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Reports > 2019 > October > Thursday 10
Thursday, October 10, 2019
 
By Eric Granstrom
 
For FishingMagician.com, I'm Eric Granstrom. It's called the Tillamook Burn. A series of fires burned 554-square miles of the Northern Oregon Coast Range from 1933 to 1951. My grandfather and his brothers were part of the logging crews sent in to salvage what was left of these huge trees. The steep terrain was replanted and soon, thick growth covered the scarred landscape. It was home to a healthy Roosevelt Elk population prior to the fires but the herds exploded. My grandfather's intimate knowledge of the terrain soon converted to leading elk hunting expeditions with family and friends. I was 13 when it was my first time to go join the men. Dad bought me a Browning .308 lever-action rifle for my birthday and said I was to use it on my first Tillamook Burn hunt. Opening morning, I stood on a slippery hillside in a driving rainstorm, looking at what appeared across the canyon to be a bull elk. I raised my rifle to my shoulder, hands soaking wet, and peered through the scope. All I could see was a blurry, tan, smear as it disappeared into the timber. Thankfully, there were many more chances to come. And maybe once again this weekend. Until next time, Good Hunting!