12 YR old draws Rocky Mtn Sheep Tag in Hells Canyon!

[nwsteelheader]

Awesome for this youngster - he has his work cut out for him!


Courtesy of the Baker City Herald

http://www.bakercityherald.com/news/...?story_no=5051

12-year-old gets once-in-a-lifetime shot at a bighorn ram
Published: June 22, 2007
Deran Dexter, 12, and his dad, Jason, purchased a tag this week at York's General Store for a Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep. Deran's name was selected by lottery for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hunt a ram in Oregon.
Baker City Herald/S. John Collins


By JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com

Deran Dexter knows his first bighorn sheep hunt in Oregon will be his last, and he figures that makes him the luckiest hunter in the state.
He's certainly the youngest.
Deran, who turned 12 on Feb. 9, bucked odds that have foiled, for more than 40 years, hunters six times his age.
The Baker City boy drew a tag that entitles him to shoot a Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep ram this September in Hells Canyon.
Oregon's Fish and Wildlife Commission allows hunters only one bighorn tag, ever — a true once-in-a-lifetime chance.
But most hunters never get that chance, even hunters who have put in for a bighorn tag every year since 1965. That's the first year the state, which imported bighorns after hunting and disease extirpated the animals from Oregon in the 1940s, resumed sheep hunting.
"Dad's been telling me this is a rare, rare tag," said Deran, who will be a seventh-grader this fall.
"I know many, many old men who have been trying (for a bighorn tag) since they were young," said Jason Dexter, Deran's dad. "I figured by the time Deran's 60 he might have a chance."
But Deran didn't have to wait nearly that long.
He got a bighorn tag the first time he tried for one.
Actually, Deran got his tag the first time he could try — you have to be at least 12 to hunt bighorns and other big game animals in Oregon.
Deran might be the first Oregon pre-teen to receive either a bighorn sheep or a mountain goat tag, so far as officials from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) can determine (a goat tag is a once-in-a-lifetime deal, too).
So precisely how improbable is Deran's good fortune?
Well, the computer that randomly hands out hunting tags doled out three tags for the Snake River No. 1 hunt that Deran applied for — along with 996 other hopeful hunters.
"One in a thousand — that's pretty cool," said Joel Hurtado, who works in the big game statistics program at ODFW headquarters in Salem.
Deran, who smiles often but speaks rarely, at least when a reporter is sitting on a sofa in his house, allows that he's pretty excited.
"But my dad's more," he said.
His dad doesn't deny the charge.
Nor does he contest Deran's story about the almost-midnight phone call.
"You woke me up," Deran said to his dad. Father and son share a smile at that.
It was this past Sunday night and Jason was talking on the phone with his brother, Jeremy Coley, who also lives in Baker City.
Jeremy was checking ODFW's Web site to see who drew which hunting tags. Jason applied for several tags for himself, his wife, Jeannie, and Deran.
Jeremy typed in Deran's hunting license number and then narrated, to Jason, what he saw on the screen.
"He drew a Desolation unit deer tag," Jeremy said. Then he paused for a long moment.
"And a bighorn sheep tag."
Jason guffawed.
A bighorn sheep tag? Sure. Right. Good gag, brother.
"No he didn't," Jason told Jeremy.
"I'm not kidding," Jeremy replied.
Jason didn't respond.
Continued from Page 1A
"I was waiting for him to say he's joking," he said.
Jeremy stayed silent. He wasn't joking.
"I still didn't believe it," Jason said.
So he drove across town to Jeremy's house.
Jason perused his brother's computer monitor. He printed the form. Then he drove home and dialed the number of the Boise home where Deran was staying with mom and stepdad.
Deran's reaction to the news, once he shook off his sleep-induced grogginess, was succinct.
"Wow."
"Neat."
Deran already is getting ready for his bighorn hunt, even though the season, which runs Sept. 8-23, is more than two months away.
He's no novice.
Deran says, with palpable pride, that he killed his first wild turkey just this spring.
But he admits he needs to put quite a lot of bullets through the barrel of the 7 mm rifle with which he hopes to bring down a full-curl bighorn in Hells Canyon.
"We went out the other day and he was hitting milk cartons at a hundred yards," Jason said.
Jason said Wayne Bloom, a volunteer youth hunter education instructor from Baker City, has offered to help Deran get his rifle sighted in.
Marksmanship is worthless, of course, if you can't get within reasonable range of your quarry. To that end, the Dexters intend to start scouting Hells Canyon this weekend.
Jason said he figures they'll focus first on the northern part of the Snake River unit, in the Imnaha River country.
"It's just going to take a lot of scouting," he said.
Jason has solicited help from an experienced guide — Tom Van Diepen, a Baker City hunter who killed a bighorn ram in Hells Canyon 11 years ago.
In the meantime, Deran expects he'll spend quite a bit of time pursuing another of his favorite hobbies: hiking.
He'll need to toughen his legs and his lungs — just a week after the sheep season ends, Deran and his dad will move west into Grant County to go after a buck in the Desolation unit.
There's no topographical rival to Hells Canyon over that way, but neither is there an abundance of gentle terrain.
All told, it looks to be an awfully interesting — if exhausting — first hunting season for Deran.
And his last season — but only for sheep.
Deran ought to be able to hunt deer and elk for decades; no one-tag lifetime limit on those animals.
Deran and his dad do need to figure out at least one nagging detail, though, before they embark on their adventure.
"Who's carrying the gun?" Deran asks.
"You have to," Jason answers, chuckling.
"How steep is it going to be?" Deran wonders.
Jason hesitates.
Does Deran realize Hells Canyon is the deepest gorge in North America?
And if he doesn't, should Jason enlighten him? "You'll see," is the answer Jason settles for. "We'll be up there this weekend."

[BrianMaguire]

The kid lives in Idaho?

[Ni!]

Originally Posted by BrianMaguire

The kid lives in Idaho?

That's what I was wondering too, although I don't know how residence is calculated with these joint custody situations. If he drew Snake River #1 there's no nonresident tag for that hunt so he must have drawn as a resident.

I always have mixed feelings about these young kids drawing once in a lifetime tags anyway. It seems to me like there's a good chance they won't be able to fully understand what they've drawn, or to get after it like they would a few years down the road, and they'll never get another chance to try again.

Of course...that could just be sour grapes on my part.

[nwsteelheader]

sounds like he is staying with his mom in idaho for summer vacation from school...his dad is in baker city...
s

Originally Posted by BrianMaguire

The kid lives in Idaho?

[Ethical hunter]

lucky.......

I hope he appreciates it..

[stick flicker]

[Applegate]

Good for him.

[SImudBogger]

Sucks to be that kid, he'll never know the disappointment of checking the results every year, knowing there is a slim chance he will get his dream tag, only to see he is hunting the unsuccessful unit AGAIN.

lucky kid, to bad he's not old enough to buy a lottery ticket.

sounds to me like his uncle and dad will be the hunters and he is more like a designated shooter. thats some tough country for a grown man, let alone a 12 year old. either way i hope he scores a huge ram.

[Prawnasorus]

Draw Luck seems to run that way, the two sheep hunts I have helped on were:

One, a first Big Game Animal of any kind. (1st or 2nd try draw)

Two, the first male animal. (previous kill , blacktail doe)(first time applied)

Kind of hard to top a nice Ram, in this state anyway.

[B-RUN STEELIE]

Now thats a pickle, could he still put in for a tag in Idaho as his mom lives there.. half the sheep in hells canyon live there ya know

[Cornbread]

Originally Posted by B-RUN STEELIE

Now thats a pickle, could he still put in for a tag in Idaho as his mom lives there.. half the sheep in hells canyon live there ya know

I have joint custody across state lines and the way it works in Oregon is whoever is on the paperwork as primary parent is the state they are able to get resident licenses in. Sounds from the story like he is visiting his mom and step dad but lives with his father so it makes sense.

[StevenB]

I think the most appreciative person in Oregon for a ram tag would be either this 12 year old kid or the following.

An Oregon ODF&W bighorn biologist who hunts big game and has applied since the 1960's.

This 12 year old kid is going to be very awear of his good fortune now and forever after in my opinion.

A couple years ago I met a young ram hunter in Hart Mt region. His dad had taken a ram in the region about 18 years earlier. They both were on the sons ram hunt. That kind of luck happens in lottery hunts right?

Not long ago an Oregon Ram tag applicant let someone else shoot there ram.... hmmm this should be on another thread.

With more tags for rams every year we all have reason to be happy hunters.

[Klamanite]

Originally Posted by StevenB

I think the most appreciative person in Oregon for a ram tag would be either this 12 year old kid or the following.

An Oregon ODF&W bighorn biologist who hunts big game and has applied since the 1960's.

This 12 year old kid is going to be very awear of his good fortune now and forever after in my opinion.

A couple years ago I met a young ram hunter in Hart Mt region. His dad had taken a ram in the region about 18 years earlier. They both were on the sons ram hunt. That kind of luck happens in lottery hunts right?

Not long ago an Oregon Ram tag applicant let someone else shoot there ram.... hmmm this should be on another thread.

With more tags for rams every year we all have reason to be happy hunters.

While I agree that he will certainly be aware of his good fortune, at age 12 he hasn't experienced the years of hope and disappointment that many of us have. With that said, it would be hard for him to put it into the same context that the career unsuccessful's have. I also have a 12 year old son that will be hunting for the first time this year. He is considered very mature and responsible for his age. However, he would have no clue as to the depth of the fortune that was laid upon him.......

BTW.....Congrats on the draw and good luck on the hunt

[Streaky]

Poor kid.
It's like taking a supermodel to the prom.

[johndeeregreen]

I couldn't care less if "He Gets It" I just hope he gets a ram.

GOOD LUCK TO HIM

[BrianMaguire]

Originally Posted by Cornbread

I have joint custody across state lines and the way it works in Oregon is whoever is on the paperwork as primary parent is the state they are able to get resident licenses in. Sounds from the story like he is visiting his mom and step dad but lives with his father so it makes sense.

The regs only state things about residency after the age of 13 so he is in the clear.

I too hope HE gets a nice Ram. Some parents go too far with things like this, I see it at the trout pond at the sportsmens show. I hope HE has the hunt of a lifetime.

[ehunter]

I also hope he does well but I think this will be a difficult hunt for a young man if they are doing DIY he is young but I will wish him the best. I have seen 12 years olds out on elk hunts and it can be very tough on a kid that young if they put too much pressure on him. But what the heck he drew a tag and his dad was as shocked as any one.

Originally Posted by BrianMaguire

The regs only state things about residency after the age of 13 so he is in the clear.

I too hope HE gets a nice Ram. Some parents go too far with things like this, I see it at the trout pond at the sportsmens show. I hope HE has the hunt of a lifetime.

[ICHTHYDEMON]

Wow,there are some real "sportsmen" here.

Whining because a 12 year old boy got drawn and they didn't.

[waggle]

but whatever, my uncle got one at 14, the forst year he put in for it, in the steens. congrats to the kid, and wow, he will need to be in great shape for that hunt. i know, ive been to hells canyon, and walked up and down it, ugh.....

[whtelk]

I hope he nails a big ram. A guy I worked with drew a Big horn tag a few years ago. It was his very first time he tried for the tag. I about laughed to death when he said he had no vacation time left. Lucky for him our the of the company allowed him to take as much time as needed otherwise he would of quit his job. He got a really nice near full curl Ram.

[Hellibut]

Originally Posted by ICHTHYDEMON

Wow,there are some real "sportsmen" here.

Whining because a 12 year old boy got drawn and they didn't.

Ditto!

[Cornbread]

It's not only cool for the boy it is cool for the Dad as well. I can't imagine how excited I would be if one of my sons drew a once in a lifetime tag like that. It would be an incredible experience as a father and son to be able to take your son on a hunt like that. I would just take the entire season off plus a week or two before the season as well. That some serious father son time opportunity that many will never see. It is a very cool thing for both of them.

[bassettmama]

That is so great for him and his dad, I wish you the best of luck. I sure hope you get you ram.

Originally Posted by nwsteelheader

Awesome for this youngster - he has his work cut out for him!


Courtesy of the Baker City Herald

http://www.bakercityherald.com/news/...?story_no=5051

12-year-old gets once-in-a-lifetime shot at a bighorn ram
Published: June 22, 2007
Deran Dexter, 12, and his dad, Jason, purchased a tag this week at York's General Store for a Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep. Deran's name was selected by lottery for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hunt a ram in Oregon.
Baker City Herald/S. John Collins


By JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com

Deran Dexter knows his first bighorn sheep hunt in Oregon will be his last, and he figures that makes him the luckiest hunter in the state.
He's certainly the youngest.
Deran, who turned 12 on Feb. 9, bucked odds that have foiled, for more than 40 years, hunters six times his age.
The Baker City boy drew a tag that entitles him to shoot a Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep ram this September in Hells Canyon.
Oregon's Fish and Wildlife Commission allows hunters only one bighorn tag, ever — a true once-in-a-lifetime chance.
But most hunters never get that chance, even hunters who have put in for a bighorn tag every year since 1965. That's the first year the state, which imported bighorns after hunting and disease extirpated the animals from Oregon in the 1940s, resumed sheep hunting.
"Dad's been telling me this is a rare, rare tag," said Deran, who will be a seventh-grader this fall.
"I know many, many old men who have been trying (for a bighorn tag) since they were young," said Jason Dexter, Deran's dad. "I figured by the time Deran's 60 he might have a chance."
But Deran didn't have to wait nearly that long.
He got a bighorn tag the first time he tried for one.
Actually, Deran got his tag the first time he could try — you have to be at least 12 to hunt bighorns and other big game animals in Oregon.
Deran might be the first Oregon pre-teen to receive either a bighorn sheep or a mountain goat tag, so far as officials from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) can determine (a goat tag is a once-in-a-lifetime deal, too).
So precisely how improbable is Deran's good fortune?
Well, the computer that randomly hands out hunting tags doled out three tags for the Snake River No. 1 hunt that Deran applied for — along with 996 other hopeful hunters.
"One in a thousand — that's pretty cool," said Joel Hurtado, who works in the big game statistics program at ODFW headquarters in Salem.
Deran, who smiles often but speaks rarely, at least when a reporter is sitting on a sofa in his house, allows that he's pretty excited.
"But my dad's more," he said.
His dad doesn't deny the charge.
Nor does he contest Deran's story about the almost-midnight phone call.
"You woke me up," Deran said to his dad. Father and son share a smile at that.
It was this past Sunday night and Jason was talking on the phone with his brother, Jeremy Coley, who also lives in Baker City.
Jeremy was checking ODFW's Web site to see who drew which hunting tags. Jason applied for several tags for himself, his wife, Jeannie, and Deran.
Jeremy typed in Deran's hunting license number and then narrated, to Jason, what he saw on the screen.
"He drew a Desolation unit deer tag," Jeremy said. Then he paused for a long moment.
"And a bighorn sheep tag."
Jason guffawed.
A bighorn sheep tag? Sure. Right. Good gag, brother.
"No he didn't," Jason told Jeremy.
"I'm not kidding," Jeremy replied.
Jason didn't respond.
Continued from Page 1A
"I was waiting for him to say he's joking," he said.
Jeremy stayed silent. He wasn't joking.
"I still didn't believe it," Jason said.
So he drove across town to Jeremy's house.
Jason perused his brother's computer monitor. He printed the form. Then he drove home and dialed the number of the Boise home where Deran was staying with mom and stepdad.
Deran's reaction to the news, once he shook off his sleep-induced grogginess, was succinct.
"Wow."
"Neat."
Deran already is getting ready for his bighorn hunt, even though the season, which runs Sept. 8-23, is more than two months away.
He's no novice.
Deran says, with palpable pride, that he killed his first wild turkey just this spring.
But he admits he needs to put quite a lot of bullets through the barrel of the 7 mm rifle with which he hopes to bring down a full-curl bighorn in Hells Canyon.
"We went out the other day and he was hitting milk cartons at a hundred yards," Jason said.
Jason said Wayne Bloom, a volunteer youth hunter education instructor from Baker City, has offered to help Deran get his rifle sighted in.
Marksmanship is worthless, of course, if you can't get within reasonable range of your quarry. To that end, the Dexters intend to start scouting Hells Canyon this weekend.
Jason said he figures they'll focus first on the northern part of the Snake River unit, in the Imnaha River country.
"It's just going to take a lot of scouting," he said.
Jason has solicited help from an experienced guide — Tom Van Diepen, a Baker City hunter who killed a bighorn ram in Hells Canyon 11 years ago.
In the meantime, Deran expects he'll spend quite a bit of time pursuing another of his favorite hobbies: hiking.
He'll need to toughen his legs and his lungs — just a week after the sheep season ends, Deran and his dad will move west into Grant County to go after a buck in the Desolation unit.
There's no topographical rival to Hells Canyon over that way, but neither is there an abundance of gentle terrain.
All told, it looks to be an awfully interesting — if exhausting — first hunting season for Deran.
And his last season — but only for sheep.
Deran ought to be able to hunt deer and elk for decades; no one-tag lifetime limit on those animals.
Deran and his dad do need to figure out at least one nagging detail, though, before they embark on their adventure.
"Who's carrying the gun?" Deran asks.
"You have to," Jason answers, chuckling.
"How steep is it going to be?" Deran wonders.
Jason hesitates.
Does Deran realize Hells Canyon is the deepest gorge in North America?
And if he doesn't, should Jason enlighten him? "You'll see," is the answer Jason settles for. "We'll be up there this weekend."

[TheTexan]

Originally Posted by Cornbread

It's not only cool for the boy it is cool for the Dad as well. I can't imagine how excited I would be if one of my sons drew a once in a lifetime tag like that. It would be an incredible experience as a father and son to be able to take your son on a hunt like that. I would just take the entire season off plus a week or two before the season as well. That some serious father son time opportunity that many will never see. It is a very cool thing for both of them.

EXACTLY! I would rather my sons draw and be able to spend the time guiding them.

Congrats on the tag and good hunting!

Originally Posted by ICHTHYDEMON

Wow,there are some real "sportsmen" here.

Whining because a 12 year old boy got drawn and they didn't.

In which post did you perceive "whining" ? I dont think hoping a child appreciates a once in a life time opprotunity is whining, but hey, thats just me.

[Ni!]

Originally Posted by Tulley

In which post did you perceive "whining" ? I dont think hoping a child appreciates a once in a life time opprotunity is whining, but hey, thats just me.

I was kind of wondering the same thing. I think reading comprehension is becoming a lost art.

[Jedcraft]

Can I whine? I've been putting in for 30yrs and have not drawn.
Go get 'em boy!

[Beer Waggin]

Back to the top so I don't have to search for this thread again...

I have a picture of Deran's ram that I'll post in a bit.

[toas243]

I hope he got a better one than ,the one I saw ,taken in John Day

[Beer Waggin]

Heres the pic...

Deran is my father-in-law's girlfriend's grandson... She was in town from John Day to see her newly born grandson and to pick up some fresh fish from yours truely. She had a picture that was in the Baker paper and the wife took a picture of that picture. Not a great pic, but a great Ram for a young kid. I'm sure he'll remember it for years.

[hog on]

way cool i hope it all works out for him

[johndeeregreen]

ssssswwwwweeeeetttttttttt

[Rimrocks]

This is why we need a point system for sheep. I know guys that will die without a tag after applying for 40 years and this kid got it his first try.

I've been trying for 23 years with no luck.


ODFW needs to step up to the plate on the point system.

Congrats to the kid...hope he hammers a wall hanger.

[Beer Waggin]

Originally Posted by Rimrocks

This is why we need a point system for sheep. I know guys that will die without a tag after applying for 40 years and this kid got it his first try.

I've been trying for 23 years with no luck.


ODFW needs to step up to the plate on the point system.

Congrats to the kid...hope he hammers a wall hanger.

There aren't enough sheep to go around... 996 people applied for three tags in the Hell's unit. Do the math...

I've pulled a NM elk tag years ago on the first try, with no points. I wonder how many NM residents I upset.

Plenty of opportunities to shoot a ram if you really wanted to. ODFW probably isn't going to put a gold star next to your name just for the heck of it.

And go back and read the post again. The kid did "hammer a wall hanger."

[Cornbread]

Can we get a story of the kids hunt with his Dad at all? It looks like nice ram, I sure would like to hear the story of the hunt itself.

[Etonfish]

Originally Posted by Rimrocks

This is why we need a point system for sheep. I know guys that will die without a tag after applying for 40 years and this kid got it his first try.

I've been trying for 23 years with no luck.


ODFW needs to step up to the plate on the point system.

Congrats to the kid...hope he hammers a wall hanger.

As another Oregon hunter who got a bighorn sheep tag on the first try, I say congratulations to the kid. He got a great ram and probably still has the same smile on his face today. A once in a lifetime hunt, and what an experience to have it also be your first. (non-alcoholic of course) And don't worry, he still has many years of disappointment ahead of him trying to draw a Mt. Goat tag.

[Smokin'Bulls]

Originally Posted by Beer Waggin

There aren't enough sheep to go around... 996 people applied for three tags in the Hell's unit. Do the math...

I've pulled a NM elk tag years ago on the first try, with no points. I wonder how many NM residents I upset.

Plenty of opportunities to shoot a ram if you really wanted to. ODFW probably isn't going to put a gold star next to your name just for the heck of it.

And go back and read the post again. The kid did "hammer a wall hanger."

...funny reply, kinda what I was thinking. I noticed two or three posts in a row saying "I hope he gets a good one." Uhhh, did you read the post? He DID get a good one! Nice work

[gully_20]

it's luck to draw a tag like this. 996 tags and 3 handed out. Do you think we should all win the lottery too because we've been playing it for years? Congrats on a trophy. What a way to get a kid turned on to hunting. Just like me this year; first year ocean fishing catch a 45in halibut first time out. Now I'm hooked. (oh by the way...next three times out fishing..nothing!). Just because we apply doesn't mean we are entitled. My family got eastern oregon tags every year for the last 25 years. last year was our first not getting them. Should we be ******? I don't think so.

[Joe]

The year I drew my East Beattys sheep tag there was a 12 year old with a tag as well. He killed a nice ram on the 8th day if I remember right.

My 12 year old drew an Antelope tag this year on his first try and hunted his butt off and killed a really nice buck. Don't think he would have had any problem killing a ram.....maybe next year!