About Josephine County, OR

Josephine County Sportsman's Park - Grants Pass, Oregon

Whether or not you are into the shooting and hunting sports, Oregon has the full freedom to own and carry firearms.

The old quote, "An armed society is a polite society," runs true in our state.

After living in Grants Pass for a year now, I had never been to the Josephine County Sportsman's Park and I was happy with what I found.

This facility is enormous!  Nestled in the beautiful Colonial Valley, there is a huge Sportsman's Park dedicated to the shooting sports!

If you want to target practice,   teach the family how to shoot or sight in your hunting rifle, they have the ranges.

Pistol and revolver ranges are here at the Josephine County Sportsman's Park also.

For the shotgun enthusiast, you may practice trap and skeet in competition  

 or hone your skills for game bird hunting.

The black-powder enthusiasts are welcome in the spirit of practicing with the ancient weapons of our forefathers and the Davy Crocketts' and Daniel Boones' among us.

If the "Cowboy Action" has intrigued you, you may practice the skills of our western heroes.

Shoot revolvers, derringers, rifles and shotguns in scenarios  designed to duplicate the "western experience" in settling our frontier.                             

Archers are welcome and challenged by competition matches or practicing for hunting season.

If you have never handled a firearm and you are interested in learning, you have every level of expertise at the Sportsman's Park.

Our police and sheriffs practice here, and you will find answers to all of your questions regarding firearm ownership and the teachers to help you learn.

The Josephine County Sportsman's Park is located at 7407 Highland Ave., Grants Pass, OR  97526-8400 or you can give them a call at (541) 476-2040.

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Balloon Bombs Fall In Oregon and the Northwest United States!

Hardly remembered and largely covered up by the government during World War II, the US mainland was being bombed by Japan on a regular basis. I remembered this when a friend and I were discussing Oregon's history and I realized that it all started about this time of year in 1944.

At that time Japan began launching bomb-carrying hydrogen balloons into the jet stream intended for the Northwest United States. Japan hoped that bombing the forests of our Northwest would cause widespread panic among our citizens and hopefully reduce our war effort by keeping large numbers of our people fighting forest fires. Their main Balloon Bomb effort was launched during the wet season in the Pacific Northwest so the forest fires they caused didn't achieve the catastrophic results they had hoped for, but they did do a considerable amount of damage.

These Balloon Bombs were made of three or four layers of cemented tissue paper and filled with hydrogen. They were about 33 feet in diameter and had 32 sandbags suspended under the balloon on the spokes of an aluminum wheel. The balloons were equipped with an altitude-control mechanism so that whenever the balloon descended to about 30,000 feet an altimeter connected to a small battery would trigger a release fuse and a small explosive device would drop two of the sandbags. The balloon would then ascend until it reached around 38,000 feet, to run again with the high winds of the jet stream, which the enterprising Japanese had been studying for years in anticipation of war. The cooler air up above plus the normal loss of gas through seepage would cause the balloon to eventually settle back to 30,000 feet and the entire process would repeat. These actions would be repeated all the way across the Pacific ocean zigzagging toward the US coast. Once all 32 sandbags were gone, the bombs would be released and the balloon would destroy itself with a small demolition charge.

These balloons were mainly constructed by Japanese school children as part of their national turnout to help their country's war effort. I'm certain the children didn't realize what the balloons would be used for.

The success of the Balloon Bombs went unrealized by the enemy, as the US government kept the landings and fires hushed up to avoid the panic that would result if our citizens realized that Japan was bombing us regularly and without making a sound. The cover up worked so well that the authorities were able to hide these attacks until one day a group of six hikers in Oregon came across a Balloon Bomb that had landed intact in the Southern part of our state.

This happened in May of 1945 when one of the hikers touched the balloon and the bombs went off killing all six discoverers on Gearhart Mountain. This caused the government to break the secrecy and they then warned all citizens to avoid any suspicious balloons and balloon fragments.

The US government did an excellent job of covering up the success of the Japanese Balloon Bombs. Had the authorities allowed the reporting of these successful strikes, the word would have leaked to Japan and realizing their accomplishment, the Japanese would have been able to more accurately make their attacks. Of approximately 9,000 balloons launched, about 1,000 reached the US. Japan had no idea that any of them had worked or they would have, I'm sure, increased their success rate.

A lot of fires were cause by the balloon assaults and one even started a brush fire causing a loss of power for a while at the Atomic-Energy plant at Hanford, Washington.

Finally, thanks to a US botanist, the source of the silent death was discovered. Analyzing plant life and geology in the recovered sandbags it was determined from studies that had been conducted from years before that the sand could only have come from one place; Honshu Island in Japan. The soil was unlike any other area, and it was determined that the Balloon Bombs were being launched from that location.

Immediate US bombing raids brought this page of Japan's war effort to a close. After the war, investigations showed that Japan had prepared to launch these Balloon Bombs from submarines and they had also planned to have manned balloon flights into the United States from these submarine-launched balloons. The pilots of course would have been suicide pilots that would fly the Balloon Bomb directly to US targets. It's a good thing we ran them out of time!

Taylor Creek - Grants Pass, Oregon

Taylor Creek is made for hiking, fishing, gold panning and hunting.

Located in the Siskiyou National Forest is some of the most beautiful scenery God ever created.

It can be reached by following the mighty Rogue River out of Merlin and cutting south on Briggs Creek Road.

There are miles and miles of hiking trails along Taylor Creek and they can be accessed by a host of trail-heads so that you can pretty much select the difficulty and length of your hike.

There are hundreds of beautiful waterfalls and tranquil ponds along Taylor Creek. This trip in late Fall is so peaceful, the colors are spectacular and the waters are low enough that the falls that are normally underwater are now all adding to the charm of Taylor Creek by creating sounds exaggerating their size.

Doing their best "Niagara" imitations, they funnel the waters through channels and chasms normally hidden from sight, and the sounds of rushing water are magnified by the close proximity of the creek walls.

Numerous gold mining claims are indicated by signs attached to trees along the miles of creek. Mining has been profitable in these valleys in Oregons' colorful past and just because you may not see a claim marker that doesn't mean the land is not claimed. Huge numbers of gold claims are on record for all of the rivers, streams and creeks in this area.

No one will keep you from traveling through a gold claim, but if you plan to do some "panning" make certain to check the public records before you go.

These trails along Taylor Creek go from "near the road" to so far down you can only see the sun for a half hour a day when it's directly overhead.

Southern Oregon is an adventure you will never forget. Why wait? Plan to move here soon.

Interest Rates Are Low Right Now! - Grants Pass, Oregon

If you've been waiting to buy a home until the interest rates get better, then you'd better get at it soon! Interest Rates Are Low Right Now!

I remember in the mid to late 1980's the 30 year mortgage rates were running around 10 percent, just after the terrible recession of the early 1980's.

The 1990's bounced around from ten percent to start, and with ups and downs in the sevens and eights and ending the decade around 7.5%.

Starting in the 2000's from a high around eight percent, we have watched a steady decline and have bounced through the five and six to seven percent rates.

We have now hit the lowest rates in two decades! Interest Rates Are Low Right Now!

With rates hovering around 5% for a thirty year fixed mortgage, you're crazy if you don't act now! Interest Rates Are Low Right Now!

Looking back at the recession of the 80's, I recall as soon as the recovery started, the rates started jumping. If, as the economists are saying, we have hit the bottom and the recovery is on the way, will our housing rates again shoot to 10%?

No one knows, but I sure wouldn't want to bet against the odds, and that's what I feel will possibly be the outcome if a buyer who is able to buy now puts it off much longer as the Interest Rates Are Low Right Now, but who knows where that breaking point is?

I'm not basing this on any crystal ball, just life experience and the fact that the Fed cannot continue lending money to the big boys as they have been without some kind of return.

Like the unknown authored saying on my wall;

"Upon the plains of hesitation bleach the bones of countless millions, who, on the threshold of victory, sat down to wait, and waiting, they died."

Interest Rates Are Low Right Now!

How To Avoid the 10 Biggest Mistakes Home Sellers Make

You'll sell your home faster - and for more money - if you avoid these common pitfalls.

You Will Need

• A thorough housecleaning
• An open mind
• Home improvements

Step 1: Declutter your home

Get rid of as much clutter as possible. Stuffed closets, extraneous furniture, exercise equipment in living quarters, crowded countertops, overflowing cabinets, and endless knickknacks make homes seem smaller than they are. Consider putting some things in storage.

Step 2: Hide your pets

Hide all evidence that you own animals. Just because your potential buyer loves his own pets doesn't mean he wants a house that reeks of yours. Get rid of pet stains and odors (pay a professional if you have to) and send the four-legged family members to a neighbor's house when you show your home.

Step 3: Be scarce yourself

And, while you're at it, make yourself scarce during home showings. You know how you feel about those annoying salespeople who follow you around the store, making you uncomfortable? That's how potential home buyers will feel about you.

Step 4: Don't discount the first offer

Think carefully before you reject the first offer on your home; studies show it is usually the highest bid you get. And the longer you hold out for a better offer, the lower your chances are of getting it, because people start to think that something must be wrong with a house that's been on the market for so long.

Step 5: Always negotiate

Don't take lowball offers personally, or you'll lose a lot of potential buyers. Instead of viewing them as insults, look at them as starting points for negotiation.

To attract the most buyers, list your home a few thousand dollars below a major round number. If you're hoping to get about $200,000, for example, list it as $199,000, not $205,000. You don't want to miss out on buyers who have set $200,000 as their cutoff point.

Step 6: Out with the old

Toss or change anything that makes your home look tired - worn carpeting, old throw rugs, dirty light switch covers. Give every room a fresh coat of paint in a neutral color. Don't let cost deter you; this is truly a case where you've got to spend money to make money.

Step 7: Remember curb appeal

Don't discount the importance of a good first impression from the street. Trim hedges, reseed the lawn, plant some flowers, wash the windows, scrape and repaint the front door and windowsills, and put some oversized potted plants at the entrance.

Step 8: Depersonalize your home

Rid your home of all your treasured personal touches - family photos, the kids' artwork on the fridge, religious artifacts, bowling trophies, your ceramic pig collection, the shrine to Elvis. They will only make it more difficult for potential buyers to imagine themselves in your home.

Step 9: Aim for light and bright

Because home buyers are nearly unanimously looking for a light, bright house as opposed to a dark, dreary one, do what you can to make that happen. Ditch the heavy drapes, take down dark wallpaper, put in high-wattage light bulbs, and get rid of wood paneling.

Step 10: Fix anything that's broken

Fix whatever is broken before you list your home. It's almost always cheaper to do it yourself than to let the buyer use it to bring down the price.