Join me between the lines of monthly activity published by the Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Division.
They’re peppered with Darwin Award candidates.
In November, an Astoria-based division sergeant headed out in the wee hours to conduct a decoy operation with a fake elk.
As happens more than occasionally, he was sidetracked by an erratic vehicle on the New Youngs Bay Bridge. On came his blue lights but as the car quickly slowed, the driver, a woman, jumped out, leaving the vehicle still rolling.
She chased the car, the sergeant chased her and everything stopped when she caught up with the car.
Backup was called and the woman, “significantly impaired by drugs,” headed off to jail.
Back in his pickup, the sergeant almost immediately answered a call from Warrenton (a short distance ahead) from Warrenton police, who were en route to an attempted theft of a trailer from a local dealer’s lot.
“The subject covered his license plate with tape to make the plate unreadable and then hooked up the trailer to his pickup and attempted to drive away,” the newsletter reads. “At that point his pickup ground to a halt and he discovered that all twelve cargo trailers … were chained together …”
The sergeant arrived first but the man had bailed from his rig and run into some brush. He emerged and said he was just making sure his hitch would fit because he might buy the trailer.
The sergeant didn’t buy that, said it appeared the man had more methamphetamine than money, turned him over to Warrenton police and continued on his way south to troll with his decoy for more Darwiners.
(Loved a September account of a sturgeon angler caught with an illegal fish who kicked it overboard in front of the trooper. Not sure what he was thinking or the price of the ticket. Same month had a drunk driver — 0.40, the brink of death — who barely missed hitting a trooper and, naturally, resisted arrest. Same month had a trooper join a witness watching deer shot with a firearm during bow season. The trooper allowed the men to field dress the deer, watching as one stuck an arrow in the gut pile to put blood on the blades and shaft. After they dragged it out, he traded citations for the deer and weapons. Same month chronicled a citation to someone who bought a bear tag online and electronically tagged it a minute later.)
“You can’t make some of this stuff up,” said Capt. Casey Thomas, division commander.
Thomas leads 128 women and men who go above and beyond to guard Oregon’s wildlife, habitat and environment. They include field officers, an anti-poaching team, a commercial fishing team and four pilots, who also fly critical surveys for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The monthly newsletter is only anecdotal of the division’s diverse activities and, often, a well-earned tip of the hat to men and women who excel-plus. It’s published at the end of each following month and is available to anyone via automatic email. Contact ask.osp@osp.oregon.gov or call: 503-378-3720.
Show season begins Wednesday with the Portland Boat Show at the Portland Expo Center.O’Loughlin Trade Shows
Anchors aweigh: The 2023 outdoor show season kicks off Wednesday at the Portland Expo Center with the annual Portland Boat Show, Jan. 11-15.
Admission is $15 to anyone 13 or older and free to 12 and under. Parking is a separate charge of $12. Discounted 2-for-1 coupons are available online.
Booths and displays are the icing on the main event — watercraft from canoes and kayaks to multi-engine daydreams.
Unlike last year, dealers have plenty of inventory and a special plus is in Hall C, a dry-land harbor stuffed with used boats of all kinds.
In the spirit of the (show) season, on each day, the first 100 paid attendees will receive a free ticket to the Pacific Northwest Sportsmen’s Show, Feb. 15-19.
Plant that Christmas tree! It’s a gift that can keep on giving — Christmas For Coho.
Trout Unlimited chapters are teaming up to collect your tinsel-free, no-ornament tree for fish habitat projects across the region. Trees in the water are excellent cover and protection for baby fish of all kinds.
Donate the tree and $10 (helps with costs and transportation) to Trout Unlimited to help preserve and protect our fisheries.
Dates are Jan. 7 and 14, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at either the Royal Treatment Fly Fishing Shop, 6000 Failing St., West Linn, or Northwest Fly Fishing Outfitters, 10910 N.E. Halsey St. in east Portland.
— Bill Monroe for The Oregonian/OregonLive
Credit: Source link
