Baker County brothers bag toms in memorial youth turkey hunt

Two Baker County brothers each tagged a tom in minutes during a youth hunt that tied together a memorial tribute, local fundraising and a spring tradition built around mentorship. Cameron McKone, 15, and Micah McKone, 13, hunted Saturday, April 11, in Baker County during Oregon’s youth spring turkey season, with their father Ryan McKone, grandfather Randy McKone, guide Rich Riley of Cross Hollow Outfitters, LLC, and Nathan Hull, Chin Hull’s father, along for the day.

The hunt began as an auction item at the Baker County Longbeards’ February banquet. The 2026 Chin Hull Memorial Turkey Hunt changed hands several times as bidders bought it and donated it back before Randy and Debbie McKone ended up with the highest bid. Bob Reedy, chairman of the Baker County Longbeards, called it the first annual Dustin Chin Hull Memorial Youth Turkey Hunt, and said the money raised supports the National Wild Turkey Federation’s work in wild turkey conservation and the preservation of turkey hunting heritage.

The results came quickly once the boys got into the field. Micah said he had his trophy in the first 15 to 20 minutes, and Cameron also brought home a tom, turning the memorial outing into a rare double success for the family. For a youth hunt, that meant more than filled tags; it meant two young hunters got a controlled introduction to the woods with family, a guide and the hunter whose memory the hunt honored.

That wider lesson sits at the center of the National Wild Turkey Federation’s mission. The organization says it recruits hunters through hunter education and mentored hunts and supports public hunting access. Oregon’s spring turkey season opened in 1987 and has grown more than ten-fold since then, while the state says hunters can take up to three gobblers in spring and up to two birds in fall. For youth hunters, Oregon requires Hunter Education for anyone 17 and younger, and youth age 12 and older need a Youth License and Juvenile Turkey Tag.

Oregon’s turkey numbers help explain why the tradition has room to grow. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said the estimated 2025 spring harvest reached 7,514 wild turkeys, the highest on record and 26% above 2024. Turkeys were first successfully introduced into Oregon in 1961, and more than 10,000 birds have since been transplanted statewide.

The memorial hunt also fit Chin Hull’s own life. Born June 20, 1993, he attended North Baker, Baker Middle School and Baker High School, graduating in 2011. His obituary said he worked in forestry and timber falling, loved the woods, and had already gotten his first elk the previous fall. He died Jan. 3, 2025, and the youth hunt in his name carried that memory back into the hills around Baker County.