From: http://www.eastoregonian.info/main.asp?SectionID=15&Sub...ID=55564&TM=13784.61

Friday, October 13, 2006

Springfield hunter scores big with ram
Hermiston woman helps brother-in-law during outstanding hunt

By Ivy Murrell
of the East Oregonian

Friday, October 13, 2006


Aaron Jorgensen of Springfield poses with the Rocky Mountain bighorn ram he shot Sept. 9 near the Imnaha River. Contributed photo.
Michelle Powell of Hermiston summed up a recent hunting trip with her sister and brother-in-law: "For a once-in-a-lifetime trip, it was very mindblowing."

On Sept. 9, her brother-in-law Aaron Jorgensen of Springfield shot a Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep in the Cheznimitz Unit near the Imnaha River that earned a field score of 1703/8. Vic Coggins, Wallowa District wildlife biologist, said that score ranks about fourth in the state this year.

"It didn't hit me until half an hour later," the 32-year-old Lane County employee said about the enormity of his shot.

Jorgensen aimed from about 168 yards, Powell said, lying on top of a slope with a 15 percent downgrade.

"Fifteen percent is pretty steep," Jorgensen said. "You do not want to be riding a bicycle down that slope."

One ram in the herd probably would have scored higher, Powell said, but Jorgensen - the only one shooting among the trio - were going for the one "well-respected" by other rams.

"That's not to say an older ram would not be bullied," she added.

Jorgensen did his homework, so to speak, more than a month before the hunt on the area.

"I went with a former co-worker about five weeks earlier," Jorgensen said. "We found a big herd of rams. We looked through the rest of the unit, but there was only one herd I saw."

He took the trip after attending an orientation for bighorn tag holders to learn habits of elusive sheep and how to field judge age and maturity. Jorgensen's goal was to find the mature ram.

"A lot of times, when you're field judging, (you try to see) the tips of the horns broom off," Powell said. When mature rams broom off, she explained, they rub their horns on rocks to free up their line of sight.

Jorgensen added that Coggins told him it was one of three herds in the unit. "That put a panic on me," he said. "I wondered, should I go over and re-scout?"

The Jorgensens invited Powell to their hunt, and she gladly accepted.

"I elatedly accepted with many emotions behind my face, but the most noticeable was a huge smile ear to ear," Powell said.

But the three went without a guide this time.

"On behalf of me, it was just something that we could do by ourselves," Heather Jorgensen said. "You put your mind to it, you can do anything. You can go out and pay the guide, knowing that we don't have to do that. Money's not easy on us."

Aaron Jorgensen said they scouted for the rams for "half a day" that Thursday - two days before the shot - all day Friday and half a day Saturday. Powell joined them late that Friday.

"We woke on Saturday morning with great expectations," Powell said. "We had some breakfast, packed some things in a cooler for lunch, and hit that cat trail for a road in pursuit of the bighorn ram."

Powell enjoyed what she called "the breathtaking country" the unit had to offer.

"I was blown away at the beauty and ruggedness of the mountains lined with rims and green draws (as Powell defined, an area between two hills) spring-fed to support vegetation of all sorts, including blackberries, some timber and other feeds," she said.

The crew headed to the westernmost part of the unit and were looking above the hillside for the herd.

Instead, "They were below us," Aaron Jorgensen said.

The three rode down to the location Aaron Jorgensen had scouted five weeks earlier. For about 15 minutes, his wife and Powell were glassing the rims while Aaron Jorgensen lay down trying to eye the herd.

"And then, something moved," Powell said. "I locked on and nearly fell over dead right there as I gasped and tried to speak. Nothing was coming out right. Aaron, cool and collected, says 'Are they there, sis?'"

Panicking, Powell couldn't quite say "yes."

For the next 4 or 5 minutes, Aaron Jorgensen said, he was using his range-finder and keeping an eye on the herd. He waited until he had a clear shot at the mature ram.

"He is an excellent marksman and knows how to get steady and make a good placement," Powell said.

Powell recalls seeing the bullet strike and yelling "good hit."

"The ram stepped off two steps and quietly lay down and expired," she said.

The three went down to be near the ram.

"My god!" Powell remembers exclaiming. "This was the most magnificent animal, and the rarity of being involved in something like this nearly had me in tears. I was so happy for Heather and Aaron, and so elated that I had been given the opportunity to join in on such a special and very intimate adventure."

Aaron Jorgensen said the odds of drawing the one-time only tag are great. "If four people applied for this tag for 45 years, the odds are one person would get it."

On their big hunt, the three found their trophy ram.

"We didn't get the biggest one out there, but it was the best one we could find," Heather Jorgensen said.