Dick Hohstadt stands with mounts in his trophy room of some the big game animals he took during hunting trips to Africa in 2008 and 2011. DICK MASON/The Observer

Local hunter harvests 11 different animals, including wildebeest, warthog and zebra 

Reverse psychology works wonders when hunting black wildebeests in Africa.

Dick Hohstadt, a Union County outdoorsman, knows this firsthand. 

Vic Coggins, Enterprise Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife district biologist, spent much of his career studying Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep and their habitat in Northeast Oregon.

Enterprise’s lead wildlife biologist will retire after 45 years of service 

On a cloudy December morning Vic Coggins awaits a clearing in the weather to capture wild sheep one more time. 

By the end of the year Enterprise’s lead wildlife biologist will retire from 45 years’ service to the state of Oregon. 

Jerry Gibson of the Grande Ronde Bowmen focuses on a target at the indoor range in the basement of the Eagles Lodge in La Grande. CHRIS BAXTER/The Observer

Range in basement of La Grande Eagles Lodge a hit for archers who seek to improve, maintain their skills in dead of winter 

Old Man Winter is not kind to archers.

Bowmen who practice outside in cold weather have a greater chance of injuring themselves and run the risk of developing bad habits that can wreak havoc with their technique.

Using a bait station and game camera set up in the Eagle Cap Wilderness, Wildlife Biologist Audrey Magoun can determine the gender, whether or not a female wolverine has kits and which animal it is by its markings. Submitted photo

Ongoing study focuses on elusive animal’s presence in the Wallowa Mountains 

A track found in the northwest corner of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest is the latest evidence biologists have of wolverines in Oregon. 

Audrey Magoun, who is starting her third winter researching wolverines in the Wallowa Mountains, said she doesn’t know if it is any of the three she has seen on game cameras, but because they travel such great distances, it’s a possibility it could even be Stormy, the animal that she has seen the most.

For the past 22 years, T&T Wildlife Tours have been attracting people from all over the world to see these magnificent elk, and ride with Waylan and Jed, the team of Percheron draft horses.

Oregon’s only elk-viewing excursion via horse-drawn wagon runs weekends from Dec. 15 through March 3, some holidays  

Looking for some winter season family fun? 

Northeast Oregon has a great variety of opportunities when the snow starts to fly. 

U.S. Forest Service Biologist Mark Penninger, center, and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Biologist Russ Morgan, second from left, lead EOU students on a wildlife tracking field trip west of La Grande.

Biologists from the U.S. Forest Service and ODFW teach Eastern students how to record whereabouts of wolves, lynx, wolverines and other Northeast Oregon animals  

The U.S. Forest Service and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife soon will have a new resource to help monitor the populations of rare or secretive animals in Northeast Oregon — the eyes and minds of about 15 Eastern Oregon University students.