Oregon 246A

manny15 · Jun 20, 2006

LAST EDITED ON Jun-20-06 AT 10:01AM (MST)[p]I hate to admitt it, but I over heard a guy say he killed a big bull last year in this area, W-murderer crk. so at the last minunte I put 'er down and I don't know crap about the area yet!...

any opinions, not on my style just on the area...LOL...thanks Manny

oh yah it's Rifle; Nov 11-4-06

bschnoor · Jun 20, 2006

Hi Manny, I know a little about this area....I will PM you later. Brian

oregonmuley · Jun 20, 2006

I drew a 246X so not exactly the same but same unit only a littler earlier. I haven't hunted the unit in about 10-12 years, not since it became too tough to draw plus thats when they logged the area I hunted and closed all the roads. Roads closing was OK with me but not all the old growth being cut, made the elk movo to who knows. We used to kill at least 1-2 nice bulls each year for a group of 5 hunters, and mess up a couple each year but always saw branch bulls, not many spikes for some reason but no problem since its a any bull unit. Told some guys about it and they hunted it last year and did really well - yes there are some big bulls - big bucks also. Good luck on your hunt, be prepared for really cold weather, gets ugly up there in November.

treekiller · Jun 21, 2006

LAST EDITED ON Jun-21-06 AT 09:46AM (MST)[p]Having bow hunted that area for nearly 25 years, there's very few places I haven't made boot tracks.

The bulls have a preference for the Mahogany ridgetops, but there's elk from the highest alpine ridges to the lowest scrub juniper/sage draws.

If you're finding alot of fresh feral horse sign, go elsewhere. The feral horse's are more aggressive, so the elk don't hang around to close.

Quite abit of the area is in a road closure during rifle season, but there's alot of decent camping spots along the main creeks/roads.

The numbers of elk and quality of bulls has dropped substantially in the last 15 years. Too much hunting pressure is mostly to blame. They get shagged from late August until after Thanksgiving, so quite afew elk moved down to the private property off the National Forest.

There's still some quality bulls up there, just not as many as the 80's and early 90's. My hunting partner found this shed there this spring stuck in the ground.

Good luck!

manny15 · Jun 21, 2006

Thanks Guys....Manny

manny15 · Jun 22, 2006

was on the internet looking for a trespass hunt, all the ranch's just do guided hunts for $9,000 or more, what the flip happed to huntin anyaways... I'll stick with public lands thank you!....

muleyman · Jun 22, 2006

I know of an outfitter that has 45K acres in the Blue's outside of Heppner that has a 7 day fully guided hunt for $1500 / head. Last year two bulls went over 320. Let me know if you want his info...

muleyman