.

PHILLIPS RESERVOIR will soon be home to tiger trout. The trout are being raised at Klamath Hatchery in Chiloquin near Klamath Falls. S. JOHN COLLINS / Wescom News Service

A red-letter moment in Eastern Oregon outdoor history is fast approaching.

Three thousand six-inch tiger trout will be introduced into Phillips Reservoir, 20 miles southwest of Baker City, in late September. This will mark the first time tiger trout have been released in the region.

Gavin Young of La Grande wears hunter orange during a pheasant hunt at Ladd Marsh. The new Oregon hunter orange law states that hunters age 17 and younger are required to wear a hunter orange exterior garment or hat when hunting game mammals or upland game birds with any firearm. JIM WARD photo

The new state law took effect Monday, but its first major test is 56 days away.

Oct. 1 is the opening of general deer rifle seasons in Oregon, the first major hunts in which the new mandatory blaze orange requirement will be in effect.

Archers walked past this snow drift at last weekend’s Eastern Oregon Super Shoot at Anthony Lakes. It was 75 yards long and 12 feet high at its tallest point. Norm Paullus of the Grande Ronde Bowmen, one of the tournament’s organizers, is standing next to the snow drift. SCOTT WILSON photo

ANTHONY LAKES —Archers at the annual Eastern Oregon Super Shoot did not have to look far for ice cold refreshment last weekend.

About 10 snow drifts, including one about 75 yards long and 12 feet high at its tallest point, decorated the Super Shoot’s upper course.

Ron Babcock of La Grande takes aim at a target at the recent National Field Archery Marked 3D Championships in Redding, Calif. (CLAYTON LOWE photo)

The text message would have given most people reason to jubilantly celebrate.

But not La Grande archer Ron Babcock. The message did not even elevate his pulse rate.

“The birder stereotype is a little old lady in tennis shoes,” Hohmann said.

O. Henry used this image for two characters in his play “Ransom of Red Chief,” performed this winter by the Mid-Valley Theater.