Oregon hunting and fishing dangers

Hunting and fishing in Oregon can be a risky endeavor. Just look at these two recent news stories.

Lead tainted deer
From the Corvallis Gazzette Times, outdoors columnist Bill Barker tells the story of a hunting partner getting sick from eating environmentally tainted deer. A buck his partner had shot had been carrying around many times the normal amount of lead found in animal tissues.

From the article: "It was definitely causing his sickness. Needless to say, he decided to empty his freezer. It took quite a while for him to start feeling better. It’s hard to rid the body of lead."

Barker's party found a lead-polluted stream near their camp site and the vegetation around the area was storing mineral traces. That buck had an appetite for lead-tainted browse.

Rogue waves near Chetco River bar
A story in today's Mail Tribune points out that a new shallow shoal spanning most of Sporthaven Beach is responsible for creating "sneaker" waves that have capsized small boats crabbing 100-200 yards from the beach. Last week 12-foot rogue wave capsized a small craft, drowning one man. It was the second capsize incident in less than a week.

It looks like the Port of Brookings is going to have to change the tagline on its Web site: "The safest bar on the Oregon Coast".