Outdoors: Idaho hunters survive grizzly attack; Eagle dad, daughter reel in fishing records
An Idaho hunter survived an attack by what he described to officials as a grizzly bear, according to a news release from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
The man, who has not been publicly identified, was archery hunting with another hunter south of Mount Two Top near Island Park in Eastern Idaho on Friday morning. The hunters stumbled upon the bear in thick brush, and it charged at one hunter, knocking him to the ground. The man was able to deploy bear spray, a mace-like deterrent, before the attack. His hunting companion then deployed his own bear spray, and the animal fled.
Fish and Game said the victim was taken by ambulance to a Rexburg hospital after both hunters hiked out of the backcountry. Officials credited the bear spray for saving the hunters’ lives.
In a similar event the previous week, a grizzly bear attacked two archery hunters near Sandpoint when they crossed paths with her and her cubs. Those hunters also used bear spray and escaped the attack with minimal injuries.
This is the third reported grizzly attack in Idaho this year. In May, a Montana man hiking in the Henrys Lake area — near Mount Two Top — was attacked and bitten by a female grizzly bear. He survived the attack.
Eagle dad, daughter reel in state fishing records
An Eagle man and his daughter have broken several Idaho fishing records this summer in a bid to “fill in the blanks” on the state’s books.
Jon Urban and his daughter, Hayleigh Urban, clinched five records between them, according to the state’s catch-and-release and weight records.
In a news release, Jon told Fish and Game that he taught Hayleigh to fish at 5 years old.
“We have been fishing together for 18 years. What we like most is we’re family, so it’s something we both love and can do together,” he said.
In July, Jon caught a record 17-inch black crappie on Crane Creek Reservoir with Statesman fishing columnist Jordan Rodriguez along for the trip. Jon and Hayleigh also began looking for green sunfish, a panfish species that’s less common in Idaho than bluegill or pumpkinseed. Hayleigh picked up an 8-inch green sunfish/bluegill hybrid at the Eagle Island State Park pond in August, setting a new record. She also reeled in a 6.25-inch green sunfish at the same pond several days later, earning a second record. Both records had previously been vacant.
Jon told IDFG he also noticed vacancies for Lahontan cutthroat trout. The trout are stocked in some remote desert lakes in Owyhee County, where Jon and Hayleigh went to find their last two records. On Sept. 6, both Jon and Hayleigh set Lahontan cutthroat trout records at Grasmere Reservoir. Jon earned the catch-and-release record for a 15.25-inch fish, while Hayleigh kept her trout, which measured an inch longer and set the state weight record at 1.17 pounds.
“We get competitive with each other sometimes, but what we like most is discovering, exploring new waters, and catching new species regardless of size,” Jon said.
Join in on Idaho trail maintenance, cleanup projects for National Public Lands Day
Idahoans can volunteer on several projects this weekend as part of National Public Lands Day.
The Idaho Trails Association is looking for volunteers for a weekend trail maintenance trip into the Boise National Forest on Sept. 26 and 27. Volunteers will backpack four miles into the forest to camp near Pine Burl hot springs and will help clear brush and retread the Middle Fork Payette River Trail. Learn more about the trip and coronavirus safety requirements at idahotrailsassociation.org/middle-fork.
The Bureau of Land Management is hosting 13 Public Lands Day events across Idaho, including some in-person cleanup and site improvement projects and some virtual educational tours.
“In-person events include trash cleanups and debris removal, trail and boat ramp improvements, and sagebrush seedling planting, while virtual events include a tour of the Craters of the Moon National Monument and a film about the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area,” the BLM said in a news release.
Find a full list of BLM projects online at blm.gov.
Finally, the Sawtooth Society has started its end-of-season cleanup in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. Volunteers will receive detailed instructions and can complete their portion of the cleanup on their own to promote social distancing. This project began last weekend and will continue through Oct. 4. Sign up online at sawtoothsociety.org.
Local Birds of Prey center took in evacuated condors
On Sept. 12, the Boise-based Peregrine Fund’s World Center for Birds of Prey took in more than two dozen California condors that were evacuated from Oregon as wildfires burned in the state.
The Boise center took 26 condors — 13 adults, 6 younger birds ready for release, and 7 hatch-year birds — from the Oregon Zoo’s breeding facility in Clackamas County. Eighteen other condors went to a zoo in Portland.
The raptor center has played a key role in the rehabilitation of California condors, helping the species recover from the brink of extinction in the 1980s and ‘90s. Today it houses its own breeding flock of 45 condors and regularly releases birds to the wild.
