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PAGE 16 COVER FEATURE IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT • APRIL / MAY 2021
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Racing Pigeons Capture Handlers’ Hearts
As if to say, “Pick me, pick me,” racing brothers who live in the eastern Idaho town
pigeons coo and flutter around Gene Yoes of Minidoka, have raised and raced pigeons
when he steps inside his loft to select birds for five decades.
to enter in an upcoming race. As children, the Merrills were captivated
When choosing from his “racing team” with homing pigeons. They remember read-
of about 30 pigeons, he picks three to five to ing about pigeons’ historical and cultural
enter in 600-mile races. All of his birds par- significance worldwide.
ticipate in the races shorter than 200 miles. During wartime, homing pigeons have
Once released at the starting point of a been relied on to transmit vital messages.
race, his pigeons will zoom back to their loft For centuries, pigeon racing has entertained
in Emigrant, Mont., within hours, flying up royalty as well as the working class.
to 70 miles an hour with a tail wind. “We’ve loved pigeons since we were
“It’s cool to follow them on their way kids,” said Martin, 75. “We’d go to farmers’
home when their route parallels the high- barns and catch wild ones for pets and sell
way,” he said. “When there’s no wind, I’ve some to bird dog trainers. We saved our
clocked them with my speedometer flying money and eventually bought some racing
at about 55 miles per hour.” pigeons. Our pigeons’ lifespan is about 20 to
Yoes, 72, is a retired attorney and editor 25 years, and we never get tired of watching
of the national magazine Racing Pigeon them fly.”
Digest. He has been raising and racing George Merrill of Minidoka, Idaho, cradles a racing According to George, breeding and train-
pigeons for more than a half century. pigeon before taking it on a training flight. Photo by ing racing pigeons is an art and a science.
A member of the Bridger Mountain Dianna Troyer. “We’ve been working at perfecting it for
Racing Pigeon Club in Bozeman, he plans decades,” he said.
to enter eight to 10 races during the spring He built a cage for the found bird and “When you race pigeons, you’re a
racing season, April through June. soon obtained more pigeons with the nutritionist, a veterinarian and a coach—
He really admires his pigeons’ grace, and encouragement of his mother. adjusting training times and diet depending
navigational expertise. “She was sentimental about them, on the distance of a race,” said Martin.
“I’ve been in awe of homing pigeons remembering her childhood and having IT’S IN THE BLOOD
since I was 12 and found a lost pigeon with pigeons in her family’s barn.” Along with training and nutrition, pigeon
an identification band on its leg,” Yoes The birds’ power of navigation impress pedigrees and performance bloodlines are
said. “I’d read about them in library books him. To find their way home, pigeons use crucial to winning.
and was amazed that you could take them part of their brain that detects the Earth’s Kendal Nield, president of the Magic
away from home, turn them loose, and they magnetic fields and the position of the sun. Valley Racing Pigeon Club in Twin Falls,
would return.” They also rely on their keen eyesight and said he considers himself fortunate to own
acute sense of hearing. internationally renowned bloodlines—
“Pigeons’ eyes are so good, they can see including several descendants of Kaasboer,
the stars in the middle of the day,” he said. a champion bird raised by Belgian breeder
Yoes entered his first race in college and Gaston Van de Wouwer.
won. He knew exactly how to spend his Last fall, a Chinese businessman bought a
prize money. 2-year-old female from the Kaasboer blood-
“I bought an engagement ring for my line for $1.9 million at a Belgian auction.
wife, Melody,” he said. About a decade ago, a friend in Idaho
Supportive of his hobby, she encouraged imported Kaasboer pigeons and sold some
him to fulfill his dream of publishing a to Nield.
racing pigeon magazine. He published his “I feel fortunate to have bought into the
first issue of Racing Pigeon Digest in 1992 bloodline before its prices shot sky high,”
and built up its circulation to 3,500 with Nield said.
subscribers in the United States, Europe, Last fall, Nield won Champion Loft,
Asia, and Africa. Average Speed, and Champion Bird in the
Yoes and his magazine subscribers are Magic Valley Racing Pigeon Club.
among thousands of racing pigeon aficio- “My champion bird was a son of my
nados nationwide. The American Racing best Kaasboer breeding cock,” said Nield,
Pigeon Union has 10,000 members. who flies his birds in 12 to 18 races a year.
Gene Yoes of Emigrant, Mont., releases his racing Like Yoes, George and Martin Merrill, “Nothing is as exciting to me as watching
pigeons on a training flight. Photo courtesy Gene Yoes. one of my birds return from a long race.
