Published 11:45 am Monday, October 19, 2026
By Jayson Jacoby | Baker City Herald
Grant County man dies in fall while hunting in eastern Baker County | Baker City Herald
This photo shows terrain above the Snake River Road, near where a Grant County man died after falling down a rock chute (not in the photo) while hunting chukars on Oct. 18, 2026. (Baker County Sheriff’s Office/Contributed Photo)
BAKER CITY — A Grant County man died after falling down a rock chute while hunting chukars above the Snake River Road in eastern Baker County on Sunday, Oct. 18.
Anthony Newton Van Cleave, 49, of Mount Vernon, died from his injuries, said Ashley McClay, public information officer for the Baker County Sheriff’s Office.
“On behalf of the Baker County Sheriff’s Office and Baker County Search and Rescue, our hearts go out to Mr. Van Cleave’s wife and children,” Baker County Sheriff Travis Ash said. “These are incredibly tragic circumstances that no family should have to experience.”
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The initial report of the accident was a 911 call around 3:10 p.m. Sunday, McClay said.
Ash deployed the ropes team from the sheriff’s office’s search and rescue, as its members are trained to use ropes to help rescue people in extremely steep terrain such as the area above the Moonshine Mine boat ramp on Brownlee Reservoir where the call originated, McClay said. That’s about 13 miles, by road, south of Richland.
“That terrain up there is really steep and rocky,” McClay said.
Police learned that Van Cleave, an experienced hunter familiar with the area, had been hunting chukars, a species of upland game bird common in eastern Baker County, with his 12-year-old son and friend of the same age, McClay said.
The two boys had been hunting at a higher elevation than Van Cleave, and they lost track of him, McClay said.
The boys hiked down about 600 yards down to the Snake River Road, and when they looked up the nearly vertical slope they saw the hunting dogs with the group, and recognized Van Cleave’s hunting vest.
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When they hiked up to the spot they found Van Cleave.
They descended to the road and flagged down a passing driver, who called 911, McClay said.
A second car also stopped, and one of the passengers, a nurse, hiked with police, emergency responders and others, where the nurse confirmed that Van Cleave had died.
McClay said sheriff’s deputies, an Oregon State Police trooper, volunteer from Eagle Valley Ambulance and LifeFlight responded to the incident.
