Articles written by Brad Trumbo
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Bluegill Beginnings
Picture a portly, toe-headed boy standing along the muddy shoreline of a farm pond as the sinking summer sun casts a warm amber glow across the water. He wore pastel yellow jogging shorts and a Mr. T...
Carving out a Memory
Honestly, I have no legitimate excuse for not having returned. The experience still calls like a siren song playing softly in the background. Snow-capped peaks and glaciers. Expansive vistas of low-co...
Honoring the Hinchliff Conservation Legacy
In 1992, ten years after Pheasants Forever came to fruition in Saint Paul, MN, Walla Walla’s Blue Mountain chapter (BMPF) held its first fundraising banquet. Among those responsible for its success were John and Bertha Hinchliff of Dayton, WA. Upon... Full story
Short-eared Owls of the Plains
Glimpses of white flashed through the heavy sagebrush as Finn dashed across the scablands. Hungarian partridge and valley quail hunkered somewhere among the sage sea, and she was working her best to...
Winter hiking beats the blues
Now in the heart of winter in the Blue Mountains, the days are short and wet in the wheat country and snowy in the higher timber. Aside from the usual chores neglected over autumn and the holiday...
Washington State imposes new emergency coastal steelhead fishery regs
Recent declines in salmon and steelhead survival across the Pacific Basin have been documented since approximately 2013 and affecting all stocks in dammed and undammed systems. An ocean "dead zone,"... Full story
Pa'tridge in a Fir Tree
With the holidays upon us, the sights and sounds of Christmas surround the Waitsburg community. From glittering street decorations to themed music taking over our favorite radio stations, the magic...
Fresh Snow, Blaze Orange and opening day roosters
Turning down Lewis Gulch, I spied a beautiful draw curling into the wheat fields, free of human track. A sight for sore eyes on the eastern Washington pheasant opener. Whipping the Tundra to the...
WDFW takes an important step in post-fire habitat recovery
In September, wildfires that tortured the Pacific Northwest did a number on the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's (WDFW) Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area (Swanson Lakes), located about 10 miles...
Pheasants Forever cooperates with local growers to preserve sagebrush habitat and wildlife guzzlers
Blue Mountain Pheasants Forever (Pheasants Forever) recently teamed with Mike and Steve Erwin to relocate two wildlife watering guzzlers on their 1,000-acre lease with an expiring Conservation...
Restoring an Heirloom
I don't know when Dad purchased the gun or from whom or where, but one of its few outings captured on film was in 1977. My brother was a toddler and dad had hunted a gray squirrel on his parent's farm...
Tenkara Angling for Snake River Smallmouth
Since discovering tenkara fly-fishing a few years ago, I don't travel much without a tenkara rod. Tenkara rods are telescopic, collapsing down to about eighteen inches and only require a fly line,...
Wilderness Hues
Climbing the mountainside, the temperature began to drop with the elevation gain. A welcomed change from the 90-plus degree heat in the Walla Walla Valley. In the truck bed lay my frame pack, stuffed...
Phantom of the Uplands
I must admit I am my mother's son, and apparently that of her mother as well. Both enjoy collecting beautiful things to display, as well as saving practical materials that may be of use at some...
Celebrating our Native Mason Bees
Early morning strolls through the summer garden at our little McKay Alto homestead can only be described as an angelic wakeup call. The capacious songbird melody wafts on a gentle breeze as the...
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife revising game management regulations
On February 6th, The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) opened the public comment period on proposals to update regulations for a variety of game hunting opportunities, as well as the proposed 2020 hunting seasons. Among the...
Winter Birding Brings Nature to All
Growing up a hunter, my mother and I agreed rarely in our views of humans interacting with our ecosystem, save for our thoughts on habitat conservation and a deep appreciation for nature's beauty and...
Just Follow the Dog
A hint of the long shadows of evening began to cast across the rolling wheat stubble and amber bunchgrass. A solid cloud of gray dust billowed from behind my old green Ford rolling down the...
Thankful for the opportunity
The month of November is a special month. Not only because it's like an extension of October in the Walla Walla Valley, or that the late season big game hunts are open. Rather, November offers a time...
The Autumn Stream Palette
Fall is undoubtedly the most anticipated and contested season of the year, and rightfully so in both regards. The fat days of summer are quickly drawing to a close at our latitude, even more...
Grouse of the September Uplands
With the summer heat still baking the brown and brittle landscape, dog work would need to be restricted to the precious early morning hours of refuge. Fortunately, we were blessed with an overcast sky...
Paddle-boarding the Snake: It's for the dogs
From the Editor: The Times is pleased to introduce Brad Trumbo as a new monthly contributor to our pages. Brad is an Army Corps of Engineers biologist and outdoor writer and enthusiast. He is the sole...
